This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNH chapter.
I’ve been abroad 3 times in the past five years: first to Ireland, next to Germany and then back to Ireland. I would not by any means consider myself a pro at traveling abroad. It would take me a solid 5 minutes to work up the courage to ask anyone in a store or restaurant a question, even in an English-speaking country. Here are some tips that I wish I knew before I embarked on my own European journeys!
- ATMs are expensive AF
- This has to be the most important piece of information I can share. ATMs will Eat. Your. Money. Before you leave for your trip or when you arrive at the airport at whatever glorious destination you chose, hit up the currency exchange asap and get a bunch of cash. Don’t do what I did and only bring $40 and exchange that for 20-something euros or pounds and think you’ll be fine. Those 20-something euros or pounds will be gone within a few hours of restaurant dining and impulse buying. The real killer was withdrawing money out from the ATMs around the cities. All banks probably have different international plans, but for mine I was charged $5.00 whenever I withdrew cash and I didn’t realize this until the last day of my trip after I had withdrawn cash probably a dozen times. This is definitely something to check with your bank about before you leave because it adds up fast.
- Don’t hesitate to use public transportation
- Public transportation in the States can always seem a little sketchy and dodgy depending on where you live. But in Europe, the way the majority of people travel and commute is by bus or by train. In Ireland, a ticket for a 3-hour bus ride across the country was around maybe $30 and it run nearly every hour, whereas the trains run less frequently and are a tad more expensive (this could definitely vary city to city throughout Europe though). Trains might not be the cheapest option for going short distances, but because the train system is so popular across the pond, they can take you all over Europe. Overall, public transportation is great to use and probably any option is cheaper than renting a car.
- Rethink paying for an international phone plan
- This one is totally dependent on what kind of smaller trips you have planned within your trip, how big of a group you’re traveling with and what you know you will or won’t need your phone for. I used Verizon’s Travel Pass which is $10 a day which is a pretty good plan for a short trip, but it definitely was not a necessity and the daily fee adds up. I was in a city 90% of the time and when I wasn’t, I was on a bus tour with a bunch of other people who also had phones. There is Wi-Fi everywhere in the cities (including the busses). I was really only using my phone to Snapchat and upload Instagram stories (which are great but can also wait for Wi-Fi) so paying for a low-key crappy service wasn’t necessary.
I hope these tips are helpful and help you save a little money! Happy traveling ;)