That’s All Folks! Parting Words and a Small Surprise

Written by: Alex Stallworth and Ashlyn Willis

As a final goodbye, we’ve decided to come together to create an exhaustive list of advice for surviving and thriving at Georgia Tech Europe! The program can definitely feel overwhelming at first, but after 10 weeks of trial and error, we’ve picked up a ton of knowledge that should make adjusting to life in France a whole lot easier. So, without further ado, here is essentially everything we wish we knew before we got here.

Do’s and Don’t’s: 

Living Situation and Shopping

  • Don’t try to get absolutely everything for your room the first time you go to the store, especially if you go to Carrefour, which is essentially French Walmart. My first Carrefour experience was not ideal in the slightest: I was very jetlagged, very confused because I don’t know how to read French, and very tired after I had to carry my large-ish haul on an over-25-minute walk back to my dorm. It’s best for your first visits to be small trips, just for the basics, then you can come back for larger items later, after you are more acquainted with the store. 
  • As for other stores, Normal is good for “around the house” items: think 5 Below, but with better quality. For food, the best options are Carrefour Express or Auchan, which are more like grocery stores than “everything stores”. 
  • Don’t exclusively buy in bulk, and that goes for both food and dorm items. That’s not to say that you should only buy small-scale items; just keep in mind that you will have plenty of time to go to the store throughout the semester, and it’s better to go back and get more of something rather than end the semester with a bunch of wasted food or product! 
  • Make sure you have enough room for souvenirs on the way back. I recommend putting aside an extra packing cube or leaving additional space in your suitcase for anything you may buy while overseas. 
  • Don’t buy a bunch of additional Tupperware or dishes if you are planning to cook or meal prep. You can do a lot with what is provided, and you can always clean and re-use store-bought containers, like jelly jars. 
  • The dryers in Europe are more energy efficient, but unfortunately, less effective, meaning that your clothes will likely still come out a bit damp. I recommend buying a cheap drying rack or a few hangers, either in addition to typical drying or as a substitute for it. 
  • Getting a haircut in Metz might seem a bit daunting, but a good strategy is to go to the barber shop with a collection of pictures of what you want, as English hair terms like “fade” or “taper” naturally don’t translate into French. The good news is that Metz is a pretty diverse city, so you can easily find a barber who specializes in your hair type. This was one of my biggest apprehensions before coming to GTE, but in my experience, the barbers here do pretty good work, usually for much less than it would cost in America. For someone with type 4 hair, I would recommend going to KAL Coiffure Metz or Kacy Afro Center. 

Academics

  • Do as much work as you can during the week. You may think it’s a good idea to do work either on a train or during free time on a trip, but that will probably lead you to being less productive. Some trains have wifi, but some don’t, and if they do, it is often slow or spotty. This goes for hotels and hostels as well. Moreover, unless you explicitly plan otherwise, it is very unlikely that you’ll have a lot of free time on the weekends that you travel on. And plus, you don’t want to be solving equations or writing essays instead of exploring a new city, do you? So, try to optimize the amount of work you get done during the school week, to avoid working on weekends as much as possible. (Make sure to explore Metz and hang out with friends on the weekdays when you can as well; time management is essential!)
  • Work in the GTE building when possible! Although I am someone who usually prefers to work alone in my dorm room when on the Atlanta campus, the GTE building has a much cozier vibe than many of GT’s academic buildings, making it much more appealing to work in, at least in my opinion. Besides that, the GTE building has something for everyone! Want a busier, CULC-like vibe? Study in the student lounge, where the majority of students find themselves throughout the day. Want some fresh air? There’s plenty of outdoor seating around the building, from benches to tables to hammocks. Want some peace and quiet? The GTE building has several study pods and a few quiet rooms throughout the building, which remind me of the 7th floor of Crossland Tower.

