All you need to know about preparing to go on your Erasmus year abroad

So you’ve decided you want to go on an Erasmus year abroad (and also decided that my intro was cliche, don’t worry I’m not that impressed either) and you’ve done all your necessary paperwork and forms etc. that you’re sat wondering OK but… what now?

First things first: accommodation, a lot of people recommend and actually will just wait until arrival to find a place. This can work out for the most part but trust me on this because one of my friends here did that and it is a difficult situation for her right now! There are honestly so many sites to use, helloflatmate, erasmusu, uniplaces and finally the one I used, beroomers. All of them are on the same par and will often charge first months rent plus some admin/agency fees. If this isn’t your vibe perhaps it’s worth booking a trip in summer that can double as a holiday/get to know your new home destination for a few days. It also gives you time to book in a bunch of viewings for flats you’re interested in.

Once you’ve done that, start listing what you need to take. Don’t ignore this step unless you’re a minimalist who has like five clothing items in their wardrobe and one pair of shoes. It took me forever to decide what I needed to take, what would be appropriate and also factoring some other must take items like makeup, specific toiletries, my whole ass smoothie maker (who doesn’t love a nice smoothie in the Spanish heat?). I weighed my cases god knows how many times and even then once I was at the airport checking in the two bigger suitcases, one was only 0.4kg underweight. Just list what essential clothes you’ll need (probably 2 of each in terms of just plain t-shirts and jeans etc) then choose some fancy stuff for nights out or more formal occasions. If you’re like me and have five trillion pairs of shoes, try your hardest to just narrow it down, if I managed to, so can you! GIRLS, don’t bother bringing heels unless you have magic feet, I have one pair with me just in case, but the reality is I will NEVER wear them.

So by now, you’ve packed and unpacked and repacked again then rearranged and weighed yadda yadda… now it’s a waiting game. Personally, I just tried to enjoy time with my mum or family at home as much as possible since I was going to be in a completely different country for 9 months! We went on some short breaks to family favourite destinations, did a mini road trip to places we’d never been or seen properly before and I even got my ears pierced for the first time (21 years I was somehow scared it would hurt, needless to say it did NOT). However, whenever I found myself anxious about the coming year, being lonely and whatnot, I just reminded myself that the year is only going to be what you make it. I did also look up various things about the city, spots to visit, best food places and of course… the best nightclubs too!

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post, trust me there are more interesting things coming soon!

See you for now!