Planning for the Christmas break as an International student!
22 November 2023
Living in Cardiff as a student means you are surrounded by your peers constantly. While this is mostly a great thing, breaks are the time of the year when you wish stuff was different. The Christmas break is a particularly short yet busy break, with exam season coming up and assignments being due right after the break ends. So, no matter how much you try, stuff is always a bit stressful. However, since it is Christmas, places around the UK are particularly beautiful. It is thus a smart idea to plan some activities in advance so as to save money.
As an international student, going home for breaks can be extremely expensive but living in a student city like Cardiff for days on end without having most people around can be super lonely. Missing friends and families is a huge part of breaks. So, my suggestion is to plan your days in a way that allows you to explore different parts of the UK without spending too much money.
Christmas is celebrated beautifully in the UK and there is no better opportunity to explore the culture and celebrations of the people here. So, why not make a good use of your Christmas break? Currently, there are Black Friday sales going on and there are discounts on hotel bookings, trainline tickets, and more. So, it is a good time to start making your advance booking and save a LOT of a money. It is important to check out and plan your vacations well because the days are going to be short during winter and the opportunity to see places gets a bit restricted. No need to worry though, because cities around the UK and other touristy towns have all the facilities you need to have a nice stay. It is also perfectly reasonable to take shorter, day trips that start at sunrise and end at sunset. These trips allow you to check out more places without spending money on hotels and expensive food.
Personally, I am planning to have a day trip to Birmingham and Oxford during the weekends, without staying overnight at these places. However, I have reserved a hotel for a night in Bath so as to allow me to stay there and explore the city at my own pace. Moreover, I am planning to visit my friend’s family in their London home for a classic Christmas dinner and stay there for a couple days.
For all of these trips, I have already started the planning, using google search engines to form itineraries. This is just because travelling around the UK can get expensive during Christmas time, especially combined with the less running of trains and buses due to holiday season. However, right now, is a good time to grab student deals off of apps like Student Beans and UniDays. These apps don’t need much effort either. You can simply use your Student ID and E-mail to sign up and gain all the discounts and deals.
In the end, it is essential that you surround yourself with things that make you happy- be it visiting your University friends at their places, solo-travelling around the UK or just sleeping in bed all day. The break is simply a time to relax and regain energy so do it your way.