Having only been abroad for a summer, I don’t claim to be an expert on living overseas, but here are a few tips to help ease the transition to living abroad:
- Learn the language. Talk with the locals. It’ll give you a much deeper appreciation of the culture, and you’ll feel a little more at home if you can read some street signs and menus. If you’re not feeling like learning a whole new language, at least, learn how to say 'please' and 'thank you' and ask for directions—after all, we don’t want to reinforce the rude American stereotype.
- Cook as much as you can to save money. Making your own food is so much cheaper than eating out. During your time there you will definitely have ample opportunity to sample the local flavors of your country anyway. You can also save a lot of time by cooking with friends, or cooking enough dinner for two and eating the leftovers as lunch the next day.
- Speaking of food, if you have dietary restrictions, learn how to ask if dishes contain the said restricted food. This is especially pertinent in Asian countries, where a lot of restaurants feature, for example, pork, in every single dish. Knowing this short phrase can save you a lot of heartache and surprise mystery meat in your meals.
- If you have important prescription medication, bring it in your carry-on luggage. Unfortunately, there are nasty people in this world who will dig through your belongings looking for medications that they can sell on the black market. And sometimes, these people get cold feet about stealing your belongings and decide that haphazardly dumping your pills everywhere is a really really good idea... (and yes this is from personal experience). Also, bring enough to last your entire time abroad. Depending on the country that you’re in, navigating through a complicated web of health insurance and pharmacies and doctors who don’t speak English can be a real pain in the ass.
- Download the app MapsMe. It’s a complete lifesaver if you don’t have an international data plan. Basically, it lets you download maps of entire countries so that you have offline navigation capabilities. You can also bookmark various landmarks that you want to visit, which helps a lot with planning trips. MapsMe allows you to view all of your pins at once, allowing you to easily come up with a game plan for hitting up all of your favorite tourist destinations.
- Invest in an external phone charger, since it may be hard to find charging outlets when traveling. On that topic, don’t skimp on a power adapter. Mine stopped working and I spent the rest of my summer borrowing other people’s adapters when they weren’t looking.
- Don't forget to keep in touch. Though everyone seems intent on preaching about the shortcomings of social media, you come to appreciate its duality in keeping you connected with friends who live both at home and continents away. While you’re there, don’t forget about your friends from home; they probably miss you. And when you return, don’t forget to keep in touch with the people you met. You never know where life will take you, and you may see them again one day.
- Take pictures. Take videos. Keep a diary. Document your experiences. You’ll probably want something to look back on when you’re feeling a little nostalgic (as I am now); human memory can only help so much. But don’t be so focused on documenting that you forget to live in the present.
- Pack what you need, but leave enough room to bring back souvenirs. Another viable option is to have any purchases abroad shipped to your home so that you don’t have to bring them in your luggage.
- Don’t be afraid to travel alone (unless your safety is at risk of course). And more broadly, don’t be afraid to be alone. Wemillennials are a generation of people who seem to view loneliness and being alone as the same thing when they are not. Perhaps it’s unfair of me as an extreme introvert to say this, but being okay with being alone speaks a lot to your maturity as an independent, full-grown individual. However, you’ll definitely want to make friends so that you aren’t lonely. I mean, because otherwise that would defeat the purpose of studying abroad, wouldn’t it?
- Lastly, don’t be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. Think about it this way: if you do something stupid, well hey, at least, no one knows who you are.
For me, it’s been half a year since I first arrived in Okinawa. And after one summer spent in paradise, there are two things I can tell you for sure. You will find a home in wherever you go, and leaving will break your heart.
