Things I wish I’d known before a year abroad

As a finalist studying Hispanic Studies, I spent my year abroad a little unconventionally. I avoided studying or teaching English, and opted instead to live in the Costa Rican rainforest and work in Conservation. It has truly been the best year of my life so far, but there are a few things I wish I’d known before going abroad that I hope will help anyone else venturing off to Latin America.

I wish I’d known:

To get a traveller’s currency card! A last-minute decision to sign up for an ICE CARD made my life so easy. I could select the currencies I’d be using, load my account with money as often as I wanted, and I was sent two cards in case one got lost! The exchange rate for currency cards is also generally better than any cash exchange deals. It saves you paying any transaction fees using your own debit card at ATMs, and you can track how much you’re spending on your phone, making it both easier to budget and safer to travel. After all, if travelling alone looking young and lost doesn’t make you a target, then carrying heaps of cash in your pocket certainly will!

To pack more toothpaste! I once paid $7 for a tube in Costa Rica! Cosmetic and hygiene products are typically expensive in Latin America, along with anything else that’s imported. If you want to save money, my advice would be to take enough feminine hygiene products to last you, and the same goes for deodorant, toothpaste, paracetamol and makeup too. A bus journey from border to border of a whole country? Or three tubes of toothpaste? I know what I’d rather spend my money on.

it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lost, and become homesick. But if you let them, things generally start becoming normal fast

To read local safety advice! GP and FCO medical advice for travellers to tropical destinations is to carry DEET insect repellent and take antimalarials, something that can cost hundreds of pounds if you’re staying in a country for a few months. On arrival in Costa Rica, I found out that the country has only had one case of Malaria in the last 30 years, and that the varieties of mosquitoes present were actually attracted to DEET. So I ended up using citronella oil from a local plant – recommended by locals and worked like a dream!

How humid it would be! I knew that by going to a tropical country, conditions would be hot and wet, but I completely underestimated just how damp it would constantly be. Lots of my clothes got wrecked because of this, and I ended up having to throw out mouldy shoes and my favourite shorts. I relied on lightweight and often sporty clothing instead. Nothing dries easily and everything holds moisture, so if you’re going somewhere remotely tropical, I’d think twice before packing any denim!

keep talking to people, keep looking up, and keep filling your day with everything you want to

To be more confident and act like a local! Latin American countries often sell products and services at two prices: one for locals and one for tourists. Often these prices are not advertised and if you’re brave enough to tell the vendor that you live there, they will usually offer local prices to you. I was paying thrice the price I could’ve on a local ferry until someone told me to say “ida y vuelta, y soy tica” before paying at the dock. Be brave and save money!

Finally, how quickly my new life would feel normal! When arriving alone somewhere far away, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and lost, and become homesick. But if you let them, things generally start becoming normal fast. At some point, maybe in week three or even month three, you’ll have a wobble – but that’s okay! It’s just your mind adjusting to the fact that you’ve been away for longer than a holiday and even a university term. Just keep talking to people, keep looking up, and keep filling your day with everything you want to. Your year abroad, your choice!