Student Bloggers

Today technically marks my last day in the grand ol’ US of A. This wouldn’t be my first time abroad but it certainly is the longest. I’ve had the fortune of being a month long exchange student in a Germany summer program and toured the UK for choir but I have never taken my education abroad! I have always wanted to study in another country but it has taken so long for me to do so. Even though I am a senior in college, that didn’t stop my goal to study abroad. It’s never too late to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity!

I think what I worry about most on my journey, is being away from my family so long. I am a very independent person but I am close with my family and it will be hard to only speak to them on occasion. It is especially hard now that I have my first nephew who is only 6 months old and is always changing. It will be weird to come back and see how much he has grown up in the brief 4 months!! I have said my goodbyes to my best friends and family members. I made them get Skype so that I can at least see their faces when I call them. I haven’t cried yet but I probably will when I get on my plane tomorrow. Even though I will be without my family, I am excited to meet many new people and create a family in Ireland.

Today is also my packing day! I actually don’t mind packing, it’s exhausting, but I love to organize, and make packing my life away as easy as possible. To anyone who hates packing maybe these steps may help you for future travel. My first step to packing is always creating an organized list of everything I will take from my trip. That way I never take more than I need or forget something I can’t live without. I put all of my items in a large pile then sort into piles of what will go in my carry on and my checked bag. It helps to keep my checked bag from going over the weight limit but it also helps to keep all of my essentials in the carry on so should I lose my luggage I will have everything I need for at least 2-3 days.

Something I love when packing is using organizers. I mainly use packing cubes and vacuum seal bags. If you don’t know what those are, they are the greatest things ever!!! With a packing cube you can select various sizes and put in specific items of your choice to keep luggage sorted, save space and is easy to unpack. The vacuum seal bags are a space saver! I put all of my clothes, towels, sheets and coats inside them which alone can take up the entire suitcase but with the bags there is so much more room. I also love to use Gear Ties. They are rubber ties that help to tie up the wires to electrical appliances. They are super handy to keeping electronics from tangling which, before I had these, was always a pain to take care of.

I just can’t believe that tomorrow evening I will be Ireland bound. It seemed like the time since May when I found out I was going just flew by. For as prepared as I tried to make myself for this trip now that it’s actually happening TOMORROW I feel so unorganized but still very excited!