Claire Turner is a student at Indiana University Bloomington and an ISA Featured Blogger. Claire is currently studying abroad in Reading, England on an ISA Fall 1 program.

It feels like I have been planning this semester abroad for years, so now that it is finally here it’s bit weird for me to realize that this is real life and not a dream. Now that I have all the logistics planned and I am actually going to be able to go abroad, it’s time to try and figure out what exactly I am going to do abroad. How often does somebody get a chance to spend three months in Europe? A year ago, when studying abroad was just an idea in the distant future I could spit out plans and things I wanted to do like it was my day job. But the closer it got, the harder it got for me to believe that it was actually happening. Now that I realize this is real life and it is actually happening, I have a few things I definitely want to do while I am abroad:
- Visit as many touristy places in London as I can: Buckingham Palace, The Eye of London, Big Ben, Windsor Castle, and of course, Hogwarts (okay that may not be real, but a girl can dream).
- Go to every country in the United Kingdom. How often will I get the chance to say, “Oh yeah I’ve been to the United Kingdom. Oh no all of it, I’ve been to all of the United Kingdom.”
- And of course I have to go to Ireland. I think my Grandma would kill me if I didn’t visit the land of my ancestors.
Besides these three things I’m just kind of going with the flow and take advantage of every opportunity provided to me. That seems to be the best way to do it. No matter what part of your trip you’re on, you need to stay relaxed and expect the unexpected. Things will never go as planned, so be flexible and I guarantee your time will be better spent and better enjoyed.
Cheers,
Claire
Reblogged this on Drndark.
Hope the UK treats you well. Hogwarts was based in the very north of England, a town called Alnwick. If you want a true Harry Potter experience, and if you have the time and money, I really reccomend heading up to Scotland and visiting Glen Finnian bridge. The scenery is unbelievable and its definitely worth the long trek :)
Ahh thanks for the tip!! We still have a few weekends unplanned and I am definitely Harry Potter Nerd enough to make sure we do something like this!