The worst and best advice I ever received about studying abroad was that everything would be okay. In the thick of the moment, I never felt okay. Travel mishaps like missing my train to Valencia, Airbnbs looking nothing like the listing and a delayed, canceled and rebooked flight to Lisbon weighed my mental status down like million-pound bricks.
Staying up until 2 a.m. every night to study for the next big nursing exam, only to wake up three hours later to continue, did not help either. Although living in a tiny apartment with nearly 18 other girls was never my first choice, I would not change a single thing about it. My forever home overlooking the busiest street in Madrid holds some of my most special memories and lessons that will replay in my head over and over again.
Here are some of my favorite moments, stories and experiences that my study abroad experience rewarded me with.
Barcelona: Is there room for a plus one?
The morning after a very rough night out, I sat in the dining room with four of my roommates for our daily debrief. Eventually, we discussed the Barcelona trip we had planned for the upcoming weekend. Our roommate, Ciara, immediately perked up and mentioned that she really wanted to go to Barcelona, but her calendar was not aligned with her normal travel group to be able to go. Without a lick of hesitation, we invited Ciara to join us.
I cannot find the words to explain how, but inviting Ciara to join us seemed almost instinctual. Although we had never traveled with her before, the magic of studying abroad is understanding that these moments are meant to be shared. When I think back to this weekend in the Catalonian city, I am reminded that it was born from a simple, heartfelt, “You’re coming too.”
Barcelona ended up being one of my favorite weekends because of Ciara. She brought an infectious energy that fueled our experience. Our weekend started with strolling down Las Ramblas and stopping at our favorite stores. We sang “Strut” by the Cheetah Girls far too many times while exploring Park Güell.
Later that night, we booked a sunset boat tour with a very attractive skipper, who had stories of summers spent boating in Barcelona and growing up in the Basque country. He let us take the aux cord, and we played plenty of Troye Sivan while snacking on Spanish charcuterie and sipping white wine. Before the sun started to set, the sky and ocean looked like they were one. Slowly, shades of soft lavender and orange painted the sky, and an overwhelming sense of gratitude consumed me.
It was not just the beauty of Barcelona that made the day special, it was the shared joy of experiencing a new city with friends, new and old.
Lisbon: A boat, five girls and a dream.
My friend Grace and I decided to take a late afternoon Thursday night flight from Madrid to Lisbon, Portugal. Like some sort of terrible TV storyline, our night did not exactly go as planned. Our first flight never boarded and was eventually canceled an hour after it was supposed to take flight. We could not get ahold of any help on the customer service number and frantically booked another flight on another airline.
As soon as my card went through, we received emails from our original airline that we had been rebooked. “Welp,” I thought, “there goes $200 down the drain.” In a series of unfortunate events, the new flight we bought ended up also being cancelled. Grace and I somehow got put on separate flights when we got rebooked and we were seriously feeling an immense amount of dread and despair. But as fate would have it, we landed in Lisbon, took an Uber to the pier and met up with our Airbnb boat host to tuck in for the night. Yes, you read that correctly, we were sleeping on a boat for the weekend.
I was with a group of four girls that I did not normally travel with. Three of whom I lived with in Madrid, the other two I knew through extracurricular clubs and mutual friends. I am usually the most type-A person you will ever meet when it comes to traveling, but I had to let that go for this weekend, especially with this new group of girls. We decided to play everything by ear and had a very loose itinerary, which is not something that I was used to.
When planning our day trip to Sintra, I felt very stressed about not understanding the train system in Portugal. One of the girls, Cece, suggested that we take an Uber instead of waiting for a train because it would end up being around the same price anyway. The Uber would be a direct ride to the castles we wanted to see, meaning we did not have to climb up hilltops or have any further stress trying to figure out where we were going. It was the perfect solution.
Even though the journey from Madrid to Lisbon went wrong in nearly every way possible, I still ended up at my destination. There was a lot in this situation that I had no control over, like flights getting canceled, delayed and rebooked. I had to learn to let go and be flexible. I could have let this stress take over and argued to take the train like we had originally planned, but Cece’s suggestion reminded me to just go with the flow.
That entire weekend was spent ordering delivered food to the pier, climbing all over the boat and bringing back lots of to-go sangria from the nearby restaurants. One night, we spent almost two hours waiting in line for the club in the freezing cold, but my crew made it worthwhile. I am so glad I convinced three of my roommates and their two friends to join me on this little boat in Lisbon; it became a weekend I will never forget.
London: Never homesick with my mate.
I feel so lucky to have been able to study abroad in the same city as my hometown best friend, Sydney. When we both found out that we were studying abroad in Madrid, we immediately started planning our spring break to Edinburgh, Scotland and London, England.
After flying to London from Madrid, we immediately made our way to King’s Cross to catch a five-hour train that went straight to Edinburgh. Sydney, her roommate and I spent the entire way to the station laughing in terrible British accents and singing a Fortnite rendition of “American Boy” by Estelle.
Unfortunately for me, the ride itself was not as thrilling as it was spent studying for my next round of exams, but the gorgeous views of the British countryside passing by out the window made for great scenery to stare at for a study break. We skipped up and down Victoria Street and made our way up Calton Hill and Arthur’s Seat. I convinced my friends to go back to the same bar each night and we made buddies with the locals who were well beyond our age.
One exciting weekend in Edinburgh later, it came time to take the night train back to London. When we arrived at our hostel, something was off. We had booked a four-person hostel so that we could have it to ourselves, but an older man was in the room. There is nothing wrong with a man traveling solo and taking advantage of cheap hostels, but as college girls, we had a natural fear of the unknown.
The entire vibe of the hostel was disturbing; check-in was confusing, they did not have the beds prepared and cleaned for us, a large group of men was loitering outside the facility and they stared us down as we walked in. It was not a safe space for us.
We stayed up until the wee hours of the night, frantically texting in our group chat on what to do and trying not to disturb the mystery man in bed #4. I quickly booked an Airbnb with a host that graciously allowed us to check in early.
When we ordered an Uber the next morning, I sat in the passenger seat with the driver and immediately asked if I could be on aux, and to my surprise, he said yes. It took a minute to figure out how to connect my Bluetooth to the car speaker, but the second everything clicked, “London Boy” by Taylor Swift started blasting. All of my stress and worry melted away while Sydney and her roommate held back giggles as I educated the driver on the importance of pop star Taylor Swift.
My entire semester living in Europe, I never felt a lick of homesickness. It did not matter what went wrong or how many hours of sleep we were deprived of because I had Sydney by my side. With her, every challenge felt manageable because we held that type of unspeakable bond that only old hometown friends seem to have with each other. She made Europe, even that terrible little hostel in London, feel like home, no matter where we were.
By the end of my study abroad semester, I had made it to over 20 European cities and nine countries. I spent a lot more money than I am willing to admit on yummy cafe pastries and would jump at the opportunity to go to another Zara in Spain. Studying abroad was the best decision I could have ever made, so if you need a sign to jet-set to another country, here it is.