Speaker 1: Hi, welcome. So if you're on this video you're probably going to be studying abroad in Europe soon and you may need some tips to be prepared for this amazing journey you're about to go on. It was literally the best time of my life and I just want to give back and help everyone else have a great time while they're abroad in Europe. And these are tips that I did myself that I really think contributed to why I had such an amazing time. If you want to know some things that I regret or like things that I wish I had done that would have made my time even better, check out this video. It's coming soon. I'll either link it up here or you can subscribe. I can speak French but I can't speak English. Bye. I studied at HEC Paris. Sorry, I almost spoke French again. In Jouy-en-Josa, France, which is a small little French village that was outside of Paris, France. So I got to see both what it was like in my own little city and in the big tourist city. So I basically lived in both places and I can help do both. Over here I'm just looking at my notes. Moving on to the fifth. Depending where you study and where you're from, Europe may be really cold or maybe a little cold but pretty cold. Most Americans just are not used to that. I'm pretty sure because looking on the map behind me So according to this beautiful scratch map I have the United States only goes up to Here here here's Maine Europe is only over here So a lot of Canadians are so you might be used to this code a lot of my Canadian friends didn't think It was like any worse really But a lot most of America is a lot lower than Europe I even have a friend in Michigan, which is right here, that wasn't prepared for the weather in Paris, France. So, I'm warning you that it's gonna be pretty cold. Definitely try to talk to someone that went before you at like the same semester, similar time to you, so that they can warn you how actually it is, and just so they can help you with other things. They can help you with a lot. I definitely talked to more than she probably wanted me to, but she was very helpful. so my next tip is getting functional clothing so pieces that you can wear in multiple different ways so maybe it's like reversible I had a reversible jacket and that really helped me items that you can like take things off or put things on so that they look different pieces you can take add or remove things like a hood or a collar a lot of jackets do that maybe pants you can shorten or lengthen. 2-in-1 pieces might work also. I have this North Face jacket that is a raincoat on the outside but it came with like a normal North Face fleece jacket on the inside. That would have been nice to have so that I was also warm and protected from the rain or just warm depending on what the weather was like but that wouldn't really work really in France because it's a very sporty look and it's very bright and just having shirts and clothing that you can wear in multiple different ways helps you expand your wardrobe while you're there because you only brought so much clothing and you're there for a while and then it helps you with your Instagram pictures so you have more outfits. I really wish I like had more variety and yeah just so you're not which is going to get old. But if you want some clothing hacks, because I did gather some that were living in Europe, subscribe and hit the bell so you get notifications about when I post. That is a clothing hack video that you want so that you can avoid being pockmarked. And just so you can have variety in your Instagram pictures. Even though that's not always important to everyone, but it's just really nice to have so that you aren't, you don't feel like you're wearing the same dirty clothes all the time. Next tip, bring medicine. Okay I told my mom I didn't need medicine and I'm so glad she still forced me to bring some because I got sick way more than I do at home and that's definitely because the air is so different in Europe especially compared to the US. It's rarely smokier and over there so many of them smoke so many times a day it just pollutes the air exponentially and it's bad for you to breathe and you're breathing that in months at a time or weeks at a time so your body is not used to that and I got sick for two months straight because I wasn't used to the air and I was coughing sometimes my nose was running but yeah it was not good and my roommate she got really sick She hadn't used her inhaler since elementary school and when she was there She had to get a steroid inhaler because the air was just so bad and me my coughs But it was really just bad allergy. So I definitely recommend bringing allergy pills Your inhaler and then you might have to get another one like I don't know but yeah, that was very helpful Other medicines I brought that were helpful were motion sickness medicine so like you're going to be traveling you're going to be running buses and trains for maybe many hours or even like a couple minutes but you can still get sick airplanes you can get prescribed patches that are motion sickness medicines and the one I got lasted for up to three days so if you're traveling for a long time it's very helpful so that one you have to get prescribed but motion sickness medicine will help you if you are prone to getting sick during traveling which is not fun. Traveling part of traveling is very dangerous or it can be very nauseous so I would bring some or buy some while you're there but if you need it for the airplane across the pond you're gonna need it before. I put that like a nose spray I get from the helicopter so that helps you lean as well so that you can have a better night's sleep. I would bring medicine even if you don't get sick here because I really get sick here but it was just helpful over there because I wasn't used to that air and that's what you're doing. You're not going to be in the same type of atmosphere you are at home so you definitely should bring some medicine and be prepared for anything that could come up because you don't want anything too serious to happen and if you can prevent that or have ways to treat it quickly you definitely want to do that quickly and cheaply. Those medicines they're not that much and then going to hospital or like finding a doctor it could be more costly, more time-consuming, etc. Also could make you drowsy so taking it while you're on those long train rides or long airplane rides will help you sleep and I wish I had put on my patches on my first way there because it It was rough, I was getting hot, I couldn't sleep. I definitely, you know, not fun. So