Travel

  • (For some tips and tricks about trains, visit Alex’s latest blog!) 
  • We highly recommend you purchase a Eurail pass for your time in Metz, as a 3-month pass is just $839, and for someone who has taken over 70 trains in 10 weeks, I have more than gotten my value back and then some. Even if you prefer to travel by plane, it still has some value, as Metz doesn’t have a major airport, meaning that if you want to fly anywhere, you first need to go to a different city (which will probably have to be by train). As for where to fly out of, you have a couple of options:
    • Luxembourg is the best place to fly out of. The airport is very easy to navigate, and the public transportation to get there is completely free. It’s also a hub for the region, so there are plenty of routes to and from the city. Finally, and best of all, security there is an absolute breeze to get through; the last time I was there, the line was literally non-existent. 
    • Brussels is your next best option. With the Eurail pass, it only costs 8 euros to get to the main airport. The secondary Charleroi airport is free to get to, although it is some 35 miles out from the city. Both airports are bigger than the Luxembourg airport, so there are more routes to and from the airport, at the cost of longer security lines. It also takes around 4 hours to get to either airport from Metz. 
    • Flying out of Paris is a bit tricky. Firstly, even with the Eurail pass, the cost of your round-trip will be anywhere between 20 to 40 euros more expensive, as you have to catch a TGV to get to Paris. Then, each Paris airport is 45+ minutes away from Gare de l’Est, and it of course costs money to get to each airport as well. Granted, Paris probably has the most plentiful flight options in Europe, but their air traffic controllers have a tendency to go on strike, which dissportationally leads to the cancellation of budget airline flights, which is something that a few of my friends have encountered over the semester.
  • On the topic of budget airlines, they are all very serious about their baggage policies, and they will fine you a lot of money if you violate them. It’s best to plan accordingly and measure your bag to make sure you are within the allowed dimensions before you go to the airport. 
  • To keep prices low, budget airlines usually don’t fly to “main airports” within a city. (i.e., going to London-Stansted instead of Heathrow or Paris-Beauvais instead of Charles de Gaulle). Most of these airports will have trains or shuttles to get to the main city, but they usually will cost something, so make sure to do some research before you get on your flight. 
  • Don’t wait for the last minute to plan or book things. It’s more expensive, more stressful, and you’re more likely to overlook something important at the last minute than if you planned ahead. That’s not to say that you should have your entire summer booked before you come to Europe, but booking things 2-3 weeks in advance can be quite helpful. 
  • Avoid short connections on trains as much as possible. On the Eurail app, you can set a filter to only show journeys with connections longer than 10 minutes. This is a good measure to take to lower the chance that your whole trip gets derailed, but more than likely, it will still happen, at least once. The best advice here is to be adaptable. Have a plan B or C for any long trip, whether that be another train that can still get you to your destination, or a bus that plays the same role. 
  • On that latter point, buses operated by companies like Flixbus or BlaBlaCar are quite good in Europe; they don’t have the negative reputations that companies like Greyhound have in the US, and they are actually the favored method of transportation among a lot of European young adults and teenagers. With that being said, buses usually won’t be faster or more convenient than taking a train, but it can be quite useful if you find yourself in a pinch, especially for an overnight journey.


General Advice and Information:

