When packing your bags it is always smart to pack light. I could not stress this enough. Packing is always a hard thing to do when going on a trip but when you leave the country you must think of everything. You need to do some research on what the weather might be like while you are there. I went to Europe over the summer so I brought a few shorts and a few pairs of pants. I also only brought one sweatshirt with me. This I did not pack in my suit case because it takes up room. Instead I brought it on the plane with me to use as a pillow.
When deciding how much of what to bring, I went with what I would need for one week. You will be able to do some laundry and besides nobody will are if you haven’t done laundry in a week because every other tourist is in the same boat you are. Also, In Europe for example it doesn’t smell to nice anyways so nobody will notice if you smell a little.
To save more space pack things that can be mixed matched. Shirts you can wear with 2 or 3 different pairs of pants or shorts. I bought a lot of dry fit shirts so I wouldn’t have to worry about ironing. Also they fold up rather small so you can bring a few more of them. A tip that I received while I was there was to roll your clothes. When you roll your clothes you can fit them better into a suitcase.
Another suggestion is to pack once then unpack and see what you really don’t need. Then pack again. You should never pack for what might happen you should only pack for what you know will happen. You can always buy something there if you need it.
Lastly you will want to pack lights because you will have to carry it yourself. After my trip I had three bags, one suitcase, a duffle bag and a book bag. My suitcase weighed 75 lbs and I don’t know what the other bags weighed but I do know it wasn’t fun. I spent about two hours running up and down stairs of the tube stations in London to catch the trains I needed. It wasn’t fun and by the end of it my back was killing me.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Paperwork, and Tickets
This week i will talk to you about paperwork. Everything you need to do to prepare for the loss of paperwork and tickets. I will also share with you a website to get cheap tickets for airfare and hostels.
When planning you will have a lot of paperwork. You will have paperwork on where you are going and how to get to hostels, bus/train stations and airports. There will be a lot of electronic tickets that you will have to print out. Get a folder that has a zipper or a folder that when moved around it keeps the paperwork inside. Also print of at least two copies of everything, including passport, ID’s, credit cards, and other personal information. If one gets lost you will have the other. Without a lot of this paper work you will be lost. Most of it will be tickets but the directions to and from places always help so that you can get around without having to ask too many questions. Often you will come into a language barrier which will cause a few problems. Having the paperwork will help you explain where you need to go and help them understand what you are asking.
When looking for plane tickets I would suggest looking a lot at prices. A few cites that work well and have cheap flights are StudentUniverse.com or STATravel.com. I have used StudentUniverse.com and it worked well. You can find tickets for just about anything on student universe. They have everything from hostels, trains, cars, and just information. There are a lot of sites out there saying they can get you cheap flights but after taxes and handling fees its not much better than anything else. I would stick with Student Universe for most of your reservations.
When flying within Europe I suggest using Ryan air. They are the cheapest airline that I have found. The flights are crowded, but for the price it gets you where you want to be. Also with Ryan Air you will pay more to check a bag and all that but you do that in the cost of the other airlines anyways and its only about twenty dollars. I would suggest getting to the airport early and stand inline to get onto the airplane. When you travel Ryan Air it is first come first serve when it comes to seats. Also if you aren’t in the front you can always sneak around to the back side of the plane and enter in there. Most people don’t know about the door in the back of the plane can be used for boarding. Rumor has it that Ryan Air will start flying within and to and from the United States in the near future. I personally can not wait until this happens. I will plan on traveling a lot more when they do. Weekend trips across the country will be possible and within a low budget price range.
Thank you for reading this week. I will have more helpful information for you next week.
When planning you will have a lot of paperwork. You will have paperwork on where you are going and how to get to hostels, bus/train stations and airports. There will be a lot of electronic tickets that you will have to print out. Get a folder that has a zipper or a folder that when moved around it keeps the paperwork inside. Also print of at least two copies of everything, including passport, ID’s, credit cards, and other personal information. If one gets lost you will have the other. Without a lot of this paper work you will be lost. Most of it will be tickets but the directions to and from places always help so that you can get around without having to ask too many questions. Often you will come into a language barrier which will cause a few problems. Having the paperwork will help you explain where you need to go and help them understand what you are asking.
