Traveling this semester has been nothing but exciting, however I did not know how easy it is to travel outside of the United States. My traveling this semester has taken me to places I never imagined of traveling, such as Austria, Hungary, and Switzerland. However, this blog is going to discuss all the travel tips and lessons that I have learned along the way.

Tip One: When riding on a bus never forget a portable charger.

Living in Florence is an excellent location for traveling, with an airport right inside the city and access to buses the options are endless. Choosing the bus is a cheaper option and honestly more fun! There is a program called “Smart Trips” which is a company that students abroad pay a few hundred euro for roundtrip transport, a few nights in a hostel, and free breakfast! Depending on what trips you go on, included is a walking tour of the city you are staying in. The bus leaves Thursday nights around 8:30 p.m. and since the drive is long it makes it easy to sleep on the bus. However, never expect things to go smoothly when traveling. My trip to Switzerland was originally a seven-hour drive, however there was freak accident and we got stuck in a three-hour delay. When I say delay, I mean stand still traffic with no movement at ALL. This had been my first long bus trip and I foolishly did not bring a portable charger. So around 2 AM when were still five hours away my phone was dead, I could not sleep, and I just stared into a dark snowstorm. So as soon as I made it to Interlaken, Switzerland my first purchase was a portable charger.

Tip Two: Bring Clothes That You Can Dress Up or Down.

This is something that I cannot stress enough, especially when going to places that you don’t the fashion scene. I typically pack a pair of black jeans, black boots, a puffer, and a good jacket. These four essential items can help you blend in with the crowd no matter where you end

up. The second trip I went on was to Budapest, Vienna, and Salzburg. I spent the day in Budapest wearing jeans and sneakers totally blending in, however Vienna was a little more different. Having black jeans and boots helped me not only blend in with the crowd but made for a great outfit on the bar crawl I went on later that evening! Along with traveling make sure you are comfortable with wearing jeans for long periods of time, as sweatpants and leggings are not normal to wear in public.

Tip Three: Hostels probably won’t have towels, luggage locks are your best friends, and dry shampoo is the most valuable item you can have.

I will set the scene for you; you have just arrived in Interlaken, Switzerland. The mountains are beautiful, the air is crisp, the hostel is making hot chocolate, and there is a huge St. Bernard sleeping on the couch downstairs. However, after nine hours on a bus one would want to shower the stench of the bus out of their hair. When staying in a hostel it is not normal to have a towel, so I learned this the hard way. You can rent one but thankfully I had brought a hand towel which was not ideal, but reasonable. A towel may take up room in your luggage, but you will need to ask yourself if you want to air dry in a cold room in Switzerland.

Traveling the world is fun but you must not forget that there are pick-pockets everywhere. When traveling I always keep a luggage lock on my carry-on bag, even if it just overhead in a carrier with me. Most of the time I get to the hostels, I often must leave my bag in a luggage room due to being too early for check-in. I feel much safer being able to leave my luggage locked away rather than anyone being able to get into it. Along with a luggage lock I also leave my airtag with my things, which has come in handy. I recently flew to Croatia and my luggage was lost, but thanks to my air tag I was able to recover my luggage.

Finally, just bring dry shampoo anywhere you go. It comes travel sized, and sometimes after a fourteen-bus ride all you want is to feel clean. Fourteen hours on a bus, no water, and only a snickers bar makes you feel grimy. Bring that dry shampoo.

Tip Four: Just travel, seriously when is the next time you will have the opportunity to go to half of these places.

I would have never imagined traveling to the places I have been this semester. If you ever doubt it just do it. There is no reason that you shouldn’t, being able to explore these cities and countries have allowed me to not only discover the world but who I am as a person. I have been able to learn where I want to end up in my future. I believe if I didn’t end up with a giant St. Bernard in Switzerland or Budapest with a chimney cake then I might not have truly lived up my study abroad experience.