Items to Bring/Buy

  • Portable Charger/Adapter: Whether it’s an issue of trains and planes not having charging outlets, hiking in remote places, or not having the right plug for the charging ports (emphasis on Ireland, the UK, and Switzerland for this one), a portable charger can be a lifesaver!
  • Tote Bag: In Europe, most supermarkets don’t provide free plastic bags, meaning that you either have to buy your own plastic bag or bring a tote bag. Neither are particularly expensive: each plastic bag is maybe .30 euros, and you can get a tote bag for less than 5 euros, easily. But, it might be worth packing, considering that they are so light and take up virtually no space in a suitcase. 
  • Ziploc Bags: Super useful for getting through airport security with liquids (make sure your bag is no more than one litre to make things go more smoothly), as well as keeping things organized on trips. Also, I recommend bringing a separate bag to store your dirty laundry in for each trip, so that you can keep your clean clothes nice and fresh. 
  • Laundry Detergent Sheets: A personal favorite of mine, laundry sheets are not only more eco-friendly than most laundry pods; they also are lighter, take up less space, and are just as effective! You still can handwash your clothes with the sheets too, which is something you’ll probably do once or twice at GTE, as laundry does cost money, and sometimes, you just need a few things clean without doing a whole load. 
  • Travel Containers: Not all living situations on your trips will have shampoo or bodywash, let alone conditioners or other products. I recommend bringing travel-sized containers to fill up with your preferred hygiene products. 
  • Your Favorite Hygiene Products: On that note, I advise you to bring at least some of your favorite hygiene products to Metz. As we talked about before, it’s not a good idea to buy too much too fast for your dorm in Metz, and unsurprisingly, it’s a little difficult to purchase hygiene products that you may be fairly particular about in a language that you aren’t fluent in. I know a couple of people who bought the wrong products and had to eat the cost of it, so to try to avoid that, come with some of the more important ones. 
  • Shower Shoes: Most hostels have communal showers. While you may luck out and get a private bathroom, it’s best to bring shower shoes just in case. 
  • Towel: Most hostels and GTE dorms do not provide towels (although for the former, you can usually rent one for a couple of euros).  Plus, you probably will want one if your travels take you to a beach or a lake! While you can buy towels at Carrefour for less than 10 euros, if you have additional space in your suitcase, it is something that I would prioritize. 
  • Fan(summer): A majority of GTE dorms, and to a greater extent, buildings in Europe in general, don’t have air conditioning. The temperature may get up to a max of like 92 degrees over the entire summer, which doesn’t seem bad, but because of the lack of AC and the way European buildings are built, it will often feel warmer inside your room than outside your room. Although it’s only hot like that for a week, buying a fan can help that week feel much better. You can get a decent one from Carrefour for 20 euros or so, or pick one up from the GT donation drive when you arrive. The donation drive is a system that you get to partake in at the beginning of the semester,  where previous students leave unwanted supplies for the new students, which usually entails a lot of fans.

Items to Leave Behind

  • Hangers: Although you’ll need hangers for your room, hangers are inexpensive to buy and quite bulky to transport in your luggage, so you’re better off just getting them at Carrefour or the GT donation drive.
  • Lots of Shoes: You don’t need a lot of shoes. They take up a lot of space in a suitcase, and since you’ll be walking a lot, you don’t really have much need for athletic shoes. One to two pairs of walking shoes, the aforementioned shower shoes, and maybe a pair of sandals or slides should serve you very well.
  • “Just in Case” Items: Now, this one is a bit vague and can mean different things for different people. For me, it’s the extra books,  just in case I wanted to read, or the pair of gloves,  just in case I went somewhere extremely cold. As I pack up for the end of the semester, I look at the books and the gloves and sigh, as they never left my primary suitcase. While it is good to come prepared and limit buying more items that you could’ve brought from home, definitely make sure you are thinking twice about those non-essentials before you bring them.

Travel Locations

While everyone has different preferences and options, we have included some of the places we have visited and enjoyed! Europe is a huge and diverse place with so many countries and cities to explore, so don’t feel limited by just what the majority of people visit. The biggest piece of advice is to use this opportunity to explore what you want, whether that is just around the city of Metz itself or across the continent!

