With only one large suitcase and a backpack, I packed my life of four months and stepped on a plane to London. But London was not my only stop. Before I came to a full stop in Kensington, I spent my last two weeks before school started in Italy. There was nothing quite like dragging a giant suitcase up Italian train steps or navigating the tiny wheeled thing over cobblestone sidewalks on the way to a hotel. It was in those moments when I wondered whether I had packed too much, but when I finally settled in my dorm dorm at school, I found that I had packed far lighter than any of my peers. This, I believe, was the best thing to do.
While you're abroad, you are going to buy things that you're going to want to bring back with you. Gifts, trinkets, and even notebooks will soon become a problem when your suitcase doesn't quite zip back up all the way. While it is expected that you buy things—highly encouraged, actually—it is nevertheless a good idea to do it smartly. Things start to pop up that you never thought would become a great cost. Somewhat naïvely, I neglected to acknowledge just how much the tube was going to cost me. I had accounted for food, for gifts, for general spontaneity, but somehow not for the tube. That is to say, there will always be a cost that you will not have thought of, so, to get ahead of that, make sure that there is a little pool of money set aside for forgotten. Part of the great thing about studying abroad in London is that there is a good chance that you will not have to buy textbooks at all. This was a pleasant surprise offset only by the fact that I did not know where to buy any of the school supplies that I still needed: notebooks, pens, and towels most prominently. There were many chain stationary store scattered around the area that I was staying in, but, unless you need something specialized, I suggest not going there for your school supplies. Since you are only going to be abroad for a few months, there is no use in spending money on very good supplies that will last a while because the reality is that you will probably end up leaving most of it there. Instead, I went to places like Hema, White Tiger, and Primark which were shops where you could buy things for a much lower price. Sure, the quality might not have been perfect, but it the supplies looked pretty and worked perfectly for the time that I was there. Along with buying cheaper options for the sake of saving money, grocery stores like Sainsbury's where I used to buy bags of chips for 50 pence. Overall, it is important to know that there are places to buy things that are not outrageously expensive or seedily cheap. It's nearly a shock when you realize that there is no store like Target or Walmart where you can just get everything that you need all at once for a low price, but there are plenty of options. Do some research on where you are staying and look at the stores around you. There are bound to be some great options for obtaining all the supplies you need, all within walking distance.
On the subject of budgeting, cash is something that many people become concerned about, thinking that they need to have it on them at all times. The truth is, though, that if you have a Visa or other card that will work internationally, there really is no reason to have lots of cash. I came into the country with about £150 and never got more from a bank ATM. That is not to say that I didn't use it, I most certainly did. But all of my friends had brought more cash with them than they needed, so, to get cash if I thought I needed it, I would just buy them something with my card and they would pay me back in pounds. Often, we would split a dessert and I would offer to pay with my card, then they would pay me back with cash. The main reason I ever really wanted cash was when I way buying something small and didn't want to charge my card for such a low cost. If you want to bring lots of cash with you when you go abroad, go for it, you will certainly use it! But do not feel as though you have to, because I never found myself in a predicament where a place only accepted cash.
Along with budgeting comes the notions of travel. Being in London, it felt that the entirety of Europe was at my fingertips as flights were cheap and they were fast. I, however, knew that I would not be able to go on many trips at all, and weekend after weekend, I watched my friends head off to the airport and onto some new adventure in Germany or Greece, knowing that I could not go too. As sad as that may have been, I knew that I had money enough for one major trip out of England, so I chose a place that I had wanted to go since i was a little girl: Ireland. I will remember that trip to Ireland forever and I hope to go back some day very soon. For two days, my friends and I traveled the country with only our backpacks and each other. Having only one big trip out of the country made me appreciate my time there even more. Yet, even though I had had the time of my life, as the tube chugged back into to the city, I felt so happy that I was back. This feeling of relief after a long couple hours of travel made me realize that my heart would forever be in London. If you find yourself in a similar situation to mine, find a place that you think you would really love. Do research if necessary, and go there, not where others want you to go. I also suggest that even if you have all the money in the world, do not travel out of London too often. My friends that seemed to leave every weekend came to regret that by the end of the semester. They had missed out on going into the city, exploring and becoming more familiar and connected with it. They also missed out on going to other cities in England such as Brighton, Oxford, or even Greenwich which is still in the London area.
No matter where you go whether it is in London or Florence or Sydney, there will be people from all walks of life, specifically financially speaking. Some will have all the money in the world to spend without a second thought, while others will have to think about where every penny goes. It is good to be aware of this and to be sensitive to what others can and can not do. Remember that you are in a new city, so enjoy it as much as you can. Buy things to help you remember, but do not over-buy and leave yourself with no money left. Travel, but do not travel too much and forget to enjoy the place that you are living in.