Take Me to Tel Aviv

So now that I could check picking an abroad destination off my list of things to do, it was time to do the pre-travel prep to get myself ready for my semester overseas. An experience like this one requires careful planning and a lot of logistical arrangements. Never in my life had I been faced with the responsibilities that come along with organizing a 4.5 month “vacation” and I was determined to get the job done with as little interference from my parents as possible. My first order of business was to seek out roommates that I’d share a living space with for the duration of my time abroad. My best friend Emily and I had both chose to go abroad to Tel Aviv so it was automatically assumed that we’d live together but we needed two more girls to fill the room. Emily and I consulted and decided that as bonus for our experience, we wanted to expand our social network by seeking out roommates who went to universities other than Michigan (Babin/Harris, 2016). We used social media and wo...

          Like so many other college students do each year, this past semester I packed a bag, parted with friends, uprooted my life and set off for a semester abroad and the adventure of a lifetime. Before I could choose the destination for my new temporary home, there was much consideration and planning that went into the big decision. I had to weigh the pros and cons of each city, and then figure out which factors influenced me the most. In other words, I had to decide what I valued most to take away from an opportunity as special as this.             As I sat down to explore the options for destinations I might’ve wanted to travel to, the cities that jumped out to me as possible choices included Sydney, Australia; Prague, Czech Republic; Barcelona; Spain; and Tel Aviv, Israel. Each city had their own unique set of cultural distinctions and personalities, each a different language, foo...