  • Amsterdam, Netherlands: A city with an interesting history, we recommend taking a boat tour on the canals, as you will be able to learn a lot of information about different parts of the country and city, with lots of fun niche facts. The stroopwafel there is absolutely delicious as well!
  • Interlaken, Switzerland: This is a great place to have a “home base” for a weekend if visiting Switzerland, as it is just a short train ride away to the more elevated villages of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, or other good hiking towns, yet very accessible. (Note for popular hiking destinations in Switzerland: many towns are based in the valleys, so to do many mountain hikes and trails, you may often have to pay for a gondola ride up and occasionally back down a mountain if you want to avoid a very timely and strenuous additional hike upwards, which can sometimes be expensive.)
  • Luxembourg City, Luxembourg: While not a large city, the city of Luxembourg is a great place for a day trip! Although often overlooked just for being an area of connection for travel elsewhere, the old city area built into a fortress is a beautiful and green place that makes for a relaxing day of exploring. And once more, the public transit is completely free, which is a great bonus!
  • Vienna, Austria: If you like classical art and intricate buildings, Vienna is a perfect city for this vibe. It has a very regal feel to it, with many museums and lots of beautiful architecture to admire!
  • Bruges, Belgium: A very pretty and quaint city to visit. There are a lot of walkways along the canal as well as markets and shops to go through; it makes for a good day trip if you are staying in Belgium.
  • Edinburgh, Scotland: Although the UK is definitely more of a trek to get to than the mainland European countries, Edinburgh is an absolute gem to lovers of an academia vibe, history, and mystery. It is a beautiful city with Gothic architecture everywhere, and it is built in the valley of steep hills stretching to the sea, making for lovely scenery and hiking opportunities as well. If visiting Scotland for longer, taking a tour of the Highlands and lochs is also recommended!
  • Florence, Italy: Definitely a popular choice and justifiably so, Florence is another hub for art and overall beauty. There are so many museums and historical points to see in the city, and the food is absolutely spectacular.
  • Marseille, France: If you want to visit more of France, Marseille is an interesting and unique city to visit! Being a port city so far South, it has a completely different vibe from Paris and other cities in France, and has a beautiful coastal area along with lots to explore.
  • London, England: Between West End shows, sporting events, the copious amounts of museums, and the most famous monarchy in the world, London is the perfect place to go for an action-packed weekend. 
  • Budapest, Hungary: Although a bit far from Metz, Budapest is one of the cheaper cities in the EU, with a charming beauty from the dual influences of Western and Soviet architecture.

And…well, that’s it! Thank you for reading along. We hope that our blogs have been helpful, inspirational, or made the decision to sign up for GTE just a little easier. While we may sound a bit irritated while discussing some of these topics, these are just some growing pains with being abroad. Trust us, GTE is an absolutely amazing experience that we would both do again, 10 out of 10 times. 

Now, for a bit of a surprise. You may be wondering, “Why are both of the bloggers working on one post?” Well, that’s actually because we are quite good friends outside of work, and we have traveled together on a lot of the weekends during this semester!

(Ashlyn, Alex, and Friends atop Arthur’s seat in Scotland)


With that being said, this is Ashlyn and Alex signing off for the final time. Au revoir!

Traveling on a Budget: Fun Things to Do for Cheap 

Thursday, March 3, 2022 | Written by Claire

  1. Scootering

One of my favorite tricks for exploring big cities in a timely manner is to hop on scooters and zoom around place to place all day. The best part is that most European cities are fully equipped with bike lanes and parking spaces scattered around the city for your convenience. Not only will you be zooming around, weaving among the traffic, responsibly of course, but you will also be feeling the wind and hearing the city’s bustling life block by block. 

While being time efficient, you can also travel at your own pace without being charged. Hungry? Place your phone on the phone rack and take a ride to the nearest restaurant and pause your ride. Rates are also cheap by the hour. Some brands have activation rates for a euro that lasts you for the whole day. Others charge a few cents by the minute. From my experience, the cheapest brands are Bolts and Tiers, which are highly competitive against the traditional Birds or Limes. If you’re looking for a fun, cheap activity in the city that gets your adrenaline pumping, scooters might be your best bet!

2. Hiking 

For the nature enthusiasts, hiking is always a cheap option that you can tailor to your experiences and preferences. Many big cities in Europe are located next to mountainous regions or along the coast. For example, if you travel to Marseille in France, you can scale the Calanques for a whole day without spending a single cent. In many of the port cities, you can find rocky outcrops to bask in the sunlight or take a stroll along the beach. If you’re in Italy or Portugal, there are many lakes such as Lake Como or the Benagil Caves that you can spend your afternoon exploring. While extra activities such as mountain biking or sea kayaking may cost 10-30 euros, the views are spectacular and worth the cost. 

