Weekend Travel Tips

Probably the most stressful part of studying abroad was making sure I wasn't wasting a single moment. I had the chance to live in France for five months so I wanted to make the most of living in Europe in any free time that I had.

To do this, I spent a couple of weekends traveling to other countries and the rest exploring France. Since I had never really planned a weekend in another country before, I was very unsure of what type of transportation to take, where to stay, and what to do while I was there. Luckily, I came across the website GoOverseas, which has several travel articles about studying abroad. 

One of the articles that was particularly helpful was "28 Essential Tips for Weekend Travel While Studying Abroad." It is written by Andy Steves, who has a student tour business in Europe and just so happens to be the son of notable travel writer Rick Steves, so I knew that his tips had to be legitimate.

Andy addresses several of the common apprehensions of traveling in this post. One of the points that helped in my time abroad discusses the misconception that you have to spend every weekend in a different country. He explains: 

When looking at the calendar and scheduling weekend trips across the continent, ensure that you leave enough time to actually immerse yourself in your home city and local culture. Often, we're so excited to travel that we miss out on the true experience–living in a new city, speaking a foreign language, getting to know the neighborhood, and meeting locals.

In the beginning of my semester abroad, I was anxious to always be doing something exciting, and I felt that I was missing out whenever I didn't have any travel plans for the weekend. However, like Steves explains, it is just as important to stay in your home city so that you can experience the culture of the city that you are studying in. So, on the days when I had no plans, I would try to explore Reims. Sometimes this involved taking a 20 minute walk around the city, or running on a new bike path. Other times it was as simple as reading a book in front of the Cathedral and people watching for an hour. 

In addition to this helpful tip, the article includes several more tips and advice for traveling on a budget, which was very useful to me. I highly recommend checking out the rest of the article as well as Andy Steves' other travel posts to help you plan for your semester abroad!