on my way back, on my long flight, I put them on and I slept, baby, it was so great. I totally regret not putting those patches on, sadly, the first time. If you use any special shampoo or conditioner, of course you're gonna wanna bring it. And honestly, I would just buy some wherever you're from if you can, because you have to go to the grocery store and they don't speak English or the language you speak. You have to figure out what all these bottles say. And yeah, I had to go through that. And it wasn't too bad because I had a friend that was really good at French, but it was still difficult for us to differentiate and figure out what they call body wash, because maybe they don't have body wash or their body wash is different. I was like, contemplating if this was a body wash or if this was a body oil and which one, whichever one was the body wash, I thought body wash was. But it's good, we figured it out. I had soapy showers, it was fine. I didn't have slippery, shiny showers. It would be nice to prevent that if possible. It's also probably cheaper where you're from. So cards and ways to pay. A lot of places in Europe don't use cards or would prefer cash. So I would definitely get a card can withdraw cash from with minimal fees and without minimums because my friends got a French bank account and they used that card and they had a minimum but like you're kind of spending a good amount of money sitting abroad traveling so you don't really want to be dealing with bank customer service to raise your minimum in a foreign language that you can barely speak so So I would definitely recommend getting a domestic card that you can find without fees because international fees can cost a lot. A lot of credit cards use those. Like ATM fees or international stuff, just the exchange rate, they charge you up a lot. So if you can get a debit card, I really recommend the Charles Schwab high yield investor checking account. I'll try to link something below so that you can find it easier. But yeah, I really recommend that one because I didn't have to deal with any fees whatsoever. I can't even think about a fee I had to pay because of that card. And I could withdraw cash easily. Some people bring cash to exchange. You can also do that. But where I was around, there weren't a lot of places besides the airport that would help you exchange it. And they charge you for that. So I wouldn't want to pay that fee whenever I could use my card at an ATM that I found like around every corner that had no fee. So I wouldn't do that, but depending where you are from and where you're going, the exchange rate, you might find a place where the exchange rate is low and convenient and it's easy for you. A motto about finances that could be pretty convenient to have a small wallet that has a slot for dollar bills cards and coins since euros are coins and they're pretty valuable coins like one euro two euros are coins so you definitely want to keep those because it's like a dollar bill two dollar bills that you're throwing out by not using it so yeah you can use a wallet or even like a coin purse or a ziploc bag it doesn't have to be pretty. You only take it out when you pay, so it's fine. Very efficient to just have a place where you can use those because they're pretty valuable. My wallet was a small pink Hannah Montana purse from my childhood, but it fit right in to my little inside pocket that was hiding all my valuables away from pickpocketers. So yeah, if you still want this hack, subscribe and hit the bell for for post notifications about when I post the clothing hack video, so. I didn't have, I didn't get a phone plan over there just because I didn't want to pay for it and my home domestic cell phone carrier has a really good international plan. Shout out to T-Mobile. Some other carriers also have really good international plans, so you might want to look into yours. I have like slow internet, like 2G over there, but I also didn't need it because I was mostly, depending on the Wi-Fi I was I had access to in a cafe or the nearby Starbucks whatever was giving out free Wi-Fi I can make a video all about that about how I use just Wi-Fi most of the time during studying abroad and traveling if you want that video to comment it down below so that I'll make it for you if you want it but if you do get a cell phone plan I really recommend free a lot of my friends like they got like 100 gigabytes a month and it wasn't bad but it also doesn't just refrain to France it's like most of Europe so if you travel you still have service which is really nice and useful using wi-fi though really saved me a lot of money or not well yeah i think i don't know how much they spent but i felt like it was saving me money and all my dollars counted while i was over there not making much money if you want more ways to save money while you're staying abroad also hit that in the comments hit it down in the comments if you want a video on how to save money while staying abroad because a lot of people don't it doesn't feel like they cared about how much money they were spending so let me know if i'm not alone in the comments please and then i can make a video about how i save money because me and my roommate were definitely one of the most viewable ones there. We were saving money and we know how you can save money too. Especially in Europe where the money is expensive. Their money. My video on Wi-Fi would include how we talk to people, use a GPS guide around our direction, stuff like that. How we posted on Instagram stories, etc. You can also see that I actually did post on instagram stories even though i have no cell phone service or very little cell phone service i had my thing mostly on airplane mode so that it wouldn't take up my data or battery you can check it out on my instagram i'll link it here no no i'll put it here link it below so that you can see my posts from abroad while you're checking out my page yeah why don't you just follow me for potential video announcements so you know when I post Q&A opportunities and even like photo, angle, caption ideas for your tag or product. So before you go to a new country or even city for your travels, you should really do some cultural research to see what they're like and you want to expect or just so you know what they're like and what to expect and minimize cultural shock because sometimes that's not good. It can really put a damper on your experience there if you don't know what to expect and if it there turn out to be not what you wanted. So especially before moving to a whole new country you want to