Summer in Europe
So, remember post #73: Look into doing a semester abroad in England? Well, I did more than that. I’m going to England! Not quite for a semester, but for a month this summer with a faculty-led study abroad Art in London trip. I’ll be studying British Culture and touring lots of museums and galleries during that month. As well as a few weekend trips to Scotland, and around the UK.
Then, in addition to that, I’ll be staying an extra two weeks afterwards and backpacking Europe! I’ve already bought a new backpack, a High Sierra Transport.
My destinations will include Paris, southern France, Milan, Frankfurt, and I’ll be heading home in August out of Amsterdam. For those two weeks, I will be traveling by rail, staying in hostels, and living out of this 70L backpack. I’m excited, and nervous, but mostly excited. I’ve been doing lots of reading on travel sites about backpacking, and what to do in cities, and how to get around. It’ll be such a great life experience to have.
This is my first time outside of North America, so why not jump in with both feet and travel a bit out of your comfort zone? Since this is my first time, I would like to ask any readers, have you toured Europe? What was your experience? And do you have any tips?
Tags: abroad, Amsterdam, art, backpacking, college, England, Europe, France, Frankfurt, Germany, Italy, Kingston, Kingston University, London, Milan, Netherlands, Paris, plans, study, summer, trip
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May 1st, 2010 at 11:45 pm
How exciting!! Last year I went to Scotland, and it was a lot of fun. Except for the time a couple of girls tried to pick a fight with me in Glasgow. :D Tips…? Hm. Your accent is both your blessing and your curse. When those girls started yelling and getting in my face, they didn’t know I was a tourist, so I just pushed them out of my way, ignored them and walked on. But being American is good for getting directions or friendly commentary (in Glasgow, old people like to ride buses and give running commentary about the city to anyone who will listen).
Hostel food is bad. Buy snacks.
CCTV watches your every move. :P
Actually I was really shocked at how many cameras there were, even in towns in the Highlands.
Have tons of fun! Take pictures!
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Yeah, your accent can make you stick out in a bad way depending on who you talk to. I remember in London I was just at a bus stop and some grown woman told me to go back where I came from! With Obama europe likes us better, but there might be some occasional hateful people. I think that’s plenty to see for just a couple of weeks. Try to use the metro wherever you are because it’s always cheaper than a cab.
Don’t know if you’ve read this somewhere, but hostels usually charge 2€ for sheets, and maybe 1€ for a towel and random stuff like that. So, whatever you budget may be, it’s best to think on the plus side of money when travelling around.
This might be obvious but, don’t bring much cash around with you. Or maybe store it in multiple places? At the same time, you don’t want to go using your visa card everywhere. The transaction fees got really annoying – a couple bucks for everything! I used to go to an ATM and take out what I would need for that week. (Oh but I guess you might have travellers cheques, those are the best, especially if you lose them)