by Lauren Tennant, University of New South Wales, Australia
As most my previous posts have emphasised, a work-fun balance is so important to get the most out of your year abroad.
At the top of my Aus bucket list was visiting Western Australia and its incredible beaches. A short break between summer term and Term 1 at UNSW came around and I quickly took the opportunity to get my uni work in order and book a trip to WA.
Continue reading “Western Australia Road-trip Rundown”
First thing to say is that Canada is massive. Any distance between things you would actually want to see is likely to be the equivalent of going from London to Newcastle – and that’s just within Ontario. Therefore, I would advise against getting the bus between big cities as it just takes too long, and you end up spending half your time away sitting next to fat men on stuffy coaches.
In Ontario, Go Trains would be the ‘go to’ solution (although they are stupidly slow in North America) but travelling inter-province would require VIA Rail. However, whilst the rail-route between Vancouver and Halifax (the whole breadth of Canada) has a global reputation for beautiful scenery and a full Canadian experience, it does take 14 days and costs more than an entire student loan instalment. Whilst it may not be the most environmentally friendly, the only realistic option for longer trips is plane travel.
Planes can be expensive in North America (you won’t find the equivalent of a £20 flight from Manchester to Lisbon), so I’d recommend downloading the ‘Hopper’ app. It lets you track your specific flight and predicts prices so you can get the best deal possible.
You have probably also heard about North American road trips gaining something of cult status in the US, and it’s no different in Canada. Some of the best times I’ve had is whacking on some tunes and driving for hours in the Canadian wilderness. It may be more expensive than other transport, but it gives much more freedom to explore exactly how you want. It also makes COVID-related entry requirements into the US much easier.
Key Take Aways:
By Lauren Howie, The University of Melbourne
4 months is a daunting amount of time. When I first heard that our summer holiday would stretch the whole of November to March I was slightly concerned – how would I fill all those weeks?
Well not to stress, there is more than enough things to do in summer, whether it is going to festivals, finding an internship or travelling – you name it the list is endless!
Continue reading “An Australian Summer – Festivals, Internships and Road Trips”
By Lauren Howie, The University of Melbourne
Unlike the other Universities in Australia, Melbourne’s midterm break is a gruelling nine weeks into the academic term. By this point you will defo want a holiday, so take that time to plan a great trip away!
I have now been home for over 3 months and I thought I would write about my thoughts on leaving Case Western and my road trip around California.
The last few weeks of term were extremely stressful with trying to pack up my belongings, say my goodbyes, plan a road trip and submit all my final work. Luckily, I did not have any finals to take and I decided to leave the campus early and meet up with friends from Manchester to travel around the East Coast. But this did mean that saying goodbye to all the great people I had met felt very rushed.
As I am writing this post it is orientation week at Case Western. It feels so surreal to see everyone enjoying themselves on campus and me no longer being there. I think it has finally hit me that year abroad is over – all be it 3 months later.
One of the highlights of my year abroad was all the travelling I did and for the final trip I packed in as much as possible. Starting in Santa Barbara I travelled to LA, San Francisco, Monterey Bay, Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, Death Valley, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
It is nearly impossible to capture all these incredible places and moments but I did manage to record some of the best ones on my phone. Although I have practically no skills in video editing, here is a video of my travels:
