Stride Three: Plane Tickets

     The dreaded and confusing topic of plane tickets has been on my mind since the day I figured out I wanted to study abroad. I asked myself every day: How much will the plane ticket be? When can I get the cheapest tickets? What website is the best? And Which European city do I fly into? Don't worry! I will answer, well try to answer all of these questions in this post! 

 How much will the plane ticket be? 
           I am flying into the U.K. and flying out of Spain. When purchasing a round trip plane ticket expect to pay over $1,000.00. To be more realistic, from $1,200 - $1,500 depending on your departure airport and arrival airport. Just a side note, when searching for flights look at departure airports that are also within a fews hours drive from your house because as I found in researching, you can find a flight that is cheaper by over $100.00 (sometimes two or three hundred dollars!) if you just drive a bit farther to the airport! Funny story, when discussing airfare with my older sister, Chelsea and she told me the cheapest way to get to Europe was by train. I believed her for a few days before she broke the disappointing news to me. 
    
 When can I get the cheapest Tickets? 
              I have read a lot of articles on finding cheap international airfare and I have recorded many ticket prices over the past few months. The link in-particular from FareCompare.com says airlines lower prices of international flights 4-5 months prior to departure date. They do get cheaper at this point; however, from the information I have gathered, I have foudn the cheapest flights between 8-10 WEEKS out from your departure date. I also read another website 6 weeks out from departure is the cheapest! My advice to any students studying abroad is to track the prices of the tickets to their destination. Also, almost all travel websites say that you can purchase the cheapest flights on tuesday (which I personally did, and side note, the price went down nearly $100.00 from the weekend!) and the cheapest day to fly is wednesday because it is mid week! 
FareCompare's advice page-  http://www.farecompare.com/articles/tips-from-air-travel-insiders/
Micheal Blue Jay's Blog with Travel Tips- http://airfare.michaelbluejay.com/

What website is the best? 

              The website I found best price for international travel was ORBITZ.COM! That is personally where I brought my tickets. I have also heard of STUDENTUNIVERSE.COM which is specifically for students studying abroad. Below I have the links to these websites! Also, I have attached a link to Fare Compares "Where-To-Go Getaway" Map which is such a great tool! You can enter in your departing city and then it will calculate the airfare for any destination around the world! (That is the video that I have linked below!) 

Student Universe- http://www.studentuniverse.com/
Orbitz- http://www.orbitz.com/
FareCompare- http://www.farecompare.com/maps/

Which European City is Best to Fly into? 

             I have read in travel blog after travel blog that LONDON is the cheapest European city to fly in and out of. Which is one of the reasons, as I mentioned above, I am flying into London! Not to mention, I would LOVE to go to London. In addition to Micheal Blue Jay's Blog, which recommends to fly into London I have found another source called "So you wanna?" which I have shared this link below! 
So you wanna?-  http://www.soyouwanna.com/soyouwanna-backpack-through-europe-1113-full.html


Hope this helps! 
Lauren 

Stride Two: Choosing my Destination

       There is a lot of planning and research that goes into picking where you want to go an when! For me, the "when" was easy. I knew if I wanted to study abroad, I would have to go this summer. The reason being because next summer the University of Cincinnati is switching from quarters to semesters which will only allow for a 6-7 week summer and with this small time window, it would make it had to find a program that I could attend in it's entirety. 
        A common misconception about study abroad is that you can only be a transfer student at an international university. This is totallyyyy wrong! There are soo many possibilities. Just to name a few, there is traveling aboard through the university with a professor or multiple professors, switching or swapping schools with an international student, and choosing study through an outside planning company. Traveling abroad with university faculty is normally through your program or major. An example of this is E-Media students have an opportunity to study abroad in Munich, Germany led by a faculty member of the University of Cincinnati. The second option is swapping schools with an international student. This is similar to an exchange program, but the great thing about it is you pay your tuition at your University and the student you are exchanging with pays their tuition and then you literally trade places and enjoy a quarter abroad. The third option, happens to be the option I chose, going through an outside program that has already planned trips for students to study abroad. 
        I chose this option, simply because it was the best option for me! I talked to my study abroad advisor about all of the three options mentioned above and because of my time restrictions, a four week program would be a time I could fit in my summer schedule to study abroad. 
       There are many of these companies throughout the United States and world, just to name a few: USAC, CEA, IES, and AIFS! Acronyms galore! However, the program I chose was USAC. They had an affordable price, the destination I wanted, and GREAT reviews! I could not be happier with my decision because they have made my first time travels a breeze. USAC stands for University Studies Abroad Consortium and its central office is located out of University of Nevada, Reno. By choosing this program, I was given multiple academic and financial advisors as well as an online log in account (called "My Gateway Account") to track all of the information concerning my trip that has been given to me. Which is SUPER helpful because I would not know what to do if I lost any of these documents before departure and while I was abroad.


        Now for the GOOD stuff! Why I chose SAN SEBASTIAN! I chose San Sebastian because I wanted to go to Spain. I have always wanted to study abroad in Spain because it is in Europe and it is a Spanish speaking country. Typical, but I specifically chose San Sebastian because it was a smaller spanish city and I would have a better opportunity learning the language and culture because not many people speak english there! Not to mention, I chose San Sebastian because I heard about all of the WONDERFUL FOOD! (P.S. I may talk about food ALOT in my blog! No worries, I will update everyone with all of the new food I try!) 
    Here are some links to the different programs I talked about and of course the UC International site which you should all check out if you are interested in studying abroad! Check them out and see all of the AMAZING programs they have to offer! 


                - USAC: http://usac.unr.edu/ (MY FAVORITE =) ) 
                - CEA: http://www.gowithcea.com
                - IES: https://www.iesabroad.org/IES/home.html
                - AIFS: http://www.aifsabroad.com/


                - UC International: http://www.uc.edu/international.html 
   Also Check out the other student travel blogs on the UC International Site! 
   Lauren 
 

Stride One: Creating my Blog

     Here is a picture of San Sebastian, Spain =) Just to give you all an idea of where I am going, because many people have not heard of San Sebastian before! It is located in the northeast corner of Spain just 12 miles away from the French boarder. 

        I came up with the idea of blogging to capture all of the memories and emotions associated with my study abroad because I wanted to share my experiences with my family and friends as well as educate college students to study abroad! I came up with the name "Strides to Spain," because as I have learned through this process thus far, studying abroad is not something that you stumble upon or something you can plan quickly, international study takes many strides to complete. You have to plan ahead for finances, school, travel, and work! It is hard to juggle it all and each stride I make closer to Spain, I will blog about in hopes to help you plan your trip abroad! 

         My blog, "Strides to Spain" will tell everyone about my planning, traveling, tips, emotions, and school in Spain! I am excited to share all that I can with my followers and hopefully you can all use my blog as a "How To" guide to traveling abroad! I will update my blog as frequently as I can and with as much information as I can think of! 

         Just to let everyone know- I will be updating my "PROFILE" frequently with new information, books, and websites I stumble upon in the planning and traveling process! You can locate my "profile" next to my photograph by CLICKING on the BLUE "Lauren Sural" Link! Check out all of these online sources I have put together for you in addition to my posts! I hope they help =) I have already updated it with three Travel Guides by Lonely Planet, which I personally have not purchased yet; but, I have only heard great things!  

        Lauren