Julia on Co-op

5. Oia, Greece Seriously, how could I not include this place on my list? Oia, Santorini's most picturesque town, is unlike any other place you'll see. It lives up to all of the beautiful photos you've seen on Tumblr—and then some. I walked around here for hours simply taking in the sights, and wanted to snap a new photo with every corner I turned. I loved sitting down with my group of friends and eating the most delicious and fresh seafood with one of the best sunsets I've seen in my life serving as the backdrop. It's pretty expensive here, but it's easy to see why! 4. Barcelona, Spain The one word I would use to describe Barcelona is FUN—which is why I've come back again and again to this energy-filled city (you're going to need energy, because you will be out until 7 AM here). Between spending days in the sun at the beach, checking out all of Gaudí's fantastic architecture, and sampling local food at gourmet markets, I've had quit

After moving away twice for a co-op abroad, I have a pretty good idea of what you'll definitely need while living in a new country and what will just waste valuable space in your suitcase. This list will help you both save a headache once you get to your new country as well as save room for the things you'll really need: Make sure you bring: 1. Power Converters These are absolutely essential, and I promise you will need more than you think. Take the amount of converters you think you'll need...and then DOUBLE it. Nothing's more annoying than having to move a converter from the kitchen to the bathroom every time you want to dry your hair. Plus, they will mysteriously disappear on you, as socks do in the dryer. 2. Your favorite toiletries This is hard to wrap your head around until you've really experienced it, but there are some toiletries that you take for granted and just really aren't available in Europe (and likely anywhere else). From my experie

So, here is where I'll actually talk a little bit more about what I'm doing over here in Slovakia besides hopping on Ryanair flights on the weekends and stuffing my face with local food. When I tell people that I'm a Digital Analyst at IBM, they usually ask "what's that?". On top of that, when I tell that I'm living in Slovakia, I'm usually hit with a "where's that?", too! Well—for one, Slovakia is different than Slovenia—and my job in Digital Analytics is all about measuring a visitor's interactions with the IBM website. I'm part of the Digital Analytics Group in Bratislava, which serves internal European IBM clients. We measure every aspect of a campaign, from page views to engagement rate to completed registration forms. There are a ton of tools we use to accomplish this, including Hotjar, Optimizely, Coremetrics, Tableau, and everybody's favorite, Excel. Never in my life had I seen spreadsheets so big until I joined th

This past week, my best friend Halle hopped on over to Slovakia for a visit! She's a true trip buddy of mine —we've been to Puerto Rico, Spain, and Greece together already. Hal is always a fun person to hang out with, dancing and acting goofy at all times, so I was super stoked to have her visit me here in Slovakia. We'd been preparing for this week for months, chatting almost daily about the fun things we wanted to do and see! We started off with a spontaneous trip to Budapest because she's always dreamt of seeing the famous Szechenyi Baths (which she was right to, they're soooo  relaxing). It was a fun two days gallivanting around the city, tasting traditional Hungarian goulash and taking a boat cruise of the Danube. This was already my third time in Budapest, and I think it's safe to say that it's my favorite city I've ever been to. The streets have an unexplainable atmosphere of grandeur and weirdly feel like home to me. I think I'll return i

Comin' at you live from my Athens - Bratislava flight! I'm on my way home from a seriously AMAZING week in Greece with 7 of my best friends and I. We've been dreaming about and planning for this trip for years, and it definitely lived up to all of our expectations.  Our first stop was a funky Airbnb by the Athens airport - which was one of the most interesting Airbnb's I've ever stayed in. This is due to the 70-year-old Greek man that lived under our apartment whom we dubbed "Papa Greece". He insisted on accompanying us not only to dinner, but to our entire beach day. He even brought a blow-up boat in which he rowed us around the bay in! Later on that day, he invited us down to his kitchen to taste all of the different Greek jams and jellies he owned. He was seriously the cutest and most caring man, and wanted to hang out with us even though he spoke very limited English.  Papa Greece rowing us around in his yacht (almost). Next, we al

Oh, Airbnb—you gotta love it. It's my go-to for finding cheap yet comfortable places to stay when traveling. Hosts are usually willing to spill all their local secrets and seem to always jump at the chance to help you in any way they can. To me, Airbnbs offer a much more authentic way to experience a city you're visiting. Here's a ranking of all of the Airbnbs that are in my login (some others were booked by my friends—I've unfortunately lost those!) 9. Gran Canaria, Canary Islands This Airbnb was pretty overpriced and under-furnished—my bed had only one thin sheet without any blankets on top of it. That paired with the rainy weather and freezing cold shower made it a pretty uncomfortable stay! Plus, the kitchen was weirdly separated from the living room on the other end of the apartment.  8. Ibiza, Spain This apartment was in a pretty convenient location, close to the water, Ibiza's old town, and famous nightclub Pacha. However, it wasn't the th

This weekend, I went all the way back to the U.S. to spend the long Easter weekend with my family! It was super nice to sleep in my own bed for a few nights and eat my weight in Cheez its. However, I had a bit of traveling to do to get here, though--19 hours each way, to be exact. Luckily, this wasn’t my first time at the rodeo in terms of long traveling days. These are the things I’ve learned thus far that will make an intercontinental flight seem to go faster than you can say “ laptops and tablets out of the bag, miss!” . Pack ahead of time (and lightly) It’s really important to not be running around packing your carry-on 10 minutes before you need to leave for the airport. Putting a little extra thought into your preparation can go a long way and make a world of difference when it comes to your overall comfort during your travels. I always make it a point to pack as light as I can so that I’m not stressed and scrambling when it comes time to get settled into my seat! Little thi

