Yes, ATM fees can be substantial. My kids use a bank that refunds all ATM charges incurred anywhere in the world. For now, I am on their accounts so I can get them money quickly if they need it.
When you buy pre-loaded SIM cards in the Europe, is there a phone number attached or do folks just text your US number which my D could only receive when she’s on wifi? Or, is it that if you’re using a SIM card to get cell service then the messages will come through to your iMessage or WhatsApp when you’re not on wifi? So phone number is less important? I think it’s the latter but just checking.
I know you can call folks through WhatsApp too – maybe that’s what she and her new friends will do? This program draws students from all over the world – only 25% EU and the rest from everywhere else.
I guess I’m just trying to weigh whether she should get an actual EU number/service vs. just the SIM card she uses. Two years is a long time…
This is an aside, but she’ll want cell service for GPS too – her sense of direction is not great.
Which bank is that? I just checked USAA b/c my D banks there and they charge a transaction fee with debits! Surprising given it serves the military community.
Such great advice everyone! Thank you so much!
I know S changes his number but of course he started with a UK number then got the US plan.
When I bought my SIM card years ago I got the number with the card and still have that number.
I am not too sure how he manages it when he is in the ‘other’ country. I have both his numbers in my phone and use each accordingly. Guess that is what his friends do - regardless of where they are - they know where S is so use that number. But I will check when we speak with him this weekend.
We use WhatsApp and Facetime as both on Apple phones - also Skype and Zoom. Boy does he have it good. When I was travelling I had to write a letter every week. 
Helpful! Sounds like she’ll get a number and can keep it throughout the two years by re-loading with data/min – just need to make sure it works throughout Europe/UK w/o roaming fees, etc. since she’ll be on the move a lot. I think we may just also keep her on our family plan in the US to preserve her number and for when she’s home.
When I spent 7 months in Europe in the 80s I probably called home to the US six times! My mom used to send me letters on that thin airmail stationery. 
Bangor Savings.
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How I remember that airmail stationery 
I got letters on blue paper that was the letter and envelope! Kids today would be horrified 
Yes S keeps his US plan going but of course he is only home for a few weeks/months at the time.
She/you will need to do a bit of research into which provider will be the best. Our providers all offer different packages with and without roaming charges but now that we are not in Europe things are changing here - but not of course for European providers. I don’t know the ones for Europe. Ours will go by different names in Europe. I do know ones like Lebara/Lyca are used here and very popular with international travellers coming to Britain. I’m not great with searching but a Google search for European providers should throw up something to go on.
Great info – tks! I don’t think she’ll be in the UK much though she does have a friend who’ll be doing a one-year masters that I’m sure she’ll visit, but she can sort that out. The good thing is she’s in a cohort program with the students moving between 4 EU universities in 4 countries and I gather there’s a lot of information sharing, including helping finding short term housing! What an adventure it will be!
I agree with all the comments here that she’s going to really need to pare down what she’s taking. That will be hard for her!
I do think her carry on is small enough for European standards but we’ll have to check.
My BFF lived in Germany for several years. She had the tiniest, scribbliest writing I’ve ever seen. She would send me long letters on that thin blue stationary, ha.
The week I was devastated when my husband and I were laid off the same day (and coincidentally, the same week I passed the exam to become a professional engineer), my BFF sent me a telegram to console me. How things have changed!
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If the programme has lots of different nationals on it there will surely by Europeans on it from different countries. Best ask them which network provider they use for their phones.
Popping over to Britain from Europe for a few days regards the phone may mean comparing what she will have on her new sim or switching back to her US plan. My cousin in Paris swaps her phone when she comes back home but again she has a UK sim too.
When we are in the States next month for graduation I will just use my UK sim. I will try and use free Wifi most places with the odd text here and there. I don’t like Google maps as I like to see ‘where I am’ in relation to ‘where I am going’. I think that a lot of young people are loosing that skill as Google maps only shows you ‘where you are’ and so they don’t know whether they are going N,S,E or W.
Telegrams - now there is a hark to the past.