know what the country culture is like. My biggest tip is to not just talk to Americans. Don't only eat with Americans. Hang out with other people outside of your country or Canadians if you're Canadian, Australians if you're Australian, like wherever you're from, try to hang out with people outside your country because they're gonna be there with like Australians are gonna be in Australia when you're back in Australia. Canadians are gonna be back in Canada when you're in Canada and same with Americans. You're studying abroad to learn about different cultures and people, so why would you stick with the same people that you already know about at home? Plus, it's really easy to fall into that trap and stay, hang out with people that are from where you are from, but really if you want to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone, you need to talk to people that don't know what you're talking about maybe, that might not know who you're talking about, that might need a little explanation or that might need to teach you a little something. But you need to talk to people that aren't in your country, okay? Just do it. Do it for yourself. Do it for the world. The world is going to be a better place if people, especially Americans, are more aware of the different types of people that are out there. Please do us a favor and talk to people that aren't from your country and really get to know them and learn how to communicate with people that don't only speak English most of the time. Just learn how to communicate, talk to people, become friends with people that aren't like you. It's worthwhile and so much more fun than just people that hurry out. Speaking of home, find a good balance so you can talk to the people that you have at home. They love you and care about you so you don't want to leave them hanging. So you need to let them know that You're going to be there, you can still talk to them, but find a good balance because you don't want to be talking to them, FaceTiming them all the time and missing out on opportunities with the new people or the friends you've made because you only have your time abroad to be with those people all at once, all at the same time. You don't want it to be hindered or prevented when you're FaceTiming your boyfriend all the time. I had a boyfriend going abroad, but I wasn't one of those people and I surprisingly made it out. We made it out. We're still dating. You know, we got through it. Some people don't get through it, but you're abroad, you live your life, you'll be okay. You can do it. Make sure they know that you want to live your life and you need to enjoy your time there because it's only going to last the four, five, one month you're there depending what kind of program you're doing and you don't want them to get in the way. So just as long as they understand and like find a good balance, do what you guys have to do so that y'all know the boundaries and schedule. I would honestly suggest not traveling all the time unless that's your goal but you're there to experience life. You're studying abroad, you're living in a new city, what is the point of living in this city if you're always gone? Make sure to take advantage of where you're living because you have the rest of your life to be a tourist anywhere but you're only gonna be living in your location a few months at a time depending on your program. Again, not sure how long you're there but you have like from a few weeks to a couple months and that might be it for you living there. Someone said to my favorite influencer, who's also studying abroad in Paris at the same time I was, you can be a tourist for the rest of your life, but will only live in Paris for two more months. I was like, when my program was almost halfway over, I just felt that was so true. So I cut down on my traveling, and I definitely took advantage of all the things that Paris, my city, my school had to offer. The people I was with, it's never going to be the same again. Honestly, you can see those people but it's not going to be like the everyday life you have so definitely do not travel a lot if you can help it because you have to take advantage of this living experience you might never get depending on your life. Like I said you need to know your goal so if your goal is to travel all the time maybe go for it. If you don't remember your goal throughout your trip you can look forward to what everyone else is doing, wherever everyone else is traveling. And that could be really bad because if you want to go somewhere and then you leave your exchange program and you never went there, you could really regret it. So make sure you know what you want, go to the places you want to go to, and do the things you want to do. I know my biggest goal for studying abroad in Europe was to take advantage of the fashion capitals being so close to me so I flew or went to London multiple times. I went to Milan multiple times for fashion events and I went of course into Paris for multiple things and I got to go to London and Paris Fashion Week and all the places I dreamt of ever since I was a kid watching Disney Channel movies. Accomplish my childhood dreams while I was over there and let even bigger dreams so So I'm so grateful. But make sure you stick to your goals and you do what you wanna do and not what is norm. Lastly, do something routinely as a local. So me and my roommate always got Sunday brunch at this one restaurant in Paris. And by the time it was near the end of our exchange program, he knew the waiter we had every Sunday. He knew our order, he knew who we were, he recognized us. honestly the fact that he knew my order I didn't have to tell him he just knew it was it was a moment of I made it man I did it I was a Paris local and it was a time of life honestly that was a good deal if you want to hear about it it was like a five course meal and it was a good price especially compared to anything else you can eat in Paris. If you like this video, if you want to be that local in your exchange location, because honestly, I made it. It felt like I made it. I did it. I was a local. I was a Parisian local for like five months. Bring other people to that location too. It's fun. I brought, we brought friends and me and my roommate would always, would still go even if the other person was not traveling. I hope these tips helped you. Comment if you have any questions or concerns about studying abroad and I'll try to help you there. But I just want to help my fam in this or anyone really have the best time across the pond. Europe is really fun. Okay, bye.