Top 3 Study-Abroad Tips

From Lauren Bailey:
Having spent about three months in London studying abroad my last semester senior year and then another three months traveling Europe solo, I learned a lot of helpful hints.  Many are detailed in my first few entries of my blog, 6 Months in Europe, but I will try to lay out a few here.  Also, feel free to check out that blog which goes into depth about many places I visited, the must-sees and the eh-it's-okays, as well as some fabulous photographs.

1) The Phone Dilemma: International calls - I left my cell phone at home.  Instead, I set up a skype account and for a very low price purchased skype unlimited US and Canada calling for a 6 month period (also comes in shorter periods).  This allowed me to call from my computer to any US or Canada land line OR cell phone without any cost to the receivers and no extra cost other than the $20 or something I paid for the 6 mo. subscription. 

Furthermore, I also purchased another low priced deal through skype (about $12) for a US phone number - this would allow people to call me back at that number.  If my computer was on, I'd hear it ring and pick it up (sort to speak) like a phone.  If my computer was not on, they could leave a voice mail. 

But a computer is rather bulky to carry around right?  Not anymore.  I purchased an eeePC asus netbook that weighed less than 2 lbs and which I carried with me all over the place.  (Obviously not on day trips from my flat, but if I was ever staying in a hostel and felt worried about its safety, it wasn't a problem to stick it in my bag).  And, it was less than $300 and that was 2 years ago.

Local phone - While in London, I stopped by a Virgin store and purchased a cheap phone that you could add money to online or at any store.  I'm assuming you could do this at a similar outlet anywhere in Europe.  All the people in my program got one which allowed us to keep in touch with each other just to say "meet me at such and such a place at noon."  It would also make international calls (though using up a good bit of the prepaid money) which was good for emergencies.  When my wallet was stolen while I was at a soccer game, I called home to ask my parents to cancel my cards.

2) Couchsurfing - Once I left London I joined the couchsurfing network on couchsurfing.org which allows travelers to stay with locals (on their spare bed or couch) for free in exchange for cultural exchanges and a good time.  I know, this seems very sketchy - but the review system which allows people to leave references for both guests and hosts cannot be deleted and the more positive reviews, the more you can trust your host (or guest).  I did this alone for three months after leaving London.  HOWEVER, the cool thing about this is even if you have somewhere to stay, you can use the network to meet up with locals and see things you never would have seen before.  Or, just meet for coffee and have a real cultural experience with a local. Through different CS groups, you can post a notice like "I'm going to the Louvre tomorrow - anyone want to join?"  One time in France, a guy from Morocco who was in film school in Paris made my friend and me an amazing Moroccan dinner after we met him near the Louvre and had tea with him earlier in the day.

CS will ensure that if you don't want to be alone on an adventure or even for lunch, you don't have to be.  I made lifelong friends through CS and it was one of the best leaps of faith I've ever made.  Even my mother (who is VERY paranoid) got on board after a little while.

3) Explore on your own - pretty self-explanatory, but there is something to be said for figuring out the trains, the streets and the communication on your own.  You will often see things and meet people that an all-American buffer will never allow you.  Foreigners are also much more receptive to lone Americans and I never once felt the disdain that others have said they felt at the hands of American-loathing Europeans.

Angelina's in Paris: Go there

From Andria Krewson:
Angelina's was recommended by Mary Newsom of The Charlotte Observer, and many others. Get the hot chocolate.

My daughter has now been at least three times.

Tip: Go for late lunch/early tea, about 2:30 p.m., if you don't want to wait in line for hours.


Image: Not so lousy iPhone snapshot by me, "styled" slightly by Sarah Acuff.

Shakespeare and Company in Paris: Go there

From Andria Krewson:
Like bookstores? Then you have to go to the ultimate bookstore, on the Left Bank in Paris. Hang out in the stacks where Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce hung out in the 1920s.
Details from Wikipedia.

From Andria Krewson:
File under stuff you need to settle before you go:

AT&T and iPhones: Don’t go there, unless you have money to burn. Students can take the phones if they want to use them just like iPods for tunes and contact lists: Put the phone in airplane mode under settings, and don’t turn airplane mode off. Wifi is available in numerous places in big cities and in some cafes in smaller cities. I used this technique when visiting for a week in November. The feature I was most glad to have: the camera. I used hotel wifi to catch up on news in the evenings. Note: My daughter left her iPhone at the Charlotte airport, by mistake, before she took off, but managed to check in with me through Facebook at her hotel after landing. Traveling with a group helps here too: Borrowing a friend's phone for a quick check-in works.

Buy a local phone (or world phone) with prepaid minutes: My daughter bought and used one of these, and could send and receive texts, at a price, as well as get international calls. Those international calls and texts were pricey, so we didn’t use it much, but it was an emergency lifeline and allowed her to communicate cheaply with fellow students in the same town. If you don’t want to put the student through the hassle of figuring this purchase out overseas, try some of the cheap international stores along Central Avenue in Charlotte (or wherever your town might be.) Stores that cater to recent immigrants are used to dealing with international phones, but be wary. The phones, especially if secondhand, could lack basic requirements such as chargers that will work in the country to which you’re traveling. My daughter used a charger converter that we bought at Sharon Luggage before she left. She used it primarily for her computer. Note: blow dryers from the United States suck too much power for most French outlets. Get a converter or get a wash-and-go hairstyle.

Verizon: I have no clue. Anyone know? Any more tips?

Go deeper: Check out this French phone post from Doc Searls and comment thread if you really want to go deep into the phone research. It seems to me that generally the French are less wired than we are, and that's either a cultural difference or the price of data in France in general. Face-to-face conversations count for much more.

Image: Lousy snapshot of daughter's French pay-as-you-go-phone. It's from SFR, and here's the company's site in French. If you're planning to upgrade a cell phone anyway or have money to burn, SFR has a Nexus One available apparently.

Why now? Why here?

From Andria Krewson:
Sarah just returned from France. Elizabeth is about to go to France. Morgan's heading for Italy, as is the other Sarah (a church friend of Sarah's).

Carson got stuck once in immigration in South America. Alex is a pro with months of travel in South America. Lydia traveled to Morocco and lived to tell the tale.

So here's a place to connect and share travel advice, outside of Facebook. Helicopter parents are welcome, though of course we don't really have helicopters. We do have the Internet, and Skype, and each other.

If this site doesn't work, no harm, no foul. If it does, all the better. Assistance from others welcome.

To start, for those leaving for a semester very soon, try OneBag.com, for how to pack. That site was recommended by someone at Quora, a Q&A site with lots of categories. It has tons of information, but it takes awhile to figure out how to navigate.
Here are direct links to two questions there:
Advice on staying safe
What shouldn't you forget for a long stay abroad?

Image: Arles, France, in August 2010, by Sarah Acuff