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Perth to Exmouth Road trip
By Emma Pitcher, University of Western Australia Perth, Australia In the September break, a group of us decided to road trip from Perth to Exmouth. This was one of the best experiences in my life so if you’re heading to WA, I highly recommend it! Go outside of Aussie summer as it gets very hot up north! This blog covers our itinerary, plus any recommendations 🙂 We hired a Britz van for 9 days which fit four people, but we were also travelling as a part of a larger group of about 20 people. Day 1 – Perth & Jurien Bay The first day involved getting to the van hire…
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Memories from Rome
By Zhuzhen Xie (Nina), Babylangues, Paris, France The first weekend of June, I had the opportunity to visit Rome, where I met up with my friend who was a French exchange student in Manchester last year. Before arriving, I struggled to imagine what the city would look like. Having heard about the city from storybooks, travel guides, and all the iconic movies, I was extremely curious and yet a little scared to visit the actual place. Would it be as romantic and ethereal as it appears? Immediately after arriving, I took the bus directly to Vatican City, which is right next to Rome’s city center. After a week of gloomy…
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From Strangers to Friends
By Cher Morente, Singapore Management University, Singapore Many travel to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, infamously known as the real-life Temple Run but, after coming across videos of Koh Rong, I knew I couldn’t skip it. It suddenly became one of my favourite trips ever as the bonds that were enriched over the course of 5 days were irreplaceable.
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Wrapping up the Year
By Louis Cotterell, UNC Chapel Hill, USA After the relief of exams concluding, the reality that the year was ending started to set in. This feeling was widespread, as my international friends all started preparing to depart home, and my American senior friends were graduating. Attending the graduation commencement ceremony was impressive. Thousands piled into the football stadium, dressed in Carolina-blue robes, to listen to the speeches. One was delivered by Mia Hamm, an ex-UNC women’s soccer player, widely regarded as one of the best female athletes of all time. It then resolved with a huge firework show, followed by a night out on Franklin Street. As I said goodbye…
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A Month in the Philippines: The Ultimate Island-Hopping Escape 🌴🥥
By Nina Vincent, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia With over 7,000 islands, Incredible nature, and some of the clearest waters in Southeast Asia- If you’re an Aussie exchange student and staring down a generous four-month university break, you’ve gotta go to The Philippines. Out of everywhere I’ve travelled, this country completely blew me away. I genuinely believe the Philippines has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The water is so blue it doesn’t feel real, and every island brings something different. From waterfalls and shipwreck dives to quiet coves and unforgettable sunsets. But it’s not just the landscapes. What made this trip unforgettable were the people: warm, helpful,…
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Summer road tripping through New Zealand: your sign to stay abroad for Christmas
By Maja Peach, University of Auckland, New Zealand Hello! It has been a while since my last blog, and I thought I would pick back up with reminiscing on my incredible summer in New Zealand. This blog is going to dive into the very start of my summer where I experienced my first workaway and a fabulous road trip through the South Island…
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Exploring Southeast Asia: Travelling during breaks
By Luna Tejada, National University of Singapore, Singapore One of the biggest perks of studying in Singapore is its location, right at the heart of Southeast Asia. I made the most of weekends and semester breaks to travel, and those trips added a whole new layer to my study abroad experience. From Singapore, budget airlines made it surprisingly affordable to explore nearby countries. During my mid-semester break, I visited Vietnam, where I spent a week exploring Ho chi minh, and Ninh Binh. I also travelled to Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand — each destination unique in culture, food, and experience. One particularly memorable trip was to Bali. It was a short…
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Our (mis)adventures in Western Australia
By Valentina Calcagni, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia At least we can change a tyre now? During my Easter break, two friends and I decided to take a road trip to the glorious outback—proper ‘Straya. No shower, no hot water, no service. All we had was each other and a fragile 4×4 that took personal offence at being driven on actual 4×4 roads. We called her Bertha. Instead of rattling on about our misfortunes (aka Bertha’s tantrums: a burst tyre, two cracks in the windscreen—the list goes on), I’ll outline our route through the south-west wedge of Australia. We began where all good stories begin: Perth. Many are quick to…
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Bangkok and Shibuya
By Ayero Moro, Australian National University, Australia I booked the trip on a whim: Japan and Thailand, all in one mid-semester break. No spreadsheets, no daily plan. Just a vague outline, an empty suitcase (for thrifting of course), and an old friend who was equally up for the chaos. My friend Hannah had visited Japan a lot recently and at this point, she didn’t know she was going to stay. We started in Tokyo, staying in Shibuya. It was every bit as overwhelming and exciting as I’d imagined. Bright lights, huge crowds, busy and did I mention it was bright? I’d seen the famous crossing in films, but standing in…
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A Soft Start in LA
By Ayero Moro, Australian National University, Australia Before heading to Australia for my year abroad, I decided to break up the journey with a few days in Los Angeles. I figured it would help with the jet lag (kind of), but mostly I just wanted to ease into the adventure slowly somewhere familiar but still exciting.
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14 Days in Japan
By Madeleine Dodd, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong, Hong Kong With endless things to do and areas to explore, planning a trip to Japan can be overwhelming. I’m going to share a day-by-day itinerary of what I did…and ate.
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Reflecting on my Year Abroad
By Rhiann Singh, University of Ottawa Canada As I’m writing this I’m in my last 6 weeks into my final year here at UOM. It is crazy to think how fast my year abroad in Ottawa went and I can whole heartedly say that I do not regret a single thing.
A study abroad journal by students, for students.
