Although the global pandemic hit the tourism and education sectors extremely hard, everything is getting back to normal. Many universities and colleges abroad are open and are ready to welcome international students in their halls as soon as fall comes.

If you’re one of the lucky learners to go study in a new culture and environment the next academic year, then you’re probably terrified as of now. Don’t worry, all international students go through this, and start their studies just fine. Here are some pieces of advice for when you start your higher education abroad. They will surely keep you on the right track and out of sticky situations.

1. Know Your Public Transport Routes

We all know how daunting it may be to travel via public transport in places you don’t know and have never seen before. This especially applies to be abroad. Nonetheless, whatever you do, don’t user Uber all of the time. Getting a taxi just to get you places each time you change locations isn’t sustainable at all.

Start exploring the bus and underground systems as soon as you get your education destination. This will save you incredible amounts of money, which will surely free up your budget. Furthermore, you can start walking to places, which is even better, because it doesn’t cost a penny and you’ll explore the foreign culture simultaneously.

2.  Research What You’ll Need Beforehand

Even if you’ve looked up all of the public transport routes that you’ll most likely need, there are still tons of preparations to do. Have you thought about access to the internet? Creating an in-country bank account? Medical insurance? Cellular data plan? All of these are major points that you must research before traveling.

Why should you do it now? If you prepare beforehand, you won’t waste the precious time that you have before the academic year starts. Usually, international students come only a week, and you have to spend that week settling in and figuring out all of the practical aspects of your life in a foreign country.

3. Don’t Spend All Your Money in One Place

As soon as you get some free time from settling in, the first urge is to go out and buy décor for your living quarters and souvenirs. Our piece of advice is that you don’t follow your instincts! You’ll have time to buy souvenirs for your folk at home at the end of your academic year.

Actually, you want to try living like a local. Buy the same food they buy, cook the same things they cook and go to the places that locals go to. This will result in you spending less money because buying local food and visiting places for locals is usually much cheaper than buying imported food and going to places targeted at tourists.

This way, if you’ll need an essay writer when the studying gets too hard for you or you want to go out clubbing with your new friends, you’ll have spare money to spend. You don’t need to become a frugal curmudgeon, but smart spending in a foreign country should be an obvious must for you.

4. Opt for Experiences – Not Things

Yes, we just told you that you shouldn’t go all out spending all your (or your parents’) savings on a shiny piece of toy. However, don’t be too money-saving oriented too. If an opportunity comes up to travel to a town nearby or visit some cool place outside of your city, don’t be afraid to open up your wallet.

No matter the number of souvenirs you’ll buy: they will never be better than amazing memories. Experiences trump things, and having the priciest things right now won’t make you happy 10 years down the line. A great memory of traveling out to the country and taking memorable photos with your friends, on the other hand, definitely will last with you throughout your life.

5. Make Real-Life Connections

Other people really are the best part of almost any place in this world. A beautiful city wouldn’t be worth anything without all of the beautiful people living in it. Going abroad to study is a great opportunity to make lifelong friendships – so, don’t miss this chance.

In your higher education institution, take advantage of every opportunity to socialize that comes your way. Sign up for a similar interests’ club, volunteer to some good causes, join a student organization association, etc. Other people will make your studying abroad truly an amazing experience.

Don’t Forget to Have Fun

One of the best mindsets you can have studying abroad is to try and have fun where you can. Don’t get bogged down with and stress out overstudying. Always remember to go easy on yourself and allow yourself to have fun!