Study Abroad Survival Guide: The Logistics

Hi everyone! As the departure date for fall study abroad programs gets closer, I’ve been seeing a lot of questions in my program’s Facebook group, as well as getting a lot of questions from my friends, about the logistical side of a semester abroad. Now that everyone has been accepted to their schools overseas, registered for classes, and bought their plane tickets, a little bit of reality has begun to sink in. People are thinking about how they will get settled in a new country - one that doesn’t operate on US Dollars, AT&T, and maybe even the English language. So I decided to start this Study Abroad Survival Guide series to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about a semester abroad. If you're already an experienced international traveler, then a lot of this is going to be old news. But for those of you who have never been out of the country before, or haven’t spent an extended period of time abroad, this Survival Guide series is for you.

Disclaimer: There are LOTS of ways to go about planning the logistical side of a semester abroad. The following tips are what I personally used, prefer, and would recommend to my friends getting ready to go abroad.

When I studied abroad in London, I arrived into the UK with about 50 British Pounds and 100 Euros that my dad had leftover from previous travel. I did not exchange US dollars for foreign currency before I left and I did not bring any US dollars to exchange for local currency once I got there.

Bringing a ton of US dollars with you abroad is not the best idea for several reasons. Most currency exchange points overseas, especially ones in airports and around major tourist locations, charge higher exchange rates so they can make a higher commission off of your transfer. Also, you run the risk of losing all of your money if your purse/wallet/luggage gets lost or stolen.

Withdrawing foreign currency directly from an ATM abroad will get you the best exchange rate. Because of this, my parents got me a Travelex Cash Passport, basically a debit card that you load with US dollars online which get automatically converted to the currency of your choice. I used this card to withdraw cash from ATMs, or to pay for smaller transactions like snacks and drinks. The thing I liked best about the card was that it had no transaction fees at the ATM, unlike my US debit card. Travelex no longer sells this exact card, but they do offer something similar called the Travelex Money Card.

As for larger purchases, like plane tickets and groceries, I opened a Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card under my parents account. This was the easiest way for me to get a credit card without having any credit history of my own. Every month my dad would send me an email with the balance I had accrued over the period (my favorite email to receive!) before taking the amount out of my bank account. I would highly recommend this card for its 24/7 live customer service line (you get connected to real people right away) and zero foreign transaction fees, two criteria you should look for when applying for a credit card to use while you’re abroad.

Last but not least, don't forget to call your bank and credit card company before you go to let them know when and where you will be travelling so they don't freeze your accounts! 

My parents will tell you that ‘Julia’ and ‘budget’ don’t belong in the same sentence, and they might be a little bit right about that. BUT if you want to achieve all of your study abroad bucket list items, making (and sticking to) a budget for the semester is really important. 

Before I left for London my dad and I sat down and created a budget in Excel. The sheet was broken down into categories like ‘Snacks’, ‘Groceries’, ‘Travel’, and ‘Entertainment’ and I made an estimate for how much I thought I would spend on each category for the whole semester. For example, I estimated that I would spend $60-70 on groceries each week for 16 weeks, totaling in a grocery budget of about $1000 for the semester. We made it so that I could input my actual expenses each week and the total estimated amount for the semester would decrease accordingly. This allowed me to keep track of how much I was spending and how much I theoretically had left to spend as the semester went on. Using my banking app, I was able to cross-check my budget with my bank account to see if I should adjust my spending habits at all. 

Full disclosure, I kind of got a little bit lazy with the whole budget idea as the weeks went by which led to me spending more money at the end of the semester than I did at the beginning. This time around, my goal is to be smarter with my spending so I don't run into the same problem again. I think it’s important to give yourself a little leeway for unexpected expenses, but it’s also important to set a realistic guideline for what you can spend while you’re abroad. With a little planning ahead of time you’ll be able to have an amazing semester without coming home to $0 in your bank account.

There are so many conflicting opinions when it comes to the best way to get cell service abroad. Some people get a prepaid ‘burner’ phone, some like International data plan add-ons, and others prefer buying a SIM card to use with an unlocked device. This was probably the topic that stressed me out the most before I left and during the first few days after arriving in the UK. Ultimately, I decided to get the international monthly add-on for my regular AT&T plan, and purchased a (very) basic phone and a monthly cell phone plan once I got to London that I intended to renew at the end of each month. This lasted less than a month. I made it through the semester without any major issues, but in hindsight would not do it this way again. 

CONS: The little brick phone I bought lasted for about 3 days before I gave up on it and was a total waste of money. Also, the AT&T international plan is pretty expensive and you don’t get a lot of data - I don’t think many international phone plan add-ons are meant for long term use. 

PROS: I got to keep my US phone number. 

This time around, I am enrolling in a foreign phone plan for the semester. My program provider partners with a Danish cell service provider called TDC, who will give me a new SIM card to put in my phone. This will give me access to their network while I’m in Denmark and traveling throughout Europe. To do this, I will need to ‘unlock’ my current device so I will be able to use a different service provider. This article explains the steps of how to unlock your device really well!  

CONS: I will lose my US phone number for the time I’m abroad, because it will be replaced with a Danish phone number. 

PROS: Less expensive than getting an add-on to my existing plan or purchasing a burner phone and separate phone plan. I'll also get more data than I would with the AT&T plan and it will be easier to communicate with others who have Danish or European phone numbers. 

I hope this helped to answer some questions about planning for a semester abroad! There are a lot more topics I want to cover so keep an eye out for more posts like these coming soon. If you have any questions from this post or you have a topic you want me to cover next, be sure to leave a comment below!