Before moving to Europe for 6 months, I had no idea what tools were available to make my travels easier and cheaper. With the experience and resources I have now, I look back and cringe at the time I spent 300+ Euros on a flight from Seville to Barcelona. Don’t make the same mistake I did! Check out these useful websites that will help you not only save money but also find the best activities possible. Getting There 1. SKYSCANNER Skyscanner is seriously the holy grail of finding cheap flights. Sometimes when I’m bored I hop on to see what good deals are going on (also to daydream about future trips). My favorite thing about Skyscanner is the ability to search without having specific dates or places in mind. An added benefit is that it opens your mind to places you didn’t think about visiting before! 2. RYANAIR Definitely sign up for a RyanAir account and make sure to get their emails to your inbox—their deals are seriously unbelievable. To get that 9 Euro flight you’r

Last weekend, I finally was able to make a trip back to where I lived last year for my co-op in Spain! I had been waiting for this moment since the moment my plane took off from Seville in July. Knowing how much fun this city was led to me having some high expectations for the weekend, and unsurprisingly, the weekend was even better than I imagined it to be. Besides being able to visit my old co-op workplace and saying hello to my old co-workers, I got two for the price of one because my best friend Laura is currently living there for her co-op. It was super fun to catch up, exchange stories, and hear about how she's livin' la vida loca. What made the weekend perfect was that it was the perfect combination of my favorite things I used to do there (mostly eating food) and a handful of new and amazing memories! Partaking in my favorite Friday afternoon tradition - having lunch and lounging by the river at the phenomenal Mercado Lonja del Barranco Northe

  Tomorrow, I'm hopping on a flight bright and early (5:15 AM to be exact!) back to where I co-oped last year in Seville, Spain! I'm so thrilled to go back - I'm especially looking forward to eating at all the food places I used to love and seeing my old coworkers. I've literally had dreams about croquetas the past few months! For me, one of the best things about co-oping abroad vs. studying abroad is the lack of homework and studying on the weekends, combined with Europe's generally lax vacation policies. This makes going on quick weekend trips around Europe super doable (especially due to cheap Ryanair flights!). However, with cheap flights come limited baggage, so I've mastered the art of packing everything I'll need into one small backpack. These are a handful of things I've learned throughout two co-ops abroad: 1. Wear your heels to the airport Sure, it’ll feel a little funny boarding your plane in your 5-inch clubby stilettos, but thes

Ah, the good old apartment hunt. Something that can be pretty difficult even in Boston definitely gets a little trickier when you go abroad for co-op. Because it's risky to commit to an apartment you've found online without visiting it in person, I've found that most people who co-op abroad wait until they've moved to find an apartment. I think that this is the way to go so that you don't encounter any unpleasant surprises with your apartment or worse encounter an online scam. So, what are you going to do in the meantime between arriving at your destination and finding an apartment? My best advice is to book an Airbnb, not a hotel room. I'd say it's a safe bet to book it for 7-9 days after you land, preferably ending on a weekend day. This will give you enough time to go on the apartment hunt, and by having your stay land on a weekend, it'll be easier to move to your new apartment without missing work. My reasoning behind getting an Airbnb and

Probably my least favorite thing about moving abroad for co-op is the crazy amount of paperwork and stress that goes into attaining a visa/residence permit/whatever your country needs to allow you to stay there for a full six months. Dealing with long lines, deadlines, and endless paperwork are all a necessary part of the process, but chug along--it'll be worth it! What to do if you're traveling out of the country while your passport is being held for a visa application Last year when I was applying for a student visa for Spain, I had a big problem that caused me a lot of stress and "what the heck am I going to do?" type thoughts. To apply for a Spanish visa, you need to drop off your passport at your local consulate for about a month while they process your application. This can become a big problem if you're like me and have plans to travel outside of the country during this month. After a lengthy amount of time skimming blog posts and hard-to-understand g

  This is the classic question that I get greeted with by nearly every person I meet in Slovakia. For some reason, they can’t fathom why I’d choose to come here from the U.S. “But you’re from New York! You can do anything there!” is a line that I hear a lot. The truth is (besides the fact that I'm from Connecticut, not New York), there’s not one straightforward answer as to how I ended up co-oping here in Slovakia. It’s sort of a combination of factors that ultimately got me here in the land of goat cheese dumplings. My great-grandparents are from here!     A big reason why I was drawn to Slovakia is the fact that ¼ of my heritage is from here (well, it was Czechoslovakia back in the day). My great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. way back in the 1880s, so I thought it’d be cool to come back here and “get in touch with my roots”. It was a cool feeling the day I arrived knowing that I was the first person to step foot on Slovak ground in my family in generations. 2.

1. ATTAINING A VISA IS QUITE THE PROCESS. Trying to make sense of what kind of visa to get, what to include in your application, and when you need it is really a headache. Things can get complicated if you are traveling out of the country while applying for your visa, but pro tip-y ou can get a second passport! It'll only last for two years, but it'll save your life in case you're a frequent traveler and need to be in a pinch while applying for a visa. Having lived in Spain for a long time.  2. FOMO IS A THING, BUT NOT AS BAD AS YOU 'D THINK. Sure, you'll get a little sad when you see all your friends posting about some super fun-looking event back at school. However, y ou'll be able to get your own wild, amazing, and memorable experiences, so you will not be too bummed when you can not make it to a fun outing back home. 3. YOU'RE GOING TO MISS FOOD FROM HOME  LIKE HELL. This one's a two-sided sword: during my 6 months in Seville an