All the weddings I went to there was always the section the Best Man read out the telegrams from the absentees. That obviously doesn’t happen any more.
The EU sim will work in the UK, just at roaming rates- which will probably be lower than US roaming charges!
It can be really really tiny. You often are flying on very small planes so I’d avoid backpacks in favor of a thin bag, if needed. I have a nylon bag that’s a backpack. I use it for convenience but it’s collapsible and weighs nothing.
@mynameiswhatever : Side question: I don’t fully understand how packing cubes reduce volume. They definitely help organize your luggage, but don’t they still use extra space (albeit a very small amount)? When I want to stay organized and will be using luggage daily, I’ve found them very helpful. But if I’m just trying to utilize the maximum volume, to get from point A to point B, I’ll roll items, pack items inside of other items (no shoe space goes unused), etc. Need to watch the weight in those situations though!
They really compact/compress the space you’re clothes take AND they help you keep organized.
For example, I travel for business quite frequently and have to take dress socks as well as “play socks”. If you packed all your socks for a five-day trip, the space it would take up in the suitcase would be a bunch of socks. The packing cubes GREATLY compress all of that into a much smaller area. That’s just one example. Multiply all the clothes you might take on the trip, and it is amazing the VOLUME (but not weight!).
In addition, when you unpack at your hotel etc., you just take out each of the packing cubes and put them in the drawers so everything stays organized in each cube.
For the kind of travel I do (usually long-distance domestic or international business travel), at least before the pandemic, they saved so much space. It also depends on what kind of trip you’re taking.
I took a one-month overseas business trip a few years ago (gasp!) and had to change hotels a few times. For organization alone, the cubes were worth it. The space-saving features were an added benefit and gave me the volume for gifts to bring back home, which was mandatory after a one-month trip!
A lot of people believe in them, and some don’t. Here’s an article on the pros and cons of packing cubes: What's all the fuss about packing cubes — and are they right for you? - The Points Guy
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I like compression packing cubes (they have extra zipper to make it get smaller). I find them more helpful than standard ones. I’m ambivalent about using them in general.
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Compression cubes make some sort of sense, but regular cubes for a regular traveler are just more work! If you travel with gear that gets smelly/dirty, a plastic bag roughly the size of the interior of your suitcase works really well (because the dirty clothes can spread out flat on top of your top layer.
I strongly recommend taking a little time to organize a zipper bag (roughly 4x6 should be big enough) in which you keep a cord of every type you need for whatever electronics you might possibly travel with (eg, phone, tablet, laptop, kindle, camera, wireless earphones), at least 1 2-fer adapter (so you can charge more than 1 thing at a time), and adapter(s) (I keep the three main types (EU, UK/IR,US, but you could also get one of those all-in-one gadgets), and a set of ok headphones. (I do NOT recommend the things that have little loops for each type of thing- they are fiddly, never have the combination you need, and take up more space).The bag is ONLY for traveling- you never ‘borrow’ from it, so when you are traveling, you grab that bag & you know that you have everything you need. I keep mine next to my passport and my ‘liquids’ bag.
For the liquids bag, get a clear, zipper bag in the required size, and stock it with toothbrush, toothpaste, razor & blades, travel size shampoo / lotion / etc, a comb/travel size brush- whatever is essential to you. Again, it never gets raided, so you know when you grab it, your passport and your cables kit you don’t have to worry that something is missing. The clear bag makes it easy for you to notice when things are getting low, the zipper keeps it all contained and makes it easy to put on the top of your carry on bag, which speeds up the security line.
I like mesh bags so you can see what is in everything you’re packing—that and clear pouches are the only things I will pack with. Opaque things don’t work for me.
Haven’t traveled since 2019, so I’m sure my packing skills are quite rusty.
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Packing cubes are those things that if you love them, you think they are necessary. If you don’t use them, then that ok too
I love packing cubes myself. So much easier to pack. Easier to keep things straight. I also pack a small bag for dirty clothes. I also will pack the dirty clothes in one cube. I like them for shoes.
But I even use packing cubes for a weekend visit, because I like them and find them easy to be organized
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