Meghan Brown Anderson

PLAN AHEAD

2014 I hopped on a flight from Scotland to LA. An 11 hour flight (my first flight alone. EVER.) No cell phone - woops. My phone got hacked at London Heathrow actually! Certainly these things could have been better BUT I had a solid plan. Read on!

WHO DO YOU KNOW?

In prep for my year of study-abroad I was so fortunate to be headed to a school campus. That was great, but I also reached out to a former Edinburgh-Caltech exchange student and from his advice prepped my super-shuttle from the airport. From a cruise holiday the previosus year I met a guy who lived in Pasadena, his friend was coming to Edinburgh and so I met up with her and her Mom over there in Scotland, gave them a tour and guess who became my mom-figure out in LA??

SAVE UP

Like I said above, I didn’t even have a phone when I landed at LAX! So things like getting a new sim card, food to live off, the bare minimum needs to be with you in your pocket/safe/the lining of your suitcase ;)

One time I had a horrific loss of like £2,000 in the wire transfer and it was up in…who knows where - the cloud?…and took 2 weeks before I could get it from my UK account to my US one - so BUDGETING is important, especially if you don’t have a visa or way to seek employment where you’re at!

Be accepting

I’d like to think I’m semi-cultured. I’ve visited 19 different countries in my life so far, I’ve lived in 10 different places and have met so many people from so many backgrounds! One thing I get to observe is those who stick to their roots in a way that sometimes makes them miss out on the here and now…

If that’s your thing; fine! But if you’re choosing to travel, you’re choosing to live or study abroad - why not make the most of it and learn to be uncomfortable! Learn to dive into something new and accept the climate, the culture, the food, the activities - just LEARN and soak it up like a sponge because it will be so valuable to you! Get off that plane/boat/train/car with the right attitude cause you’re representing your entire country whether you like it or not - and make the most of it, make the memories, experiences and connections necessary to maybe even change the course of your life.