Tips for Successful Traveling
Guest Post By: Samantha Schrantz, a Senior. She studied abroad through a Foster Exchange and Direct Enroll at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, during Autumn Semester 2022.
International travel isn’t always easy, especially if you’re frequently on the go. I now have a few tips and rules to abide by that help make long trips (or day trips) a success.
- If you see a bathroom, especially one that is free and clean, use it! (In Pamplona there are plenty of restrooms around, but in some other cities there are not.)
- Bring a water bottle with you and fill up at free fountains throughout the city. It beats paying for water any time.
- Carry a phone charger (with an adapter) and use it whenever you see an available outlet. It’s surprisingly hard to find places to charge your phone when out and about, and often buses and trains don’t have them either.
- Walk around! You’ll discover so many cool things—parades, markets, live music, the most popular bars/restaurants/bakeries. Read the signs, too—a lot of things will be posted on paper handouts or flyers, but might not be found online.
- Technical stuff…
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- Have a photocopy of your passport and visa so you don’t have to carry those important documents around.
- Get a SIM card–it’s WAY cheaper than paying for international coverage on your home plan.
- Withdraw small bills from the ATM (it’s hard to get change for a 50), and try to withdraw as much as you can at once so you don’t get charged insane fees.
Stay flexible, know that you’ll probably run into problems at some point, and enjoy every part of the experience–even the not-so-fun stuff! It all helps make your trip even more of a memorable learning experience.
