Studying abroad is something that every college student either wants to do or does, and is something college grads insist college students have to do, either because they did and it was awesome or they didn’t do and regret it.

I have been fortunate enough to travel numerous times throughout my childhood, and I love sightseeing, languages, good food, and almost everything about traveling. It’s safe to say I caught the travel bug at a young age.

So I knew I wanted to study abroad, because everyone recommended it, and I really wanted to without anyone urging me. But how did I decide that studying abroad for an entire six months, an ocean away from home, in Madrid, Spain, was a reasonable decision?

1. I’m a Spanish major.

Technically, I’m a communication studies and Spanish double major, but still. There are no substitutes in learning a language for language immersion. It’s the best way to learn a language, quickly and effectively. I had to pick a country to study where they speak Spanish.

2. I’m an honors student.

Honors students at my university have to fulfill an international education requirement. This can be with a week long trip to Cuba, a month in London, a semester in Germany, a year in Australia, or two years in Mexico, but whatever you pick, you have to spend some time abroad to earn your honors credit.

3. I’ve never lived in a big city.

Madrid’s population surpasses 3 million (6.6 in the Madrid metropolitan area), and is the largest city in the country—yes, even Barcelona, which has a mere 1.6 million (4.7 if you count the surrounding area) in comparison.

I’ve lived in only small towns for as long as I can remember. I grew up in a town of around 6,000, and then moved to a town of around 30,000 people until I graduated high school. My college town has about 18,000 residents, which is comprised largely of college students, of which there are 18,000 undergraduates alone.

As you can see, I’ve never lived in a “city,” or anywhere with the luxury of a semi-decent shopping mall (the options consist of JC Penney, Belk, Rue 21, and TJ Maxx). I was bound to see someone I knew when I went to the grocery store, and I probably know a little bit too much about everyone that I knew (and some people I don’t).

There has never been such thing as a rush hour, and if there is, it’s for about 30 minutes, unless it’s the carpool line at a middle school, but that doesn’t really count. I’ve never had the experience of public transportation except in my college town, and that bussing system is nothing to brag about.

Madrid has a fantastic public transportation system, and I love getting to feel like one of millions of people living in this vibrant place. It’s a change of scenery. A really great one.

4. Madrid isn’t in South/Latin America.

As previously mentioned, I needed somewhere with a large presence of the Spanish language. As also previously mentioned, I have been fortunate enough to travel various times throughout my youth. That being said, I’ve spent a lot of time in South America, and while I know there is always more to see, I’ve seen more over there than I have of Europe.

Europe has so much culture that I have yet to experience, including other languages and different climates. I wanted to go somewhere different, just like I wanted to go to a city.

5. I’m on an exchange program.

There are lots of different types of study abroad programs. Some of them are just a week or two, some of them take up an entire year (or two). No matter where you go, or for how long, you still have to pay to get there, and you’re going to have to pay for your school that year (either after your week abroad or during your semester abroad), and you’re going to have to eat.

I knew that a short term program was not for me. I’m fairly independent, and I’m already paying to fly over and ocean and back, I might as well spend a lot of time here while I can, since I can.

My program is a direct exchange. What this means is, like at home, I pay my tuition, I pay for somewhere to live, I pay for food. Even though I’m studying at a university here, I’m paying my university at home my normal semester tuition. Then, I found my own housing and I feed myself. It’s not that much different in cost to living in my college town, but this way I’m living in Madrid and eating Spanish food.

There were no extra fees or crazy applications for me to get this direct exchange program, which is why it appealed so much to me, because studying abroad also costs money for obtaining a visa, buying plane tickets, etc.