Introduction

Welcome to my blog! This is where I plan to post stories, memories, and photos from my trip to Europe that begins in just 10 days. My plane departs on June 19th and will arrive in Switzerland on the morning of the 20th. Once there, my friend Nicole and I will backpack together for ten days, visiting Zurich, Interlaken, Luzern, Milan, and Venice by train before we split up. Nicole will head back to the US and I will stay for a four week study abroad course.

So far a lot of planning has gone into the trip. The first step for me was finding a study abroad program that looked like it was worth my summer savings. The next step was making flight reservations, which I booked in March. In mid-May Nicole and I chose the places we wanted to visit, used raileurope.com to get our tickets and booked hostels. Since then I have bought a good pair of walking shoes, a sturdy travel pack, and am waiting for my travel insurance card to arrive. It all sounds simple, but each step took hours of planning and research to finalize the best itinerary and to get the best deals along the way.

I have not thought much yet about what it will actually be like once I am abroad, but I expect the trip to be eye opening, amazing, frustrating (at times), and hopefully the experience of a lifetime. I am excited to leave the country for the first time and, after garnering all the travel wisdom I can from books and blogs, feel ready to test my independence and street smarts. It's not easy to travel on a student's budget, but my friend Nicole and I are going to do just that. Hopefully this blog can serve as a guide for students interested in taking a similar trip.

More posts to follow,

-Betsy