3. Museums 

As a student, you’re in luck. Many museums such as the Prado in Madrid are free for students on certain weekends. If they are not free, exhibition tickets are often sold at a discounted rate if you have your ISIC card on you. These museums often hold gems of modern, historical art, and they can eat up a whole day of activities if you’re interested. Not only are these museums specific to the region, they also have different exhibitions every month. 

4. Bakery Hopping 

For the foodies, a cheap way to try local foods is to go bakery hopping. Many small goodies cost one or two euros and are pretty filling. They also represent the local cuisine with each baked good. For example, in Faro, Portugal, we tried Portuguese egg tarts that are a euro and custard sponge cakes, which the locals were crazed about. In Italy, we also had cheap cannolis and pistachio buns for under a euro. In Como, they sold pastries by the bag, and we lived off them for only 7 euros throughout the entire day. 

 

My GTL Experience

Quinnell has some words of reflection and appreciation for all that her semester at Georgia Tech-Lorraine turned out to be! Check out her last blog post for photos, memories, and advice – especially for all you future GT-Lorraine students!

The first week in Metz!

When I stepped off the plane and landed in France for the first time, I had no idea of what to expect. Immediately that first day, I was in a shock: I was surrounded by people speaking French, rushing through border control to get my luggage, and arriving at the Lafayette dorms exhausted from traveling. Little did I know, that first day would be the beginning of an important moment in my life, one that I will never forget. Since the beginning of Georgia Tech Lorraine, I had the opportunity to grow as an engineering student, a young woman, and as a traveler.

My dream trip to Paris!

 

Ever since I was younger, I dreamed of doing something exciting with my life, inventing things as an engineer, and traveling the world. Originally being from a small town in Louisiana, I always wanted to get out and see what the world had to offer. My acceptance into Georgia Tech was my first ticket to seeing more of just that. A few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought that Georgia Tech would not just give me one ticket, but two: attending Georgia Tech Lorraine. This semester I was able to accomplish one of my greatest goals of traveling to Europe. While studying abroad in France, I was able to travel to 10 countries and over 20 cities. Through my travels, I was able to gain a better understanding of people from different cultures, develop a better perspective of the world, learn about and experience different traditions, make memories of a lifetime, and learn more about the countries I traveled to. Since starting the program, I became more adaptable and flexible to change as well; I no longer feel I need to know everything or plan every step to feel secure or have a great time while traveling.

Kayaked for the first time in my life. My smile does not show how much my arms were sore from paddling.

London!

I sprinted to catch trains, took tours around cities, slid down a mountain in a metal slide, kayaked in one of the biggest lakes in Switzerland, danced around Spain, and stood in front of the Anne Frank House. Some of my favorite memories from studying abroad were my trip to Switzerland, getting to see the Berlin Wall, climbing up the Eiffel Tower, standing in a crowd of people to see changing of the guards in London, and eating the most delicious fries and waffles in Belgium. The memories I made abroad will be some of the greatest ones of my twenty-somethings.

Coming to GTL, I knew I was going to have some great opportunities to travel, however, I was not expecting to grow as much as an engineer. I would say that this semester has been one of my most challenging ones yet. Throughout my time at GTL, I took courses in Deformable Bodies, Fluid Mechanics, System Dynamics, and Statistics and Probability. I was challenged, I was corrected, and I became a better future engineer because of it. Even though my classes were challenging, they were exciting because most of them were explicitly for my major and all the content from the preliminary courses I had taken were combining together to make more conceptual sense.

Where the Berlin Wall used to stand. One of my historical-rich and heart-touching trips!

There are some things I wish I would have done differently at the beginning of my semester at GTL. First things first, remember why you are at GTL; most people would say they are there for travel and school. However, at the beginning of the semester, the school part does not seem as important because you are in a new exciting place in Europe and are making travel plans to visit other countries, which is great! Something I wish I would have done differently was studying more before my weekend travels, do work on the train rides, and learn my teacher’s testing strategies earlier on. Another piece of advice that is important and rarely discussed

Fall break in Spain and Portugal!

is being flexible with the people you travel with. I can honestly say in the beginning, I was more focused on who I was traveling with than where I wanted to go. Do not be afraid to travel with another trustworthy group or person who may not be your best friend, because trust me, others will carry on with their plans, and you may miss out on a weekend of travels.

