I was extremely lucky to have a friend to navigate the process with, but after doing it a few times I realized that travelling abroad is for everyone. The experience of broadening your horizons, learning from people with a totally different way of life and feeling capable in your own abilities to navigate new situations is something I hope you will all be able to experience earlier than I did. To start helping you think about your journey, here are three things I wish I would have known in high school about studying (and travelling) abroad:
You don’t need to be rich! While flying first class and staying in nice hotels are associated with travelling, that is not a necessary requirement. Flying on budget airlines, such as TAP Portugal, WizzAir, PLAY, and EasyJet, can sometimes be even less expensive than flying domestically in the US! Further, if you’re able to travel on off-peak days, like Tuesdays or Wednesdays, you can fly for relatively decent prices.
You don’t have to wait until you’re in college! Even some of my more worldly friends at Providence tended to talk about travelling and studying abroad as something they would do once they were in college. But there are plenty of opportunities to travel abroad as a high school student. The Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) is a non-profit organization dedicated to cultural exchange that has study abroad programs for high schoolers ranging from one to three weeks during the school year, to one to two month-long programs during the summer. Local Rotary Clubs also do exchange student programs where you can stay with a host family in a Rotary Club in a different country.
