How To Travel on a Students' Budget

Greece

Countless are the times that my friends and followers have messaged asking me how and why I travel so much. I take it as a compliment and truth be told it’s one that I enjoy receiving. I am constantly challenging myself on a daily basis to try new things and seek out new experiences; travelling just happens t fall under this category. Truth be told, I don’t exactly hide the fact that I travel extensively. Just like the average millennial, I am always posting my whereabouts online. However, I don’t do this to show off or to flex on the haters. Instead, I do it to inspire others to travel the globe and discover what this beautiful world has to offer.

Travelling is often made out to be a complex palace involving a ton of expenses, logistics and time to plan the perfect holiday. However, it doesn’t have to be any of the above. In first year, in the midst of my final exams, my boyfriend and I broke up. My friend and I decided to plan a holiday, and a week later, we were on a flight to Tenerife. The travel cost us 20€ return each, our AirBnB came to 30€ for both nights and food was cheap when we avoided the tourist traps. All in all, the three-day trip cost me around 80€ which I think is relatively cheap, especially considering that some people can spend 80€ on three nights out clubbing. This brings me to my first tip.

Barcelona

#1 Tip: Budget mindfully

In other words, think about compromises. Maybe one night you’ll have one pint instead of two. Put that money aside into your savings towards your holiday. I personally use this online banking app called Monzo. I too of showing me where my spending goes each month, it also automatically rounds up my pennies to the nearest pound and puts that money aside into my savings that I’ll use on my next holiday.

#2 Sign Up to Marketing Emails

I know that there is massive controversy about how much Google really knows about us. I, personally, adore my customised adverts as it always shows me what I want to see, but this is a story for another time. The reason why I always get the best deals in terms of prices is because I sign up to marketing emails. Ryanair is great for them as they often have very cheap flights from £5. The only catch is that they’re often from Stansted (an awkward airport if there ever was one) and at inconvenient times. I remember having to catch at 8AM flight to Berlin with one of my friends and having to sleep on the floor just so that we could make it on time. 

#3 Don’t expect luxury

Something to bear in mind when travelling in budget ; your life isn’t always going to be luxury. Sometimes you’ll have to go out of your comfort zone and so-called “rough it”, and that should be fine. We’re going, we’re penniless, and we have a passion for studying. 

Dubai

Just on a side note: although I am telling you all how to save money when travelling, never risk your safety. If you’re walking home late at night, it’s best to get a taxi back, rather than walking some unfamiliar streets. This is especially relevant for people in a foreign country and if you don’t speak the local language. If you ever feel in any kind of danger, ask for help and stay in areas where it is well lit with people around you. Always have emergency phone numbers for the local area that you can access easily, too. 

Berlin

Now that I have covered the basics, I want to discuss my personal journey, starting from October 2017. This was my trip to Berlin, where I found dirt cheap tickets from Stansted. The three-day trip cost no more than £120, including eating out and going out money. 

My next trip was for my 20th birthday to Barcelona with my boyfriend. We chose an AirBnB slightly out of the centre which saved a lot of money in terms of accommodation. We got a travel pass to travel around, which we would have done anyway even if we lived in the centre. 

Over Easter, I went to Bordeaux to check out the university that I would be attending the following year. 

Over Summer, I grabbed a lifetime opportunity. I became one of the five student ambassadors chosen to travel around the UK in order to advertise the #StudentArtPass. All my expenses were covered and I was paid on top of this. It was one of the most insightful trips of my life, and I again received a lot of messages about this. If it weren’t for me seeking out the opportunity and applying, I’d never had had this experience. Therefore, another tip would be to keep an eye out for job offers and opportunity that involve travelling. Personally, after I graduate I hope to work abroad so that I can travel and still earn money. I did this over summer when I moved to London for an internship. I consider my hometown to be Bournemouth, so loving in the capital was great fun for me.

London

Last but not least, it was actually compulsory as part of my degree to take a year out to study abroad. If you haven’t read or watched my blog on this, do follow this link here. But I’d highly recommend choosing a course whereby you take a year to live and study in a foreign country. I’ve personally loved and learnt a lot about myself during this time. I was even able to travel whilst abroad, taking trips around France and across the border to Spain. Remember, as always, to budget, find cheap deals and stay safe.

Thank you for reading and safe travels.

Yours,

University, Summer in London and Living Abroad | 2018 in a Nutshell

Dragging five suitcases across Lille's poorly signposted train stations was not the glamorous way I expected my French term to end. My seemingly sensible choice of booking the Eurostar back to the UK in order for me to carry all of my purchases now appeared rather irrational as this resulted in having to pause every few steps to take a break. It took me about 10MINS to walk 100 metres from Lille's main station to the International Station - a drab, open airspace, which appeared so unwelcoming that part of me was glad to be heading home. However, as I barricaded myself in my seat with luggage towering around me, I couldn't help but smile at the memories that I had collected in the past six months.