The most important part about traveling around Europe are the destinations, and you may even become friends with other people with being more flexible with your travel group! Also when traveling in Europe, I highly recommend getting a Eurail pass if you plan on traveling almost every weekend or want to catch trains often. It really paid off to have one for convenience and was a large cost saving on transportation. Another piece of advice for studying abroad would be to set a hard budget before getting to France; for every trip, you should calculate a projected cost of that trip and extras such as groceries and shopping. Trust me when I say the cost of living in France and traveling will add up quickly if you do not watch your spending. My last piece of advice is the most crucial: have the time of your life! Ask yourself, how many times will you be in Europe in your twenties with no commitments besides to pass a few classes? Remember that this experience is supposed to be fun and challenging, so make sure every day you find the good in the experience and to enjoy yourself.

Thanks for tuning into my study abroad journey!

During this program, I have made memories of a lifetime, grown as a person and student, and have been challenged beyond measures I never thought I would be. Coming to GTL, I would have never expected to be able to travel to as many countries as I did, or grow as much as I have. Studying abroad is truly a life-changing experience; from being abroad I have learned how to budget better, be stronger emotionally, be quicker to react to certain situations, make the most out of every moment, and have the time of my life. Thank you for keeping up with my study abroad adventures this semester. With this being my last blog post of the semester, I must best wishes and au revoir!

Affording Opportunity

After working hard and being frugal through high school, Aria fulfills her high school dreams, calling GTL “genuinely an outstanding opportunity that this time I couldn’t turn down.” She’s got some words of wisdom on the finances of a semester abroad.

Growing up the daughter of an Economics major, weighing opportunity cost was a daily habit. In high school, I often turned down proposals of exotic trips. I worked, and though I could pay for gas for my car and some luxuries while still saving a few thousand dollars for emergency, the cost of a single one of these would take out an astronomical percentage of my savings. My orchestra traveled to Austria in my junior year in high school. For a European spring break trip that included missing a few extra days of school, competing as an orchestra, and eating chocolate with Mozart’s face on it, the price was downright reasonable. For people who consider traveling to Austria on spring break in the first place. Despite persuasive claims that an opportunity like this will never be so affordable, I turned it down.

I now find myself in Vienna, eating Mozart chocolates and rubbing out the aches of a 12-hour train ride. I have already been traveling extensively for months at this point, but this is the city that drives it home for me. The city that was my original opportunity at Europe now represents my furthest distance traveled. GTL is genuinely an outstanding opportunity that this time I couldn’t turn down.

College students are generally understood to be poor, but this comes with the perk of universal pity. From scholarships to Spotify discounts, it’s nice in this instance to be reminded of how much debt you are in when it means you can live above your means while still making self-deprecating Ramen jokes. I’ve personally come to experience a form of income in which the Financial Aid office gives me enough loans to cover the overpriced food and housing of a freshman, but I have since reduced my costs while getting to keep the leftover as “savings” – to be spent on Austrian chocolate, of course. With all this support, European travel has never been so unintuitively affordable.

If you’re an out of state student, like so many are, studying at GTL allows you to pay in-state tuition, effectively saving money by moving to France. This spare cash can then be allocated to your daily pastry budget instead of the debts that you can ignore since you go to a top school and are just waiting for your offer from Google to come any day now. If you are in-state, like me, you get to complain about how you now have to pay for traveling every weekend and there’s no loan for that while your out of state friends loudly remind you of how the sandwich they’re eating costs more than your tuition.

While the only cure for disgruntled non-Georgia residents is to bow your head to their superior debts, there are solutions to your travel woes. Despite my fears that I would technically be able to afford to attend GTL but would end up sitting in my dorm every weekend with no money for a place to stay, I have traveled every weekend while staying hundreds of dollars under my (quite overestimated) budget.

