Maybe you are like many and think you want to study abroad in Europe. You are definitely not alone, all of my friends decided to study abroad in Europe, mainly in Barcelona. And yes, Barcelona is an incredible city with so much to offer and being in Europe travel is so easy! No judgement if you want to go there, but that is why it is such a popular abroad location: everyone knows how amazing Europe is.
Believe me, I get it. The thought of traveling around with a group of your best friends from UMass for a semester sounds like so much fun! Really it does, but is that what going abroad is all about? In my opinion it’s not. Going abroad should be more than hanging out with your college bffs taking Instagram pictures of each other. It should be about letting yourself discover who you are, challenging yourself, learning a new way of life and accepting cultural differences, experiencing breath taking moments, and finding out what truly makes you happy. Maybe you can do this in Barcelona surrounded by people you already know, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to.
I wanted to go abroad somewhere where I would be out of my comfort zone without having the crutch of friends to ease my transition to a new country. I also wanted to go to a Spanish-speaking country as a Spanish major. So I applied for a program in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Before I left, none of my friends even knew where Argentina is located, and once I told them I was going to South America they assumed I would be living in a hut riding a lama to school.
I won’t lie to you, it wasn’t great having all my friends question why I would go to Argentina. I was constantly asked “but why not just got to Spain?” Well, that was an easy answer: fist, I really didn’t want to go to Spain again, I spent a month there before my senior year of high school and it was great but I wanted to go somewhere new, and second I would be too tempted to be with my friends in Barcelona but Spanish isn’t their official language.
It was hard seeing so many of my friends take off on their European adventures in January when my official start to school wasn’t until March. Since the seasons are opposite in South America the academic calendars don’t line up exactly. I was so nervous about going abroad by myself but I figured it was the right decision for me. I didn’t actually know it was the right decision until after a week of being in the city, completely memorized by the culture and people. I was also too busy to even care or check what my friends in Europe were doing.
Lucky for me, I was able to escape the snow and left a month early because enrolled in an intensive language program in order to spend more time abroad. Going a month early was such a great decisions because I was able to get settled before the real work began. Those extra 5 weeks also gave me an extra 5 weekends of traveling.
Traveling in South America is very easy and doable! There are so many incredible places to go to, they may be less popular among your friends but that doesn’t mean they aren’t absolutely incredible! While in South America I was able to travel all around Argentina, Peru, Ecuador and Uruguay. In Argentina I went to Mar de la Plata a beach town, Bariloche in the lake district of Patagonia, and El Calafate and El Chalten at the tip of Argentina where I got to hike the mountain that the brand Patagonia based it’s label off of. I was also able to go on countless day trips in Argentina. In Peru I spent time in Lima, Cuzco and hiked Machu Picchu. In Ecuador I stayed in Quito, went to the equator, and spent a week in the Galapagos and another in the Amazon.
I had many doubts before leaving but it was the greatest adventure of my life. When something scares you or makes you nervous, you know you’re making the right decision. I met incredible friends, had an amazing host family, and even fell in love. Since I was forced to become comfortable with being uncomfortable I learned so much about myself. I am very aware of how lame that sounds; it is so hard to explain but once you go abroad you will know exactly what I’m talking about.
So I dare you to go somewhere different, somewhere where you don’t know anyone, somewhere where you are forced to figure things out on your own, and somewhere you can grow. So many people that I have talked to said they are jealous that I went somewhere different, that I did it “right” and that they regret not going somewhere alone. With that being said, many others absolutely loved their abroad experiences, but I strongly encourage you to go further than you think.