Updated: 03/23/20 | March 23rd, 2020
I sat down to write about my travel regrets and realized I only have one: I never studied abroad when I was in college.
Studying abroad is an annual ritual for thousands of college students. They travel all over the world to get away from home, experience something new, take classes overseas, meet new people, and party in foreign lands.
Most American students seem to flock toward Europe, where cheap transportation makes weekend trips to exotic cities easy.
When I was in college, I never caught the study abroad bug. At that point in my life, I wasn’t big into traveling. Studying abroad sounded cool, but it also sounded like a tedious administrative process — and I was lazy.
I liked my campus life; ηταν ευκολο. forms and paperwork got in the way of sleeping late, four-day weekends, and fraternity events.
But what really held me back was a single idea that seems to hold many others back, too. It’s the belief that something might be missed while studying abroad.
What would happen if I left home? What changes would happen with my friends? What parties would I miss? What gossip? What if there was some big event at school and I wasn’t there? What if the president came?
What if this? What if that?
With all those “what ifs” in my head, I never went abroad because I never wanted to miss something. I didn’t know what that “something” was, but I knew I wasn’t going to miss it.
But I was naive in that thinking. I never realized that studying abroad would imply new memories, new friends, and new adventures. I was too tied to the worry in my mind to let myself go.
Flash forward to 2006, when I went driving with my friend Mike. We were talking about how I was about to leave for my round-the-world trip.
“I wonder what life will be like when I come back?” Τον ρώτησα.
“Nothing will change,” he said. “It will be the exact same as when you left.”
“Πως και έτσι? I’ll be gone for a year!” I retorted. “A year is a long time. Something will happen.”
“Matt,” he said to me, “when I went to England to study abroad, I thought the same thing. but when I came back, everyone was still doing the same thing, studying the same thing, acting the same way. It was as though I had never left. I melted best back in. It will be the same for you, too.”
In the end, Mike was right.
After 18 months of traveling around the world, I came home and life was still the same.
My friends had the same jobs, had the same hobbies, and went to the same bars.
I hadn’t missed any earth-shattering events. Life had continued on exactly the same way it always had in my absence.
In a way, it felt as though those 18 months away had never really happened. My old life was there as if frozen in time, just waiting for my return.
And it was then that I realized I had made a huge mistake by never studying abroad.
I missed out on an opportunity that only comes along once in your life. That semester abroad was taken away from me by my own unfounded fears.
Now, I regret that I let worry keep me from experiencing life overseas. who knows what kinds of experiences I might have had studying abroad, what friends I would have made, or how my impression of travel might be different had I started at a younger age.
I robbed myself of an opportunity because I was too frightened to leave my comfort zone. It’s much simpler to stay at home where things are familiar than to break out and travel. It’s a big thing to step out your door, away from your safety net, and into the known.
Deep down, you may want to travel…but the devil you know is always safer than the devil you don’t. It can be a hard mindset to shake.
I know numerous college students read my blog. I know because I receive emails from students all the time. This post is for all the students out there who are scared to take a chance.
To you, I say, go study abroad!
As scary as it may seem, you aren’t the first person to study abroad. You aren’t the first person to leave home and explore the world. Columbus and Magellan had a reason to be afraid. You don’t.
There is a well-worn traveler trail out there. There are people to help you. There are groups and resources online. You aren’t going to be alone.
As scary as it may seem, you aren’t venturing into the true unknown.
Don’t worry about what you might miss back home. Your friends will still be your friends, the parties will still be there, and campus life won’t change. You don’t need to be home to learn all the juicy gossip. You can do that on Facebook.
Do the Foo Fighters coming for a concert compare to exploring all the gelato restaurants in Florence?
Would you trade weekends on the beach in Australia just so you can be there to learn that a friend made a trick of himself at a party?
I know from experience that you are missing out on much more by staying on campus than by going overseas. This is your chance to live abroad and have many of your expenses paid for you.Αυτός είναι ο πυροβολισμός σας όταν σας αρέσει ο κόσμος έξω από τα σύνορά σας σε σχετική άνεση και ασφάλεια.
