The end of a study abroad program makes for a hectic time, regardless of where you are in the world. Amongst the goodbyes and fitting of familiar and unfamiliar experiences into your final days, you have to get ready to go home. This entails packing, making arrangements for getting home and for what you’ll be doing when you do actually get home. Simultaneously, you’ve got some pretty big emotions. I certainly don’t have the solution for how to gracefully get through finishing my time abroad, but I do know what helped me. Some things that made my life a bit easier were:
- I bought a flexible return ticket way in advance. I think I had my return ticket before I even left the states. This way, I knew I had a flight booked, but I also knew I could change it if the circumstances required. And they did! Changing my flight was stress-free, but I’m glad I already had one booked in the first place.
- I brought a little foldable duffle with me that I could then use for traveling home with the extra stuff I accumulated while abroad. I didn’t need to go out and buy new luggage or try and get rid of stuff, I just packed my excess stuff in the extra bag I had already brought.
- I dedicated my last few days to packing and cleaning. I made sure to fit in the last of what I wanted to do before my final two days. This way I could focus my energies to the more mundane but necessary tasks I needed to get done.
- I stayed at an airport hotel the night before my flight home. I lived in student housing, which required a cleaning check from an RA (where I had to be present) and a formal returning of my keys upon move-out, both of which seemed like they may be stressful to get done when I had to get all of my bags out and then go and try to catch an international flight. So, I moved out the day before my flight and checked into an airport hotel for my last night. On the day of my flight, I had so much less stress knowing that all of my tasks were already done, I was good to go, and that getting to the airport with big luggage wouldn’t actually be that hard.
These are just some things that made my return home a little less hard. The many goodbyes, the uncertainty of when you’ll return to your study abroad location, and the feelings that accompany re-entering your normally scheduled life are heavy enough, so I think whatever you do to reduce stress is worthwhile. It’s worth it to invest some thought into how you can make things a little easier on yourself.
Joanna Greenberg
GW Exchange - University of Auckland
Fall 2024
Columbian College of Arts & Sciences
Environmental and Sustainability Science Major