By Nina Stepniczka
I have attended the University of Pittsburgh since August 2020 making travel unrealistic my first year, I didn’t even get a spring break. Plus, my first half of both my winter breaks in college were spent in quarantine after being exposed to COVID. However, since my freshman year, I traveled to Florida, Hoboken, New York City, Hilton Head Island, New Orleans, and rural Pennsylvania. My bigger trips have varied from weekend trips and vacations during winter and spring breaks, but I also explored on a (nearly) weekly basis since my freshman year. Let’s unpack the options I had to keep my love for travel alive in college.
Pick a College That Fosters Change
I grew up traveling as often as my mom could get my family of five in a car or on a plane. When choosing which colleges to apply to, I knew I did not want to go to a state school surrounded by people and places I had known my whole life. I longed to not know the area I would be studying in, and fortunately I was able to leave my home state of Virginia to go to school. I was stuck between Pittsburgh and Vermont, but eventually chose Pittsburgh because of its city and nature balance.
Whether you long to leave your home state or not, you will experience new parts of the town or city that surrounds your campus. I spent two years exploring Pittsburgh on the weekends, and there is so much left for me to see and do. In college, I learned that getting to know a new area takes a lot of time. It can provide the same feeling I get when traveling somewhere new. Taking the bus somewhere 30 minutes away from my apartment can provide me with just as much fulfillment as going somewhere thousands of miles away. For example, in Pittsburgh I have been to Southside dozens of times and yet every time I discover new cafes, stores, and sights. It’s all about finding places nearby that excite you that will make day trips feel enriching!
Related: My Favorite Travel Apps to Plan and Navigate Our Family Adventures
Focus on Small Experiences
Taking big trips can feel unattainable with schedules, homework, and budgets, so I have reframed my definition of travel to include places closer to me. Last year, I went to a friend’s hometown in Butler, Pennsylvania. Since it is so different to where I live in Virginia, it reminded me of a trip abroad where I got to see a new way of life but with the ease of knowing the language and the state. While it was not as extreme as going to New Orleans, it reminded me that there are endless places to explore nearby my campus.
As my mom continually preaches, anything can be an adventure if you make it one. Take a staycation, go camping, or go to a neighboring town or city with your friends. It is not always easy to escape schoolwork for a weekend, so I find even making a grocery run at an abnormal grocery store can be an experience within the college lifestyle.
Related: Will my Phone Work in Europe? And Other Questions Asked by Novice Teen Travelers
Find Friends Who Love to Travel
Traveling with a friend (or friends) is not as daunting as traveling alone. My first trips without my parents consisted of traveling with friends or to meet friends. I have been home with college friends to visit their hometowns, and I have traveled to other friends’ colleges. Just this past spring break, my high school best friend and I flew to visit another friend in New Orleans. She goes to school at Tulane which made lodging cheap (since it was a free dorm floor). An added bonus was that I found traveling with friends helped me to stick to my budget since we were all trying to keep the trip cheap. In my week there, we visited Cafe Beignet, explored the French Quarters, saw the Mississippi River, and rode the streetcar to a shopping area near Tulane’s campus. Not only did traveling with friends keep the cost down, but it also eased my transition from family vacation to solo adventure.
Consider Studying Abroad
Studying abroad is one of the easiest ways to travel in college, especially long tem. While I have not studied abroad myself, my older brother spent five months in France at the start of 2021 and loved it. He travelled to a handful of countries via train and cheap flights while completing his studies and making new friends.
If you are not in college yet, finding a school with a good study abroad program might make its way onto your list if this is a priority for you. When applying it was not for me, but I wish it had been. Yet I can still go to my study abroad office to see how to make my study abroad goals a reality since many colleges want to encourage international travel. Studying abroad is feasible for students especially because they are typically pre planned by someone else and involve a program with students from your school. My parents love the idea that studying abroad includes getting coursework completed while being surrounded by people from my school (with some amount of supervision), so I am not totally on my own in a foreign country.
Keep Your Budget and Expenses in Check
I admit that I am not the best at budgeting, but I do have some tips that I find help me save money before I am even on my trip. If I can save at least five bucks here and there when planning, why wouldn’t I want to?
Utilize student discount sites!
I would not consider myself to be a flight-finding pro, but switching back and forth between a couple sites (such as Student Universe and Kayak) and looking at the price map usually leads to a good deal. Price maps help me keep my travels as cheap as possible, especially when I have flexible departure and return dates. The key is to book in advance (i.e. as soon as I know a trip is doable, I book it!).
Be open to flying into any airport
This is a tip that has saved me hundreds of dollars. If I am able to fly into a cheaper airport and take a train, bus, Uber, etc. to where I need to go, it usually saves me a lot of money. Plus it also helps me see more of the area I am going to right off the bat. Last time I traveled abroad, I flew into Iceland and then over to Germany where my Austrian grandparents picked me up. We toured around Germany before heading to their house in Austria. It was a great way to cross sights off of my list while fighting jet lag and saving money.
Look beyond just flying
I, like many others, lean towards flying because it is usually the fastest mode of transportation. As a student though, I have learned that taking a long bus ride or train ride gives me time to do my homework before arriving at my destination. I tend to look between flights, buses, and trains if those are options where I want to go. Or, if a car is a possibility, driving is a convenient option. This past Thanksgiving, I drove with my friend to her house in Hoboken before taking a bus back home to Virginia. This saved me hundreds of dollars on a plane ticket home, and allowed me to see her hometown. I even saw a few of my friends who go to school in New York, and I made it home in time to spend the holiday with my family. While I did not rest much, it was a break full of experiences that I am glad I was able to sneak into the end of my year.
Above all else, be realistic. Know your boundaries with travel, keep your budget at the forefront, and be open to changes. Determination will help a trip get planned. Try to make planning fun and remember travel does not always have to be miles and miles away.
Nina is from Virginia and is a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh. With her grandparents living in Austria, she has loved to travel since she was a pre-teen, and is now navigating how to carry that love into her adult life.
