<p>D did semester abroad in London in Fall 2010.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No additional health insurance. I called our insurance company, and they told me she was covered. Fortunately, she didn’t have to use it. She also had ISIC card (Int. student card). I believe it provides some emergency coverage.</p></li>
<li><p>No travel insurance, but I regret not buying it. Her flight back home on Dec 17 was cancelled because of snow in Heathrow, and Virgin Airlines was able to rebook her only for Dec 26.</p></li>
<li><p>All kids from her group bought same brand cheap prepaid phones (20-25 BP). The students lived in different places, but had a lot of group activities together so communication was essential. We mainly used Skype to talk to her.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t remember any “I wish I’d brought” things. It’s very important to bring any prescription medication for the whole period of stay. Some advil/tylenol might be handy too. Also light rain jacket/coat and umbrella (even for summer!)</p></li>
<li><p>Money. My D is not a big shopper/spender. Her main out of pocket expenses were everyday food and transportation (Oyster card for underground and buses). I deposited the amount we usually pay for her college meal plan on her Bank of America account. It was her main source of money, and she used only Barclays bank/ATM to get cash (partner of BofA, no fees). She spent less than her college meal plan (including transportation). She was shopped for groceries in Tesco (chain supermarket) and cooked simple meals in common kitchen.
She also had Capital One CC (used for mainly for online purchases - books on Amazon.uk) and AmEx card (she never had to use it, but you can get emergency cash in AmEx offices in London if needed).
Her school was great with covering additional expenses (field trips, museums, theater tickets) so she did not spend much for those. Things are more expensive there as prices are similar, but everything is in BP
If your D is planning to travel around Europe, it can add a lot…My D did not do it, but her friends did and their budget was around $1000 for a week of travel.
I visited D for a week in London and we went for a couple of bus trips organized by tour companies (Stonehenge - 25 BP/person for half day tour, Oxford-Winsor Castle - around 50 BP for whole day)</p></li>
<li><p>Just laptop</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Luggage/Linens</p>
<p>I made a mistake - bought XLarge piece of luggage, which was very easy to overload even with just clothes. We ended up taking a couple of items out at the airport. Large size will be
fine. My D had one suitcase (with good wheels) and a large backpack with laptop and space for other stuff. She used public transportation (underground) to get from/to the airport and had to walk some distance with her luggage. I would not recommend taking more than your D is comfortable to carry/wheel around. Pack clothes and personal items, but do not overload.</p>
<p>My D lived in student housing, but linens/towels were not provided. She bought linens for around 15 BP in Primark (relatively cheap store) and just got rid of them and of towels at the end of her stay.</p>
<p>I also gave her some cash (bought BP in the bank) to spend in her first few days there (Oyster card, linens, phone…)</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter! She will have a great time!</p>
<p>Students are covered by the NHS if they are staying in country for more than 6 months. However I don’t think many study abroad programs last that long</p>
<p>If taking an adapter plug, be careful. Some shops market “Europe adaptors” which are two pin plugs. However, they fail to mention that the UK (despite being in Europe) uses three pin plugs. Wouldn’t want to waste money accidently. I also second being careful with straighteners.</p>
<p>I can’t say strongly enough to be very careful with the packing! Airlines are strict on luggage and hand luggage weight and size limits. Measure L+W+H carefully as well as weighing. If she goes over, she’ll be told to leave some of her things behind (sometimes you get away with it for an exorbitant amount of money but it’s not worth the risk)</p>
<p>If she is going to London, be aware of the cost…it might be a wonderful city, but it’s really expensive. On the other hand, northern cities like Newcastle are cheap, she can get great food from markets for very low prices.</p>
<p>Medication information:</p>
<p>Tylenol/Acetaminophen = Paracetamol (usually bought in 500mg capsules OTC)</p>
<p>You can buy Ibuprofen (Nurofen), or Ibuprofen Lysine OTC. My Ibuprofen lysine is marketed as ‘Feminax’ (for period cramps). You can also buy Nurofen Plus (Ibupfrofen + Codeine phosphate) over the counter upon request.</p>
<p>You can also buy aspirin and aspirin containing products</p>
<p>Be careful about certain drugs which you can buy OTC in the US, as in the UK some drugs become illegal when taken without a prescription. Do double check if taking something OTC which isn’t avaialble in the UK, and get a prescription if needed</p>
<p>Oh, about medication.
