renée’s travels, part one: general reflections
Me in Southampton, England.
One of things I told myself to do before I got to London was to make a list and start planning out all of the trips I wanted to take while I would be in London. You always hear that it’s cheaper to travel around Europe and etc. when you’re already over here and in a lot of ways that’s true. So I anticipated living a life of travel where I would take a last-minute trip to Italy or Spain for the weekend or even just do a day trip to France. However, what I did not anticipate was what my life would actually look like with school and although cheaper than flying from the US, what the costs would mean relative to my actual budget.
Maybe if I was here for work versus school (aka having a regular full time salary) and had endless amounts of travel money saved, I would have done that but it’s actually quite hard to do. I’d also add that the first half of my time here has been when there were still plenty COVID-19 restrictions (the UK pretty much let go of every rule in April - for better or worse...) so taking a weekend trip to Paris seemed fun, but would it be worth it if I had to pay an extra few hundred for COVID-19 tests? And then what if I caught COVID-19 (thankfully haven’t yet!) while traveling, that meant I’d have to stay home for at least a week (or potentially in the place I visited) and that also meant missing a week of classes. When it came to money, paying less than $50 or $100 for a flight to Rome or wherever is definitely cheaper than going from the US, but I would still have to account for accommodations, food, activities, souvenirs, etc. and that is a lot when you’re on a graduate student budget! Outside of all that, graduate school takes a lot of time.. I wasn’t always the best at managing it and there’s this everyday lingering feeling that you need to be reading something so if you’ve had an unproductive week, it feels harder to let yourself go away for a weekend. Anyway, I say all this to note that (1) it really isn’t always as easy to travel around even when you’re living over here and (2) I switched up my travel goals that felt more fitting for me.
Me standing in an old archway of the Abbaye of Mont-Saint-Michel in France.
I realized that it is likely that I will find myself visiting any of those other countries one day in the future, but it is less likely that I’ll find myself in the other towns and cities of England. It’s not likely I’ll make a trip all the way from the US to go check out a random city in England, but it is easier to visit those cities from London which are often only a short (and cheap) train ride away - so why not?! I’m not completely an "off-the-beaten-path” traveler, but I do like exploring things that most are not likely to explore. I can always find photos, videos, and now even 3D/virtual tours of the most popular sites if I really want to, but you can’t always experience the local bookstores or everyday life of a small town unless you actually…experience it. That’s what often makes up the most special travel memories for me: having impromptu conversations, exploring the neighborhood, checking out local shops and events, or unexpectedly coming across an amazing view.
Taking (often last minute) day trips to the different towns and cities of England whenever I have an open day. Exploring that which I may have never thought to explore before. Going where the wind calls my name. That’s what I’ve been focusing on doing when it comes to traveling and it’s been making my time here in England and the UK much more special. Thankfully, I’ve also had the opportunity to take a couple longer and wonderful trips to the nearby countries Scotland and France. I’m not sure I see many more longer trips in my time here, but I definitely have a lot more day trips around England to take so I can’t wait for those!
Check out the next travel posts for some recaps about my trips around England, Scotland, and France!
