<p>Is it weird NOT to travel around Europe when I go study abroad in the UK? I've come to the sad conclusion that I might not be able to "travel around Europe!" -- okay, more like traveling through 4 or 5 countries/cities --- like I dreamed of doing because I simply don't have enough money. I think I might be able to at least go to France like I planned and stay within the UK. But still. </p>
<p>I feel EXTREMELY guilty right now because I have put a financial burden on my parents shoulder, even to the point that I regret that I am choosing to study abroad.</p>
<p>But is it weird NOT to do much traveling? Also, if I do choose to go to at least France during Easter break, is it weird to go traveling alone? Do most U.S. kids studying for a semester go travel alone or do they find people to go with?</p>
<p>You can travel Europe pretty cheap from the UK. Stay in hostels and take trains/fly ryanair, etc. If you’re only studying for one semester, I can’t really see you getting in more than 2-3 weekend trips.</p>
<p>FWIW I wouldn’t feel guilty about travelling. I’d probably learn more in most of the historic cities in Europe than in the classroom. This is assuming you don’t spend all of your time in clubs/pubs.</p>
<p>Agree with Adam. Choose 3 European destinations (3 weekends). Look up flights on Ryan Air/Easy Jet. Look at hostels. Buy food in the grocery stores and have picnics or cook in the hostel kitchen. DON’T spend all your time/money in the pubs. You can certainly do this on a budget</p>
<p>as for other travelers - you will meet people who want to travel whilst at your UK school. They might be Americans - or maybe even British students who want to go away for the weekend - they would be very helpful in navigating the cheap travel deals as well</p>
<p>I would also suggest cities that maybe are not the ‘usual’ destinations and would therefore possibly be cheaper:-</p>
<p>Berlin - Hamburg
Barcelona - Seville (or even Lisbon in Portugal - great city!)
Polish cities such as Krackow (its near Auschwitz if that is of significance to you)
Budapest
Verona (italy)</p>
<p>look at the Ryan Air deals and see where to go! remember to read the small print on their website re baggage and online check in and then it will be as cheap as they say!</p>
<p>Ryan Air flights might cost £5, but the tax on top of that will be about £40.</p>
<p>British Universities have lots of “societies” which you can join for free or a very small amount. They will be listed on the uni internal website. If you are beginning your study abroad in September (which I recommend because otherwise you may be the only new student starting in Jan/Feb.Most UK unis only have one intake of students per year, in Sept/Oct) there is a “freshers fair” where all the societies have stalls where you can sign up. I was in half a dozen orchestras, bands and music societies. I also joined the walking club. Through this I got to see a lot of the UK and spent my weekends hiking and travelling round the UK. I also made friends with UK students and visited their homes during the vacations. It doesn’t have to be walking. Choose a sport, or drama, or choir. Whatever you enjoy. You will have a good time.</p>
<p>Not directed at the OP, but it kind of saddens me that so many people who post on these forums want to study abroad, but do not wish to interact with anyone who is not American. A waste of time and money in my opinion. Isn’t study abroad about meeting people and learning about a new culture? Not many people seem to do much studying!</p>
<p>When I studied in Israel, I left the country only ONCE- to Prague to visit a friend for a few days. After that, I stayed in Israel for the rest of my time (about 7 months). I don’t regret it at all. In fact I was thrilled and I think I got more out of my experience that anyone in my program. Everyone traveled to Europe or home to the US during spring break while I stayed in Israel and traveled the country. I learned so much about the Israeli society and culture. I also had more money that allowed me to stay beyond my original departure date. Everyone else who had gone away for spring break and took a lot of weekend trips were quite desperate to go home in the last 2 weeks because they had run out of cash to spend. :)</p>
<p>England is not huge and Wales isn’t far away so you should definitely make the most of your time in the UK and get to know the Brits, Welsh, and the Scots. Make friends with some native students so that maybe you can go home with them for one weekend. As cupcake said, the point of being abroad is to get to know another culture, and how can you if you don’t travel/speak with these people? Because I had spent so much time with Israelis, I felt that my classmates didn’t understand Israel the way I did.</p>
