First post! Getting a feel for Global Living Experiences

Have you ever been on a trip thought, “I don’t want to leave”? Traveling as a college student can be challenging. College students typically do not have a lot of extra money laying around for traveling, that is why it is important to find alternatives to getting around breaking the bank just to explore the world.

This blog will present different programs throughout the United States and the world that give college students the opportunity to live in other locations for a summer, a semester, or even longer, all while they are working and maintaining a job. An extended stay in a foreign location means a more complete understanding of that culture and more time to take in the fullness of the city or country.

I am a college student at Longwood University and over the summer I am a supervisor at Water Country USA: that is where I first became interested in work-travel Programs. Water Country USA has a work-travel program where students from all over the world and the country come and work for the summer in various locations while they lived in a housing village run by the company.

A few international students participating in the Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA work-travel program from the Czech Republic and Spain attending a soccer match during their summer in America.

From meeting college students from the Czech Republic, Spain, Russia, Turkey, etc., I have woken up to the idea of living in other locations for an extended period while making money as well.

Over the summer, I traveled to Spain with a friend and my brother to visit our friend Iker, who is from Spain, that we met when he was working at Water Country USA as part of the work-travel program. While there, I began thinking about what it would be like to go through the same type of program and live in another city or country for a summer. I wanted to know what it was like to live in another place beyond just a short vacation.

Picture this: You decide to participate in a work-travel program. You wait all year for the day you finally get to hop on the plane and begin your time working in a different state or country. The day comes, you move in to your dorm or apartment and instantly start meeting people from all over the world. You are tired from traveling, but it doesn’t matter to you because you are running on coffee and adrenaline.

By the end of the first hour, you already have a group of possible new friends who will be working at the same place as you. You are nervous of course for this foreign experience, but you are also comforted by having these people here because you know that group is going through the same experience as you with the same sense of emotions.

Traveling to a place that’s foreign to you is nerve racking, especially for young college students. However, it is also exciting and can be a rush to have a fresh start in a new place!

Check back next week where I will discuss our first work-travel program: the Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Water Country USA experience!