The third term of university was a blur to me. I got into a somewhat insane routine where my flatmates and I would wake up at 6:30AM, walk through Spoons to grab a breakfast-to-go and catch the 7AM bus into campus and be sat down by 7:45AM ready to study. Even then the library would be filling up and the closer to exam season the harder it became to find a spot. We'd stay in the library until about 10PM, only having breaks to talk about how stressed we were and how we wanted to cry. We were fueled by panic, a fear of failure, and a great deal of coffee. We'd all picked up smoking in dire attempt to subdue our stress levels, not clicking the Menthols if we really wanted that hoarse voice the next day. It was a time of sheer exhaustion but also a huge adrenaline rush that kept us powering on. Our being felt so purposeful. It felt like I was truly working on my future, and towards my long-term goals.

Out of my friendship group, I finished my exams first. As usual, I had applied for some summer schemes, and this time I was lucky enough to be selected in order to participate in one of the best organisations that I have ever been part of. ArtFund is an independent British charity which raises funds in order to support artwork. It also offers a National Art Pass for students, which enables young people to visit famous museums either free or at a discounted price. I was one of five students around the UK who were selected in order to promote the pass in time for the Museum of the Year Awards, which would be held in the Victoria and Albert Museum. My four other friends and I travelled, with all expenses paid, from London to Glasgow to Hull down to Cornwall and back to London again. We took photos and posted them on our social media, showcasing all the activities that each museum put on for us. It was an amazing experience as I got to meet so many interesting people who were so passionate about art and with whom I could have deep conversations with about the meaning and history of each piece.

It wasn't long after I came back from the trip that I was packing my bags up from Leamington to head off to London. Little did I know that this summer would be the best one of my life so far. I was fortunate enough to have been offered a room in Kew - acquired through a friend of a friend. Michael was a very kind man 0 I always refer to him as the granddad that I never had. My nine to five job took up the majority of my day, but whenever I came home, he would always be there to have a cup of tea and a chinwag. This would often turn into an hour-long conversation, covering any topic from Lucian Freud to the meaning of life. Interning was a whole new experience for me. I thought that I would spend my days making coffee and be anyone's dog's body, yet by the end of my two-month placement, I was the first point of call for anything related to Marketing. Whilst it got quite stressful or tiring, to say the least, I did fill all my spare time with fun activities. The first few weeks were spent getting my bearings around London. I'd visit central, and all of London's tourist attractions. However, the novelty soon wore off. It was then that I began new activities, such as attending conferences, meeting new people and especially my favourite activity which was trying new restaurants. I truly believe that three-quarters of my spending money went on food. I split my time 50/50, living partially at Michael's, and partially in Wandsworth, at my at-the-time boyfriend's house. I had an incredible amount of freedom. I was living in the buzzing capital, with a decent income and endless opportunities. It truly pained me to leave, but when the time came, my boss threw a wonderful leaving party for me on his boat that was docked on the Thames - so it wasn't all that bad.


Ho*, my boyfriend, took me to the airport when I left. Although we arrived over two hours early, our parting was so emotional that I ended up only passing through security at the time my flight was due to leave! Thankfully, I was travelling with Ryanair, so the flight was late anyway. Ha ha.

Having my parents waiting to collect me from the other side was a delightful moment. I hadn't seen my mother since before moving to London, and I hadn't seen my father since Easter. I spent a few days in Ginoles, my hometown, recovering and having some much-needed parent-child time. A few days later, they drove me and dropped me off 368km North West, to Bordeaux, where I would be spending three and a half months on my Erasmus exchange.

The hardest part of my time in France was not, as I imagined, making friends. For all of those who follow my blogs, you'll know that this is often my number one fear. The hardest part of my time in France was, in fact, finding enough time to do all the things that I wanted to do with my friends (shock!). Along with my 21-hour week at university, I also wanted to explore everything Bordeaux had to offer. From museums to art galleries, to private launch parties - I would want to do them all. It wasn't just a need, but a thirst to grow. Within the first couple of days at university, I established a friendship group of 10 girls and 1 guy, which stayed solidified throughout the time there. We did everything together. I had never had a friendship like this before. I had always shied away from big friendship groups, since my last one in Year 9 was not the best of experiences, as the people were extremely toxic and I suffered severe bullying from it. Therefore, whilst cautious at first, I realised that having a supportive group like this was an amazing feeling. We were all very outgoing girls, which meant that we'd always plan to do new things every week. Whether visiting Christmas markets or nipping down to Spain for a few days, my agenda was always jam-packed.

You can therefore understand why I crashed when I returned to Bournemouth, my family home. I have been so on the go the past few months that now that I don't have activities planned, my body has gone into complete shutdown. I'm currently allowing myself time to recover - a well-deserved break. Until 4 days time, of course, when I'm off on a new adventure. Next stop? Dubai.

Yours,

TGIF: London

I love it when plans finally see the light of day. There is a sense of achievement, of satisfaction, as if the months of fantasising and meticulous planning were worth it all. There were many nights where I spent lying awake thinking about going to London with Adam* and on Friday, we finally went.

