If you are a college student and haven’t had a chance to travel overseas yet, I highly suggest you consider it! The world is your oyster. I have been fortunate enough to travel to England, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Switzerland. Falling in love with each country more than the next, I continued to learn from my mistakes when it comes to packing.

When packing for a large trip, anywhere, never mind across the world, it can be easy to forget essential items when running through your mental checklist.

As I prepare for my next upcoming adventures to Ireland, Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic, I have come up with a list of “essential items” that can be passed along to all traveling college students around the world.

-A selfie stick, for those moments when you want to capture a beautiful photograph (with a decent size view of the background) when no one is there to take your picture.

-A money belt that you can wear close to your body to keep your cards, coins, and bills safe from pickpockets! (Yes, they do exist!)

-A journal to write down all of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences! Someday, when you pull it out of the dust and crack it open, your heart will be warmed by the memories.

-A neck pillow for when you are on the bus, plane, train or in the car! You will not regret this. When you are running around from sight to sight, you will want to catch up on rest anytime that you can!

-Paper copies of your passport so that if it happens to get lost or stolen, you will still be able to get back home!

-Toilet paper as strange as it seems, not every bathroom in Europe is overflowing with spare toilet paper, so bring some extra along with you!

-A portable charger so that if your phone dies you will still be able to take pictures! During your travels, you might not always be near an outlet, so having a portable charger can give you the freedom of not needing an outlet and twice the battery life!

-A poncho to keep you dry if it rains! Carrying a raincoat can be annoying and take up space, but ponchos are compact and squeeze almost anywhere! They are fairly inexpensive and can save you from being stuck in soaking wet clothes!

Traveling to Europe is far more culturally stimulating than your average spring break cruise and it is a completely invigorating experience. Take my advice and do whatever it takes: work extra shifts, get a second job or give up buying iced coffee. I promise it will be worth every cent.

When you plan your trip and start packing, don't forget these essentials items to make sure you aren't stuck thinking, "I wish I remembered that!"

Happy Travels!