When looking for plane tickets I would suggest looking a lot at prices. A few cites that work well and have cheap flights are StudentUniverse.com or STATravel.com. I have used StudentUniverse.com and it worked well. You can find tickets for just about anything on student universe. They have everything from hostels, trains, cars, and just information. There are a lot of sites out there saying they can get you cheap flights but after taxes and handling fees its not much better than anything else. I would stick with Student Universe for most of your reservations.
When flying within Europe I suggest using Ryan air. They are the cheapest airline that I have found. The flights are crowded, but for the price it gets you where you want to be. Also with Ryan Air you will pay more to check a bag and all that but you do that in the cost of the other airlines anyways and its only about twenty dollars. I would suggest getting to the airport early and stand inline to get onto the airplane. When you travel Ryan Air it is first come first serve when it comes to seats. Also if you aren’t in the front you can always sneak around to the back side of the plane and enter in there. Most people don’t know about the door in the back of the plane can be used for boarding. Rumor has it that Ryan Air will start flying within and to and from the United States in the near future. I personally can not wait until this happens. I will plan on traveling a lot more when they do. Weekend trips across the country will be possible and within a low budget price range.
Thank you for reading this week. I will have more helpful information for you next week.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Planning
Hi everyone my name is Andrew Hennig and I am going to give you some tips on studying and traveling abroad. This past summer I traveled to Europe to study abroad and after the program was done I traveled for an extra two weeks. I have been to England, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and France. Traveling has given me a new look on life and a new appreciation for what goes on around me. The things I have done, witnessed, seen, and have been told has helped me and I would like to pass some of this on to you.
My first tip is going to be on planning your trip. Before you leave there are a lot of things that you need to do. From buying tickets, deciding where to go and who can go with you. How long are you going to be over there? My first suggestion has to be stay for at least a week or two after your program of classes. After my classes were done, all I wanted to do was travel more. It is much cheaper to travel longer than to buy new tickets over there and travel again later. Besides the fact that you might not have the opportunity to travel like this again, so do it now. When deciding where to go and whom to go with, you must realize what you are going to be doing. Traveling with friends is a great idea but make sure you travel with someone that isn’t going to just be along for the ride. Plan a few different places to go and each person should be in charge of a different destination. I was in charge of Rome when I went and someone else was in charge of London. It helps because then one person doesn’t have all the paper work and one person doesn’t always have to worry about where to go and when and how do get there.
Sometimes it is hard to decide where to go because there are so many places and not enough time. My tip here is research each place and find out where you can see the most in each country or city. There are several places I wanted to go in Italy but Rome had the most and I only had a weekend. To see everything in a city, you have to be there for at least 3 days. I still regret not being able to see all of Paris. I was only there for about 36 hours and I couldn’t see everything that I wanted. Always make sure you plan travel time. Plan for time to get to the bus, airport, and to a hostel or hotel. In almost every case I had at least an hour ride from the airport to a hostel or hotel, sometimes more.
Thank you for reading this week. I will have more tips and suggestions for you every week. Covering everything you will need to know about studying and traveling abroad.
My first tip is going to be on planning your trip. Before you leave there are a lot of things that you need to do. From buying tickets, deciding where to go and who can go with you. How long are you going to be over there? My first suggestion has to be stay for at least a week or two after your program of classes. After my classes were done, all I wanted to do was travel more. It is much cheaper to travel longer than to buy new tickets over there and travel again later. Besides the fact that you might not have the opportunity to travel like this again, so do it now. When deciding where to go and whom to go with, you must realize what you are going to be doing. Traveling with friends is a great idea but make sure you travel with someone that isn’t going to just be along for the ride. Plan a few different places to go and each person should be in charge of a different destination. I was in charge of Rome when I went and someone else was in charge of London. It helps because then one person doesn’t have all the paper work and one person doesn’t always have to worry about where to go and when and how do get there.
Sometimes it is hard to decide where to go because there are so many places and not enough time. My tip here is research each place and find out where you can see the most in each country or city. There are several places I wanted to go in Italy but Rome had the most and I only had a weekend. To see everything in a city, you have to be there for at least 3 days. I still regret not being able to see all of Paris. I was only there for about 36 hours and I couldn’t see everything that I wanted. Always make sure you plan travel time. Plan for time to get to the bus, airport, and to a hostel or hotel. In almost every case I had at least an hour ride from the airport to a hostel or hotel, sometimes more.
Thank you for reading this week. I will have more tips and suggestions for you every week. Covering everything you will need to know about studying and traveling abroad.
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