It had been some time since I had last visited London and to behave as a tourist. My family and I normally go up there with a set purpose and get caught up with the busy flow of London life. Additionally, when we used to live in London, there was no 'need' to visit the sites as we were surrounded by them all the time. It would seem unnecessary to spend a vast amount of money on tours and tickets when I saw the famous landmarks on a daily basis. Unfortunately, this meant that I never acted as a tourist - by which I mean just getting an underground day pass and going wherever my heart desired.

My love of art and culture is what identifies me as a person. I was fortunate enough to visit the Saatchi Gallery at the time when the Rolling Stones' exhibition was being held. It had only recently been opened (we visited London on Friday the 8th and it opened its doors on Tuesday the 5th) and I believe that the iEC (who put on the exhibition) did a fantastic job at capturing the feel of who the Rolling Stones really were.  For those who are interested, the exhibition is shown up until early September, so I'd think that it would be a great place to visit in the summer holidays. The nine show rooms were filled with the band's original instruments, exclusive video footages, and even personal diary entries. What interested me the most was definitely the flamboyancy of the costumes that each band member wore. It made me realise that when creating a business (which, essentially, is what a band is), everything to do with that business must be congruant with the band's image. The Stones were outrageous and appealed to those who wanted to rebel and I could sense the rebellion through their lyrics, their clothes, and their general attitudes towards authority. 

After walking along the Thames in search of food, Adam, his father and I finally found a cute little vegan restaurant in the middle of Covent Garden called Le Pain Quotidien. Although it was extremely busy, the waiter managed to sit the three of us down in a corner. My first impression of the place was that it looked very 'Instagram Worthy'. I declined to bring this up in conversation with the other two, as, no doubt, they may have judged me, but the overall feel of the café was that it was very modern and simplistic. The tables were wooden and the simple table decoration included the salt and pepper in two lovely glass jars. The menu itself was overall very health orientated. From a quick glance, I could see that their food was all dairy and gluten free, something that has become fairly fashionable of late. Personally, I think it's just marketing and people jumping on a bandwagon, but who am I to speak? Whenever I get McDonalds' vouchers I can't resist the carbs and the grease and don't even question whether it's doing my body any good. It's cheap food and keeps me going. Anyway, I digress.
Above, I attach a photo of what I had to eat. I don't think the photo does it justice - my Avocado and Toast was topped with super seeds, citrus cumin salt, lemon juice and olive oil. It was delicious. Since the bread gave its name to the restaurant, I thought the bread would be a must-try and it did not fail me. It was quite heavy, understandably so for a dish on the 'main meal' section. If I were lucky enough to go again, I would probably try one of their soups of the day as I saw that it was a popular choice amongst the other customers. Adam's father also had a drink which was a mixture of milk and cinnamon which was absolutely gorgeous, but I can't find its name on the menu. Does anyone know what it's called? 

Our next adventure was to explore Regent Street. It was around late afternoon so the crowds were dwindeling down by this point, so we were able to visit most of the shops that we wanted to. When people say that everything is bigger and better in London, they're not wrong. When we visited Topshop, there were about 5 different floors and one could easily get lost (if one didn't have someone like Adam to follow, who is 6"3 and whose head towers over everyone and everything). Each floor contained a different attraction. These ranged from a barber's shop, a beauty salon, and even a cupcake store! I felt that everything was overpriced but I loved browsing through it all. I could have spent hours just exploring the shop, but I was keen to get going since Adam said he had a 'surprise' for me... 
If you know me IRL, you'll know my obsession with cuddlies. I'm 18 years old yet I am as excitable as a 5 year old when it comes to stuffed animals. Adam knows this and lead me by the hand, rushing me slightly until we were outside one of the biggest toy shops that I have ever been to: Hamley's. I felt like a little child again when I walked through the doors to be faced with sooooo many toys! I rushed around hugging giant teddy bears, screaming with joy and trying to pop all the bubbles that were constantly being blown in my direction (it's more likely that I was running towards the bubbles rather than them coming towards me, but that's a minor point). 

Our shopping spree lasted the majority of the afternoon, and as our little luncheon of healthy stuff was a good five hours ago, we all decided to go to the Yo! Sushi as it was conveniently situated at Waterloo Station, where we were due to catch the train back to Bournemouth. Again, this restaurant was another first time for me. I have only recently started to like sushi (surprisingly, since I'm Asian and ought to have 'embraced' my culture before now), but now that I am living healthier (slightly contradicting what I said earlier about McDonalds), I love the fresh and clean taste that the sushi leaves on my palette. At Yo! Sushi, the food arrives on a conveyor belt and one can simply pick out what one fancies. There is also the option to order food, where one has to press a little button which lights up a post at your table to beckon the waiter/ess over. I loved the novelty of it all and would certainly go back again.

Unfortunately, our day was drawing to an end and the journey back on the train gave my feet time to recover after the long day of walking everywhere. As I lay my head on Adam's shoulder, we started to plan the next trip we were going to go on together. I can guarantee that this summer will be filled with a lot more adventures! in futurum expectat.

* All names in this blog are fake in order to ensure the privacy of my friends and conceal their identities. However, the characters are all real people and the events actually happened