<p>And, as cupcake knows, some Americans really do study when in the UK:).</p>
<p>Easter comes very late this year. Has your SA uni let you know that you will be off at that time?</p>
<p>Also, when my daughter was in the UK, she had classes only on TWTh. This was not planned, just the schedule she got. She travelled with Brits, Canadians, one Aussie, and one American, and met her older brother (lives in Europe) for a weekend in Germany. Aside from Germany she stayed in the UK. Visited Scotland, Cardiff, London (she did not study there), some others I’m forgetting. She never had to go alone.</p>
<p>If you are studying through a “program”, that might have some already paid for excursions.</p>
<p>In any case, so what if you don’t get all over Europe. The UK will offer you plenty.</p>
<p>When son traveled on study abroad, he and a girl he met traveled to 3 countries over spring break. They flew and took trains. They used priceline for hotels (put in 5 stars, why rough it too much) and got 5 star hotels in each country for less than $70 a night to split between the two of them. Great deal. (and this was for Paris, Amsterdam and London.)</p>
<p>Be careful with Ryan Air. The fare may be low, but you have to pay additional fees to get on the plane - they even charge 5 Euro to print your own boarding pass at home. They also tend to fly into smaller, remote airports and you have to pay for transportation into the city if that’s where you want to tour.</p>
<p>That said, S traveled all over Europe last semester, and he said the single trip he took on Ryan Air was his cheapest flight of the semester.</p>
<p>Hostels in Europe are inexpensive and generally pretty good. I’d try TripAdvisor to get some reviews before booking one. </p>
<p>S will always treasure the traveling he did, and I felt it was at least as educational (if not more) than what he learned in his classes. Heck, you can sit in a classroom in the USA, but you can’t go to the British Museum or the Parthenon or Anne Frank’s hiding-house or ski down a Swiss mountain in the USA. </p>
<p>I also would not recommend traveling alone. You can probably find a classmate who wants to travel to wherever you want to go. </p>
<p>There are places in Europe that are worth touring and not expensive. S said Prague was beautiful and very inexpensive. He generally took walking or bicycle tours when he arrived at destinations. He used a travel guide I bought him, or looked at tour brochures at the hostels they stayed at.</p>
<p>Train travel is the way to go. You’d be surprised—even taking the Eurostar can be pretty affordable as there are specials. I studied for 7 months in Germany during undergrad, and it was a great time. I bought myself a german Bahncard 25, so that I would get discounted travel. Don’t think that traveling has to mean flying somewhere–you’re in Europe and the sights are much more densely packed! </p>
<p>Note that I had a stipend during my study abroad so it subsidized my travel a bit, but here you are, along with how I made it cheaper to stay. I took the train to all these places, from Germany:</p>
<p>-Munich, Paris, London, Milan, Torino, Sicily (yes I took the train to an island, look it up), Glasgow, Berlin</p>
<p>D2 just spent last semester abroad (D1 Fall '09) based in Geneva, Switzerland. Traveling by train or plane can be cheaper than traveling in the USA. And there are many inexpensive (by US standards) and good hostels. BUT, Europe, in general, is very expensive. </p>
<p>Both were constantly agonizing about money (We required them to pay for the extra amount it would cost to do a semester abroad vs. a semester at their USA school. Of course, we ended up spending much more for them to go abroad and didn’t tell them. They think they covered all extra and they did contribute a lot.) They each got to travel to several other countries. When they were agonizing, I reminded them that this opportunity may never come again, so they should take advantage of it.</p>
<p>Travel as much as you can: the USA is geographically isolated and has a crappy infrastructure. You should take advantage of being somewhere that is close to other countries and has a decent rail system.</p>
Everyone else who had gone away for spring break and took a lot of weekend trips were quite desperate to go home in the last 2 weeks because they had run out of cash to spend. :)</p>