Travel!!!
That’s why you chose to study abroad, to travel around and see new places. However, that doesn’t mean you are limited to just seeing your new city where you’ll be attending school!
I chose to visit London, Dublin and Cashel (A smaller town in Ireland.) If you find that you have spare time between summer work/activities and the beginning of your semester then pick a few places on the map and get an early start!
I think it’s important to put some variety in your trip. I wanted to see the well known cities like London and Dublin. However, due to their size and diversity they definitely have more of a global feel. So if you really want to get a feel for the culture go to a smaller, less populated part of the region. That’s where Cashel came in for me. There were still beautiful sites at Cashel, but the town itself was fairly small and filled with locals. As much as I enjoyed the grand sites of London and Dublin, I found it just as interesting to see what the more traditional culture was like. Listening to the locals talk about politics, local events, and other various things really made it possible for me to understand the culture on a more personal level. I learned more about Irish history and culture by talking to a local for a few hours in Cashel than I did from spending 6 days in Dublin.
I hope to do some travel on the weekends, however, since school has started I want to get to know my new city and also get to know my new friends. Weekend trips will undoubtedly also be much more rushed. So I definitely recommend doing a week or two of travel before hand. Don’t overextend yourself though. You won’t have time to see everything. So instead of trying to hopelessly cram the whole world into 2 weeks, pick a few places, relax and soak it in.
The American Globetrotter 