Where did you go for Spring Break? Cancun? Palm or Daytona Beach? Or did you just bum around at home? If you were on a study abroad experience in London, England, your opportunities were nearly endless. The study abroad students from UW-Platteville encompassed much of western Europe.

For two weeks we, American students, trudged across Europe with our backpacks, sleeping in hostels and living on the cheapest food we could find. Nearly all of us had never done something like this before and it was a dramatic learning experience that brought some to tears and some to grips with reality.

Our Spring Break started the same time as UW-P’s and the first destination that most people hit was Dublin, Ireland, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It seemed to be a chaotic three to four days filled with leprechauns, parades, sleeping on couches and, of course, pub crawls. I think some of the students were still recovering from St. Patty’s Day for the rest of their Spring Break.

From there, most people hopped on planes or trains to places like France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy. There are a couple of cheap airlines that fly throughout Europe but be prepared to scramble for any open seat and luggage compartment you can find on those flights. It’s first come, first serve. In the case of trains try to make reservations for long journeys if at all possible. You could end up sitting in the hallway for nine hours on a train from Milan to Naples with no water or food to quench your agonizing thirst or hunger.

Hostels are the cheapest accommodation in all of Europe but don’t boast the best reputation. Some hostels offered clean bed sheets, hot showers and a continental breakfast. They were great places to meet new people and get information on the place you were visiting. Some hostels smelled of urine, were full of old and slightly creepy folk and didn’t even have a hot shower. If you are planning a trip to Europe I strongly advise you pay the little extra money for a safe and clean hostel or rent a bungalow at a campground. There are a surprisingly great number of good campgrounds that offer bungalow lodgings and they are cheap and generally clean. Also, make sure you book your hostel for all of the people you are travelling with. Do not try to sneak someone in. It won’t work and one of you may end up back in London for the rest of the week.

If you can’t speak the language, smile and nod. If you are going to a country where you are not fluent in the language, it can be a difficult and frustrating experience. Get a phrase book and read it. The study abroad students found Italy and Belgium, particularly Brussels, to be the most difficult places to find people who spoke English or were willing to speak English. France seemed to be the easiest place to communicate as long as you were willing to use their basic greetings.

Between Temple Bar, the Eiffel Tower, the Coliseum, the French Riviera, Amsterdam and the sunny beaches of Spain, the American students learned a lot about themselves and the people they were travelling with. We learned things like always carry a bottle of hand sanitizer, don’t catch a flying baby and stay away from Italian men. If you don’t want to wait in line at venues pay extra for guided tours and skip ahead. We learned quickly the value of reading tickets, a good loaf of bread and a one-euro bottle of wine. And no matter how much your companions get on your nerves remember who carries the plane tickets home.