My daughter had to take >8 months’ supply of prescription medication with her.
Talk to your insurance company well in advance to find out what procedure you need to follow to get a waiver if they have restrictions on how much they will fill at once. We also ran into a problem where a pharmacist didn’t think she could fill the prescription (even though she could), and we had to call around, get some facts, speak to a supervisor, etc.</p>
<p>About phone cards:
This is the one we use. I imagine different providers are best for different countries, but we’re happy with how this one works. My daughter’s phone service has unlimited incoming calls, so we call her (usually exchange a couple of texts to see if she’s available). We used to Skype but she’s living in a place with no internet in the dorm rooms right now.
[Calling</a> Card | Phone Cards | International Phone Cards](<a href=“http://www.uniontelecard.com/]Calling”>http://www.uniontelecard.com/)</p>
<ol>
<li>Didn’t buy additional health insurance. My policy covers her overseas. She never needed it.</li>
<li>Bought travel insurance, because I have cancer and I was worried she would need to come home if things took a turn for the worse. I have to do that for all travel now. Would rather spend a few bucks and have nothing happen than not buy the insurance and have something happen.</li>
<li>She took her own cell phone for the first few days but turned OFF the roaming. She bought a cheap phone in Spain to keep in touch with her study abroad classmates but mostly used Skype to call the U.S. for free. The quality was so-so, but we were able to see and hear her. No texting back to the States!</li>
<li>Bring food? Are you kidding? It’s Europe. The local food is fantastic, even in England lol.</li>
<li>Money- well, yes, it can be expensive, but there are flea markets and all kinds of places to shop cheaply, like H & M, etc. She got flights on Ryan Air and other cheap airlines to off-season places like Portugal and Belgium for $10-$50 bucks. I was going to buy her a rail pass like I had 40 years ago, but that would have been a waste. All the kids fly from city to city. She ate (and drank!) very cheaply at tapas bars in Spain, but I think every city has its cheap eats. She used her debit card and credit card most of the time.</li>
<li>Her only problem was trying to get her birth control refilled. My insurance would only give her 3 months to take with her. The Spanish doctors seem to be a hurdle (she thought she would need a prescription). I got some more in the States for her, but found out it’s against the law to mail it. She ended up walking into a pharmacy and getting some without a prescription.</li>
</ol>
<p>She loved every minute, even without the Stateside boyfriend, and I am so glad she went. She was nervous about her grades, as her classes were taught in Spanish by Spanish professors and she seemed to be getting a lot of zeros, but I guess zeros are actually passing grades and she passed everything, and did well in most classes. The same is not true for all her classmates, though- I guess some really do go to learn how to throw up in Spanish (or Italian or whatever). </p>
<p>Hopefully your kid will have a host family that works out well, too. Mine had a 70-year-old grandma, but Mama Rosa was actually good for her- taught her some manners. Some of the living situations don’t work out. They need to speak up if things are not working out.</p>
<p>If she’s going to be doing a lot of air travel, I’d think about getting one of those hand-held weighing scales for weighing luggage, either stateside or in Europe (they seem more common in the States though). A normal weighing scale might be enough, but if the luggage is particularly large or shapeless, it can be impossible to actually read the scale! (I speak from experience and a lot of crossed fingers at airport check-in counters.) If expecting overage or if she needs to check in a second piece of luggage, check online and pay for the extra in advance; not only is it often cheaper but some fares do NOT let you buy an extra piece of checked baggage (also speaking from experience). </p>
<p>When I packed up my life in New York at the end of last semester, I went home with FOUR checked bags. Or rather, since BA told me I couldn’t have more than one bag even if I was willing to pay, one bag went with me, another went with a friend and two went with my roommate! (Same hometown, all.) Paying for the extra luggage was cheaper than shipping it all. </p>
<p>Pity about the lost luggage. Schiphol is a great airport otherwise (though their boarding calls are quite passive-aggressive).</p>