  • Scholarships:

The best advice I can give is to fill out the OIE study abroad scholarship application. It is the easiest application I have ever filled out, and it got me an extra $3,000 unexpectedly. There are so many scholarships tied to this application and every dollar can make a difference. Of course, there are tons of other outside scholarships, but they take considerably more effort to find.

  • Jobs:

Working part time during school or full time in off semesters is an obvious way to get some money, and savings from these earning periods can make affording GTL travel much less stressful. Finding a job while at GTL is less likely, but still possible. Some people write for the GTL blog to get a free Eurail pass. Others are RA’s, but that’s a bit too much interaction with people for me. My years working in the tourist industry have worn through my cheery persona to my cynical core.

  • Financial Scams:

Credit cards are gambling for adults who want to be perceived as financially responsible as they give in to their addictions. I was initially hesitant to get a credit card, but now it is going well, and my credit has been rising steadily. After getting this system down, I wanted more. Higher cash back, better revolving categories, the works. Since I needed to get a new card for GTL without foreign transaction fees, this was the perfect opportunity to spend hours researching. I eventually settled on the Barclay card Arrival Plus, which gave me 40,000 miles as a sign on bonus if I spent $3,000 in the first 90 days. This led to another plot, where I opened a savings account with my bank backed by $1,000 paid from my card, earning me a new account to help with budgeting – and the sign on bonus that has paid for most of my weekend Airbnbs.

The experience at GTL is different for everyone, but can also be affordable for anyone. This really is the most opportune time to drop everything and live in Europe for four months. Vienna lived up to all expectations as the city that is the pinnacle of so many of my long-standing interests. The Spanish Riding School (named for the Spanish roots of their Lipizzaner horses) was the highlight of my trip, despite a hindered ability to breathe given that a decade of daily allergy pills was apparently not enough for me to remember that I’m allergic to horses. My one regret: not following suit after wondering why both people in front of me at Manner chocolate spent 50 EUR on this exclusive treat.

Night Trains: For the Long-Distance Traveler on a Budget

By this time, Maddy has some experience with getting to far-flung places, and she recommends night trains. Check out her tips and insights!

Basically, after all of the traveling I’ve done, I grew tired of the Franco-Germanic area and aspired to travel elsewhere, which either requires an 8-12+ hour train or an expensive flight. So, I found a nice solution: night trains! Night trains are awesome. Within France they’re very cheap: I went to Monaco for a 20 euro reservation, which is what you’d pay for an inexpensive hostel. From southern France, it’s just a quick train to Italy, and there are also night trains that go between countries as well. I have some friends that took one to Barcelona for 30-40 euros, and I’m positive the night train to Berlin is fairly inexpensive as well.

The trains have rooms that house 6 beds, and yes, they are super cramped. I’m talking Titanic movie cramped.

 

But, all you’re doing is sleeping, so instead of staying up late and doing homework or other irrelevant things, get a good night’s rest so you can explore all the next day! (I’m joking, although if you are thinking of doing homework on this train, then forget about it. There were no common areas to just hang out in (at least on mine), and don’t expect to be able to sit upright comfortably in your bed.

Also, If you’re tall you may end up like this:

These trains usually leave late at night (mine left at 10 pm) and you arrive at your destination in the morning.

One thing to consider is that unless you buy out an entire cabin of all six beds, you’ll probably be sharing them with other people. So, if you have a group of friends that are obsessed with a card game and are refusing to quit at even 1 am, just be courteous of the people you’re sharing the cabin with and try to move out into the hallway. That doesn’t sound fun but it’s better that than pissing off some French women who will 100% use the entirety of their vocabulary to make you shut up (totally not based on personal experience). Also, it’s always good to be conscious of your things, but that’s a bit hard to do when you’re asleep. I cannot sleep with one eye open, and I doubt you can either, so I suggest getting a money belt/something similar so you can keep your passport and phone close to you without fear of prying hands. Get out there and see some far away stuff!