Hey HC St. Olaf readers!
Can you believe it? We are less than two weeks away from finals! For some of us, this may mean less than a month from that Interim class, internship, or trip we have been awaiting for six months – especially that long-awaited J-term trip!
This Interim, I will be traveling to India, 8,000 miles away and I’m not even close to being ready. I’ve already spent 5k for the trip; it almost seems necessary to find a way to not raid my parents’ pockets when I’m actually on the trip. Interim travel can be extremely expensive. While some of us are spending only a grand to travel, other study abroad trips dig deep into travel budgets. But, you can always be a savvy traveler!
It’s crucial to consider the conversion rate when traveling abroad. I’m guilty of not inquiring about the exchange rate until today, and I’m less than a month away from a long trip!
1 US Dollar= .7455 Euros
1 US Dollar= 51 Rupees
1 US Dollar=6.3412 Chinese Yuan
1 US Dollar=.6409 British Pounds
1 US Dollar=2.7 Peruvian Nuevo Sol
1 US Dollar=500.3 Costa Rica Colon
Those exchange rates cover the majority of J-term trips offered on campus, but for those I didn’t cover, check out this website: http://finance.yahoo.com/
Given the poor value of the US Dollar abroad, saving or spending wisely doesn’t hurt! Here are a few useful spending and saving tips to consider before going abroad:
1. For those of you first time J-term travelers, our fee covers a certain portion of money given to us for food and groceries.
Ideally, we are only encouraged to bring money for souvenirs. But, if you are given $60-$100 worth of food money, allocating some towards souvenirs wouldn’t be a bad idea! Instead of going to fancy restaurants for each meal, why not buy some bread and groceries native to the place you’re going, and whip up a sandwich. Then, as opposed to bringing $100 for souvenirs and other expenses, you can bring $75.
2. Bargain.
China and India use a barter system to shop. Other Asian countries function similarly. If you willingly accept the price a shopkeeper asks for, you will be losing a good amount of money. In India, bargaining allows you to purchase your souvenir at essentially half the price that was originally asked. When I was younger, I always used the “My mom only gave me $5 to shop” excuse. Although, I doubt that would suffice now…
3. Buy in bulk.
If you’re buying gifts for your five girlfriends or the same sweater for three people in your family, there is bound to be a discount. This may require bargaining, but other times, it’s a pre-existing discount. Plus, this would save you the time it takes deciding what to get each of the 15 people you wanted to buy a souvenir for.
4. Postcards make great “gifts.”
Though not materialistic, they do a great job of showing where you are, while telling your family and friends about the trip! Depending on where you are, this may not be extremely feasible, but it’s worth a shot! When I visited Europe, they had street postcard machines in downtown Germany. My sister and I took a picture with our desired Germany background and instantly sent an electronic postcard to the family. Cheap and fun!
5. Use your summer job and work a few extra hours during winter break!
I know winter break is the one break you can finally take to relax, without having to worry about any papers due after, but working a few extra hours to get hands on some cash could definitely give you more leeway for Interim!
6. Take your time to buy souvenirs.
It’s pretty likely that every place has it’s own version of “China-town.” Therefore, waiting the extra week to buy souvenirs as opposed to spending all your money during the first week will not only allow you to explore deals, but give you extra time to determine what’s really worth buying!
Hopefully those tips have inspired you to start considering how you can best be a savvy traveler while abroad during just J-term or J-term and second semester! I’m not trying to preach saving money when you are already abroad, but remember, these trips are expensive and it really doesn’t hurt to try and get the better deals!
Enjoy your trip!