How to prepare for a Year Abroad

Jinal Shah -

So you've decided that you want to study abroad, or you've already been offered a place at a host institution (congratulations!) I've recently started my year abroad at the University of Melbourne, in Australia. Over the next 12 months or so I'll be sharing with you my experiences and journey in the land down under, but before I get into that there's a lot to talk about BEFORE you even step on the plane and fly off into the sunset.

I'll try to highlight to you some of the aspects you should think about - but to summarise, planning and preparation is key. You'll thank your future-self if you're nice and organised beforehand.

Insurance

Health and travel insurance is an absolute must, and is usually a requirement in order to apply for your student visa. Check with your university, they may offer free travel insurance that you can take out. For the health insurance, ensure that it's one that is approved by the country you're travelling to. In Oz, I had to take out OSHC (Overseas Student Health Care) before I could apply to my visa.

Visa

This is an obvious one, but you'll need a student visa to enter your host country and be eligible to stay there for the duration of your studies. Visa applications can be tricky and confusing, so apply with plenty of time to spare, and if unsure check with your university. Take your time when filling out the visa form, it can be quite lengthy (the one for Australia took me a couple of hours to fill out with all the details), so don't leave it till last minute. Thankfully, once I had submitted my student visa application it got approved very quickly (within 24 hours), but it can take months in some instances. Depending on where you've travelled recently, they may also ask for additional information or clarification (such as proof of vaccinations etc).

Your visa should cover you for the length of your studies and a few months extra, and remember you cannot stay past the visa expiry date!

Accommodation

This will vary from university, but figure out where you'd like to stay and do your research. How much will it cost? How far is it from campus/the city centre? What's the proportion of undergrads vs postgrads? Are meals included? What are the dates of the contract? These are just some of the questions you might want to consider when having a look, and the answers to those will be personal to you.

For me, I like to keep my research organised by using a spreadsheet - I noted down the key facts of all the places I was interested in staying at, and then weighed up the pros and cons of each. This made the process of deciding where to live straightforward. Again, some places are first come first serve (I know mine was), so apply early.

There's also more subtle things that you might want to consider with your accommodation, such as if you can ship things out in advance to your arrival. This was a massive help for me as I did send some stuff over, and I'll explain how below.

Baggage & Shipping

A quick google search will bring up many different companies who offer international shipping services. I decided to go with mybaggage, based off recommendation and price. Their service was easy enough to use - you would pack, measure and weigh your bags, input it into their system, select a collection day, attach the labels and done! What I underestimated was the cost of shipping abroad, it is expensive. So the packing stage took a longer than expected as I was trying to work out the most efficient way to pack my things. I had no problems with my stuff getting to Oz, it can be a daunting feeling thinking about it your suitcases will arrive but it was fine.

Flights

So, you now have your visa, insurance, accommodation sorted and have shipped out some items. Great! Now you need to get yourself there. With flights the main thing I would say is to shop around and look for the cheapest deal. Use price comparison sites such as Kayak or Expedia, and talk to a few travel agents as they sometimes have access to cheaper fares. Some things to consider when booking a flight (especially if it's a long trip):

  • Total journey time - how long will your trip last? Remember, you'll need to factor in time getting to and from the airports.
  • Number of layovers - each additional layover will add time to your journey, but can be a nice way to split up the flight.
  • Length of layover - Do you want a shorter one, or would you like a longer time at an airport?
  • Airline - this is mainly down to personal preference, but airlines will vary on factors like: baggage allowance, type of aircraft used, airports used, and quality of in-flight entertainment and hospitality. As a student, the airline didn't matter to me much and I went for one of the cheaper options to fly to Melbourne.

Another thing to consider are airport transfers, how you're going to get from the airport to your accommodation. Try and organise this in advance if you can, you may be tired and jetlagged from your journey and don't want the hassle of sorting sorting that out when you arrive.

Other Stuff

Just some other things to consider that didn't fit into the above categories:

  • SIM card - shop around for the cheapest mobile deal.
  • What's the weather like? - check the weather at both the start and end points of your journey to help you dress accordingly. I'll be writing another blog on how to prepare for the journey so I'll mention it again.
  • Ordering things in advance - this comes back to the idea of planning in advance as much as possible, but perhaps consider if you can order things to your accommodation in advance. I managed to order some kitchenware beforehand so didn't have to go shopping for it, my SIM card amongst other things, and it did make the transition to Melbourne smoother.
  • Your studies - obviously a big one if you're studying abroad, but you'll probably have to submit a study plan or equivalent to your host institution with the modules you'll like to take, as well as a bunch of other administrative stuff.

Those are just some of the main things you want to consider for your year abroad. It may seem like you've still got a long time before you start, but it will come round in no time so make sure you're prepared for it. Planning and prep will massively help you, and be sure to ask for help when you need it (feel free to reach out if you have any questions!)

I hope that was a useful read and I look forward to sharing with you the rest of my year abroad journey :)

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