Μην είστε νευρικοί.
Μην αφήσετε αυτή την ανησυχία να σας κρατήσει πίσω.
Θα εξακολουθείτε να βρίσκεστε στη φούσκα της σχολικής ασφάλειας … απλά σε ένα διαφορετικό σχολείο. Θα υπάρχουν πολλοί άλλοι μαθητές εξίσου νευρικοί με εσάς. Θα είναι κάτι που πρέπει να δεσμευτεί. Επιπλέον, αν πραγματικά δεν σας αρέσει, μπορείτε πάντα να επιστρέψετε στο σπίτι.
Αλλά μην είσαι σαν εμένα – γεμάτο με μια ζωή λύπης απλώς και μόνο επειδή φοβόσασταν πολύ για το τι θα μπορούσε να ήταν.
Πώς να ταξιδέψετε στον κόσμο σε 50 $ την ημέρα
Ο οδηγός χαρτιού του New York Times για το World Travel θα σας καθοδηγήσει πώς να κυριαρχήσετε την τέχνη του ταξιδιού, ώστε να βγείτε από το πεπατημένο μονοπάτι, να εξοικονομήσετε χρήματα και να έχετε μια βαθύτερη ταξιδιωτική εμπειρία. Είναι ο Οδηγός Σχεδιασμού Α για τον Ζ, που το BBC κάλεσε την “Βίβλο για ταξιδιώτες του προϋπολογισμού”.
Κάντε κλικ εδώ για να μάθετε πολύ περισσότερα και να αρχίσετε να το διαβάζετε σήμερα!
Κλείστε το ταξίδι σας: Προτάσεις και κόλπα υλικοτεχνικής υποστήριξης
Κλείστε την πτήση σας
Βρείτε μια φτηνή πτήση χρησιμοποιώντας το Skyscanner. Είναι η αγαπημένη μου μηχανή αναζήτησης, επειδή αναζητά ιστότοπους και αεροπορικές εταιρείες σε όλο τον κόσμο, ώστε να γνωρίζετε πάντα ότι καμία πέτρα δεν αφήνεται.
Κλείστε το κατάλυμα σας
Μπορείτε να κλείσετε το ξενώνα σας με το Hostelworld. Εάν θέλετε να μείνετε κάπου εκτός από έναν ξενώνα, χρησιμοποιήστε το Booking.com καθώς επιστρέφουν με συνέπεια τις πιο προσιτές τιμές για τους ξενώνες και τα ξενοδοχεία.
Μην ξεχνάτε την ασφάλιση ταξιδιού
Η ταξιδιωτική ασφάλιση θα σας προστατεύσει από την ασθένεια, τον τραυματισμό, την κλοπή και τις ακυρώσεις. Είναι εκτεταμένη προστασία σε περίπτωση που κάτι πάει στραβά. Ποτέ δεν πηγαίνω σε ένα ταξίδι χωρίς αυτό, όπως έπρεπε να το χρησιμοποιήσω πολλές φορές στο παρελθόν. Οι αγαπημένες μου εταιρείες που προσφέρουν την καλύτερη υπηρεσία και αξία είναι:
SafetyWing (καλύτερο για όλους)
Ασφαλίστε το ταξίδι μου (για όσους άνω των 70)
Medjet (για πρόσθετη κάλυψη εκκένωσης)
Είστε έτοιμοι να κλείσετε το ταξίδι σας;
Ελέγξτε τη σελίδα πόρων μου για τις καλύτερες εταιρείες που θα χρησιμοποιήσετε όταν ταξιδεύετε. Παραθέτω όλα αυτά που χρησιμοποιώ όταν ταξιδεύω. Είναι το καλύτερο στην τάξη και δεν μπορείτε να πάτε στραβά χρησιμοποιώντας τα στο ταξίδι σας.
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