Why Everyone Should Study Abroad
- brittanyyaxley
- May 8, 2020
- 3 min read
Study Abroad is one of the most common ways that most people are introduced to the life of traveling! If you have always dreamed of traveling, but aren't sure where to start or are nervous to travel alone- study abroad is your answer. I was lucky enough to study abroad in Barcelona, Spain for a semester and had the most incredible time traveling all of Europe. It showed me what I wanted to do for the rest of my life- TRAVEL EVEN MORE. Here are some reasons why everyone should study abroad:

Easiest Way to Live Abroad
Moving abroad can be quite challenging because you aren't sure how to find an apartment or get the right visa. Sometimes there's even a language barrier that you have to try and overcome all by yourself. But with study abroad, everything's set up for you. They have your accommodations ready & they even help you with your visa.
When I studied abroad, I had a choice between a home stay, shared apartment, or dorms. Throughout my entire time in college I had lived at home, so I knew I wanted to try the dorm life and have my own space. To my pleasant surprise, the "dorm" was a hotel! So I had my own room, bathroom, and shared a kitchen with 6 other people on my floor. I even had a maid who came and cleaned my room once a week! It really made me feel at home- like I truly had my own space here in this foreign city.
I have also moved abroad three other times besides study abroad- to China, Prague, and Vietnam. And long story short, it is VERY difficult to find an apartment, apply for a visa, and find a job all on your own. Study abroad really is stress-free.

Price
At a lot of universities, a semester studying abroad is the SAME PRICE as a semester on campus. That's something to find out once you're thinking about it- or even look into before committing to a certain college. Unfortunately I went to a private school that completely screwed me over and charged me SO much money last minute to study abroad. But, nearly all the people I met abroad said it was the same price as their regular semester on campus. I even met a guy who had studied abroad for 3 semesters in a row because he figured if it's the same price, he might as well live as many places in the world as he can. I like his thought process!

Get Your First Taste of Traveling
Not only are you living in another country and immersing yourself in a new culture, but depending on where you go, you can also travel quite a bit. Europe is probably the most common study abroad destination for Americans, and it's really easy to get a lot of traveling in because of how close all the countries are together (and how cheap it is to travel around).
You can do lots of traveling on the weekends, holidays, and even stay after your study abroad program ends to backpack around. Once my program ended, I stayed in Europe for an extra month to travel more and it was so incredible! I mean you're already out there, you might as well see as much as you can!

Get Built-in Friends & Travel Buddies
A lot of people don't travel the world simply because they have no one to do it with. I know it can be scary at first, but I guarantee if you go study abroad by yourself you will meet lots of friends. These friends obviously become your travel buddies very soon! The awesome part about study abroad is that people are there because they want to travel (and party, but I won't get into that). So even if you don't go with someone on a trip, pretty much every weekend people are going to different countries and you can talk to them about whether they recommend it or not! It's pretty cool.

Overall
Study abroad is the easiest way to move abroad and immerse yourself in another culture. You also can get your first taste of traveling and start to figure out if this is something you enjoy doing! And if it's the same price as a semester on-campus, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?

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