The last time I went abroad, I had a little too much adventure. I dislocated my knee hiking up a mountain and had to be fireman-carried out of the forest by my camp counselor and a vacationing French man. That could be the reason why I'm more of an indoor person.
For those of us that are studying abroad this coming fall, no doubt we are marking our calendars and counting down the days until we arm ourselves with our plane tickets and embark on our next great journey. There is so much to do, foods to eat, places to explore, and people to meet. For the next few months, we have the world at our feet, we will be unstoppable.
To get the most out of your study abroad experience, set a few goals for yourself, make a bit of a plan. Adventure can be thrown in your face when you least expect it, but it's also smart to set your sights on the kinds of adventure you want to have. Set a few goals for yourself for when you study abroad:
1. Go to class.
Don't let the "study" in study abroad fall by the wayside. Aside from the field trips, the classes in these programs are specifically geared to those with wanderlust. The professors see that you're itching to get away for the weekend, they understand your eagerness to explore. If you throw yourself into your classes, you never know what will happen. What's better than taking a political science class in Britain amidst Brexit? Or looking up at the Mona Lisa instead of reading about it in a textbook? You have access to a world of knowledge, if you take advantage of it.
2. Make 3 new friends: 1 from your program, 1 from the country you're studying in, and 1 from a different country.
There are 7 billion people on this planet, 7 billion people with lives, stories, jokes to tell, and things to show you. Why not bond with a stranger over a band you both like? Talk about each other's accents, swap stories about how different your high school educations were. Potential friends are everywhere, perhaps right next to you. Take a trip with someone in your program. You're all together in a new place, and you might find comfort in someone that's familiar. Fifteen years from now, you might sit down with them, have a cup of coffee and say, "remember that time in Prague?!" and laugh.
3. Do something you've never done, and will never do again.
Something that makes an experience memorable is the notion of saying "it was fun...but never again." Sky dive, crowd surf, eat escargo, kiss a stranger, the possibilities are endless. Don't be afraid to do something crazy or outside of your comfort zone, and know that's it's completely fine that you'll never want to do it again. It could be so wonderful that if you don't get to experience it a second time, you can always look on that memory with fondness. Instead of thinking of your adventures like checklists, think of them as tiny gifts, wrapped and stored in a box that you open on a rainy day when you need a bit of warmth and sunlight.
4. Take physical pictures of beautiful things, and mental pictures of things too beautiful to be captured.
Don't be embarrassed to take your selfie stick if you want to use it. What if your outfit looked really cute when you visited Paris? What if that sunset was too majestic not to Instagram? Pictures are a great way for yourself and others to keep track of your study abroad excursions. Make your pictures your art. Take photos of things that are funny, that are magical, that are beautiful. Take pictures to your heart's content. Don't feel obligated to document every moment of your excursions on film. Pictures are a great way to capture memories, but don't neglect your other senses as well.
5. Take an afternoon off to just be.
Amidst all the running around, classes, buses, and day trips, don't forget to take a day where you take an afternoon off to enjoy the here and now. Don't be so caught up in searching for adventure or thinking about the next great thing that you forget to cherish all that you've accomplished. So sit down at a local cafe, order your favorite pastry, and take a minute for yourself. Reflect on all your great adventures, the people you met, the foods you ate, and all the things you learned. What's the point of adventure if you can't take the time to appreciate it?