Advice from my Semester in Perugia
Date
February 28, 2026
My name is Ava DeLaurentiis and I am a senior who just finished studying abroad in Perugia, Italy this past fall. With that, I wanted to share my favorite things I learned from this experience with the hope that it may help others who are looking to study abroad.
You are probably thinking that, “in order to get the most out of studying abroad”, you will need to travel every weekend—but that’s not true. A big part of living abroad is understanding, exploring, and connecting with your home country/city and the other students in your program. Take walks, go out together, explore new restaurants and clothing stores! Now don’t get me wrong, traveling is great and you should definitely take advantage of it while you can, but for me, volunteering at a solidarity purchasing group in Perugia, where I conversed with the locals and many staff members from my school who purchased their groceries here, was just as rewarding and exciting.
I also learned early on that making a junk journal would be the best way to remember my time abroad. I kept old receipts, napkins, and wrappers which I compiled into a small notebook throughout the semester. It’s a great way to look back on your time abroad, and it’s also a fun thing to show friends and family back home. My friends and I also took arts and crafts to another level by creating an art wall in our apartments of all the paintings and drawings we had made during movie nights or when we hung out. It turned out to be one of the most fun ways to make and look back at our memories abroad.
Please make sure you leave empty space in your suitcase as well—you will definitely be buying a lot while you are abroad, even if it consists mostly of gifts for friends and family. You will save yourself a lot of trouble and money if you plan for this ahead of time. It’s always better to underpack than overpack—you will probably find yourself wearing the same types of outfits as the semester comes to a close anyway. The way I see it, packing less in the beginning means you get to add more clothing to your wardrobe once you are abroad.
All in all, take the time to appreciate your experience abroad—the friends you make, the places you visit, and the memories you make will help ground you if you begin to feel homesick (which becomes apparent by month 3, trust me).