<p>Both my d’s schools had supplemental health insurance as a requirement but it was not expensive if I recall, although they were well covered by our insurance. We did not get extra trip insurance. Both programs used PICCELL and first time we rented cell phone and second time we bought unlocked phone and rented SIM Card. Older d’s program also had a landline where she could receive incoming calls. I used to call her by prepaid phone card either from my office or at home. She also spent several summers in France first as student, then intern, then staff and we did the same as well as Skype which we did with younger d as well. There was nothing from home that they brought with them in terms of food… but they were happy to have a NY bagel when they came home! Both spent money with travel as they each traveled somewhat, but not extensively and tried to live as cheaply as they could, especially younger d as dollar was weak against the euro during her semester abroad in Vienna and winter break class in London, which is expensive city. Both of their programs included linens, they brought extra towels with them and tossed them at the end-don’t recall about hair dryers-but can easily bring adaptors. Both had good sized backpacks and with younger d, we checked airline baggage requirements a few days before leaving and had to buy a different bag as the luggage we had planned to use was now oversize.</p>
<p>My son is also in New Zealand. I called our health insurer and was told he has the same coverage overseas so we did not need to purchase insurance. We paid for a second suitcase figuring he will return with plenty of gifts for us and new clothes for him etc. Someone here on CC sent me a cell phone for NZ and my son uses it, Facebook, and Skype to communicate. Thanks ebee.</p>
<p>His bank at his college made things simple for him to access his account but it bugs him to pay a $2 or $3 fee to take money out. My bank wanted to charge us $13 for some local NZ money to bring with him so we passed on it. Go to Radio Shack to purchase adaptors for voltage as they have 'em for most countries. The two items we purchased there cost $60.</p>
<p>Luggage? Only let your kid take bare minimum. That way, you can fly over and bring clothes for the next season and bring home the stuff no longer needed! At least, that’s our plan.</p>
<p>You can buy a hairdryer for about £5 in Tesco or Argos. That will probably be cheaper than buying a convertor and/or plug adaptor in the US.</p>
<p>I agree with the posters above that cost mainly depends on
1)location in the UK
2)Time spent travelling</p>
<p>Two months spent with a host family in Preston not travelling further than a day trip to Edinburgh will be about 1/10 of the cost of 2 months in a privately rented flat in London travelling abroad every weekend.</p>
<p>All those £10 easyjet flights have at least £30-50 tax added BTW. they are not as good a deal as they seem, and sometimes fly into inconvenient airports where getting anywhere will cost a fortune (at some point everyone ends up strapped at Stansted at 4am).</p>
<p>I think taking peanut butter is absolutely ridiculous, given that you can buy it in any supermarket in the UK (try [Tesco.com</a> - online shopping; bringing the supermarket to you.](<a href=“http://www.tesco.com%5DTesco.com”>http://www.tesco.com) or [Sainsbury’s[/url</a>] if you don’t believe me, which of course you don’t and will no doubt bring 200 jars of PB with you, like most US students. Walmart owns [url=<a href=“http://www.asda.com%5DOnline”>http://www.asda.com]Online</a> Grocery Shopping, ASDA Direct, George and more at Asda.com](<a href=“http://www.sainsburys.co.uk%5DSainsbury’s%5B/url”>http://www.sainsburys.co.uk) and they sell PB too).</p>
<p>My youngest is spending this summer studying in the France and I could use some advice. She was diagnosed with Celiac Disease this year and she now has to avoid gluten (wheat, barley, rye and somewhat oats) or she becomes quite ill. Her damaged intestines still don’t respond well to dairy (lactose intolerance) but I’m hoping that gets a bit better by the time she goes.</p>
<p>So, does anyone know if gluten free food is available in stores and/or restaurants especially outside of Paris? She will be staying in the French Alps area near Geneva. No school food plan as she is doing homestay and I expect she may have to buy/cook some of her own food. She’s trying to research if they label items as gluten free.</p>
<p>cupcake - agreed on the cheap flights. S flew RyanAir ONCE and said never again. They even charged 5 Euros to print your own boarding pass (or 20 Euros if they printed it for you at the airport). He said the inconvenience of the airports they flew to made it not worth it - he’d spend half his time and a ton of money getting from the airport to the city. He spent his semester in Barcelona, home base of Vueling Airlines. He flew Vueling a lot. (Barcelona doesn’t have good train service to anywhere else in Europe - its a little unusual in that regard).</p>
<p>This thread is very helpful for me! We have a child headed overseas for what sounds like a similiar(maybe same?) experience as yours, Queen’s Mom. My husband and I are absolute rookies regarding travel. Our child is even more inexperienced. This will be an adventure for sure!</p>
At least, that’s our plan.</p>