{"id":5873,"date":"2018-01-26T09:30:49","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T21:30:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/auip.com\/?p=5873"},"modified":"2018-01-26T09:30:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-25T21:30:49","slug":"student-perspective-advice-for-a-first-time-international-traveler-by-caleb-wilson-mtsu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/student-perspective-advice-for-a-first-time-international-traveler-by-caleb-wilson-mtsu\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Perspective: Advice for a First-Time International Traveler – by Caleb Wilson, MTSU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Caleb Wilson, MTSU’s Blue Raiders Down Under Marketing Intern, shares 4 top tips for anyone travelling internationally. Caleb writes:<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Traveling outside of the United States for the first time can make people experience many different emotions. There is stress (both healthy and unhealthy), excitement, anxiety and many more feelings that can arise from leaving your home and staying in an environment that is totally different from the one you have known all your life. These emotions are completely normal so these are just a few tips that I believe will help a first-time traveler get the most out of their adventure.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Do your research<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This is something that can assist in using your time most efficiently while being abroad. The last thing you want is to show up to a foreign country and have no clue what is going on, where to go and what to see. While scrolling through the internet, find destinations around the area where you are staying that you want to visit the most and make a list. I understand this list will probably take up pages and you most likely won\u2019t be able to hit them all, but it\u2019s a good way to organize and prioritize your thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2.<\/strong> <\/span>Get \u201clost\u201d<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before I start this little tip let me be very clear.. DO NOT ACTUALLY GET LOST. Always have a traveling buddy and be smart. What I mean by \u201cget lost\u201d is that sometimes the coolest things that you get to experience and some of the fondest memories aren\u2019t things you find on TripAdvisor. Go off the beaten path that all tourists are walking, and do what the locals do. This does contradict my first tip, but try to find a healthy balance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Eat the local food<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is something that on my first trips abroad I did not take part in and I deeply regret it. I used to be one of the pickiest eaters you\u2019ve probably ever seen. When I was younger, there was a story my parents like to tell called \u201cThe Green Bean Showdown.\u201d So let\u2019s leave it at that. But as I\u2019ve grown older and have broadened my taste bud horizons, I truly appreciate other cultures\u2019 food. Food is one of the main components that make up a culture and you can\u2019t fully immerse yourself into that culture if you don\u2019t eat the local food. And after all, that\u2019s one of the main reasons you\u2019re going abroad, right?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>4. Be Adventurous<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Going abroad is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It is a time to step out of your comfort zone and broaden your horizons. There are going to be things that scare you or make you nervous, but fight those feelings and do it anyways. I can almost guarantee that you will not regret it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I am not a traveling expert by any means, but I have been out of the country on a handful of occasions and these are the most important tips of advice I believe I can pass on. My last word of advice is to make the most out of this opportunity. Traveling internationally is truly a gift that not everyone gets to experience. If you are lucky enough to go, wear yourself out trying to soak up as much of the culture as you possibly can. Don\u2019t miss out on anything you will regret later on in life. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Caleb Wilson, MTSU’s Blue Raiders Down Under Marketing Intern, shares 4 top tips for anyone travelling internationally. Caleb writes:   Traveling outside of the United States for the first time can make people experience many different emotions. There is stress (both healthy and unhealthy), excitement, anxiety and many more feelings that can arise from leaving your home and staying in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[251,23,34],"tags":[98,164,109,43,44,253,105,48,50,59],"class_list":["post-5873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2017-interns","category-australia-north-queensland","category-student-perspective","tag-australia","tag-conservation","tag-daintree-rainforest","tag-experiential-learning","tag-great-barrier-reef","tag-mtsu","tag-service-learning","tag-study-abroad","tag-sustainability","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5873"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5879,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions\/5879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auip.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}