Amsterdam. Rome. London. Barcelona. These are just a few of the many weekend destinations of my fellow study abroad cohorts. Confident in the invincibility of our youth, the permanence of our generous cash flow and our undeniable American charm and joie de vivre, we travel across Europe during our leisure time. A new generation of savvy jet-setting American youth is breaking boundaries, and sometimes laws, with its fast paced excursions.
Films such as “Eurotrip” and “L’auberge Espagnole” touch on this new phenomenon of impulsive student travel.
Bored?
“Hey dude, let’s go to Morocco this weekend!”
“Dude, yeah!”
It seems like such a quaint, antiquated notion that study abroad previously encompassed only one country, rather than 10. Cheap discount airlines such as Ryanair or Easyjet make the seemingly impossible possible, and now my carefree friends have the means to support their increasingly dependent travel addiction. Indeed, some view it as the only means to cure themselves of the trying school week, which, for me, consists of 25 to 30 solid contact hours of intensive French class. While I’ve not yet noticed a considerable leap in my French ability, I have observed that I am not cut out for hard wooden chairs without cushions. Already highly predisposed to daydreams, it is undeniably even more difficult for me to refrain from taking tantalizing imaginary trips when seated in these severe, rigid chairs of doom.
While I completely sympathize with my fellow study abroaders’ travel urges, I cannot entirely support the lackadaisical manner in which they flit from country to country according to mere flights of fancy. In moderation, visiting different countries is an enriching, culturally enlightening experience, but many of my friends are now diehard addicts. I have one friend, who while studying abroad in England for a semester, visited France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Switzerland and Belgium. I’m torn between admiration, jealousy, disbelief and disapproval when I consider her feat. It seems somehow almost disrespectful to the primary study abroad country, which is routinely passed up on weekends for more exotic destinations.
I must admit, however, I am just as tempted by travel as my peers. Ryanair’s 20 euro fare for a roundtrip ticket to London broke down even my reservist notions, and I jubilantly set off for “The Smoke” with two friends. Our hostel was well worth the 25 pounds we dropped for two nights. Though it was a large hostel and inhabited by several hundred weary, sleep-deprived young folk, it was largely a positive experience, minus the copulating Norwegian couple in our room of 12. I would have to say hostel hanky-panky is one of the top travel faux pas, stealing the top spot from fanny packs, Hawaiian shirts and forgetting to drive on the left side of the road when in the U.K.
Fortunately, we were soon able to put the hostel out of our minds and with food from Cheap-Cheap Chinese — the actual name of a restaurant we frequented — in our bellies and all-day Tube passes, we had a splendid tour of the city’s attractions with a reasonable price tag. Total cost of weekend: About $100 to $175, depending on how much willpower you had to resist such treasures as teddy bears in royal guard garb.
Although cheap travel is possible, many spontaneous student travelers are not so careful, and some dish out vast amounts of money unflinchingly, even at a time when gas prices and exchange rates are at an all-time high.
“Hmm, I’ve spent just a bit over a thousand dollars,” one of my friends commented casually two weeks after arriving in France. “Is that bad?” Flabbergasted, I tried to stifle my shocked, “Whoaaa!”
“Whoa — well,” I corrected myself. “Perhaps that is a teensy bit high? But at least you’re doing your part in reversing the economic crisis!”
As the weekend approaches again, I hear the familiar country cries of my peers. “Rome! Salzburg! Ireland,” they cry, as they slowly awaken from their sluggish school day despondency and morph into lively, indefatigable creatures. This weekend in particular promises to be a high travel weekend, due to our two days of break Monday and Tuesday. Suddenly, even the most remote destinations are being legitimately considered. In fact, I have to go pack my suitcase for Lyon.
Kendra’s column runs biweekly Tuesdays. She can be reached at k.kirk@cavalierdaily.com.
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