A (Student) Traveler’s Guide to Europe

Okay, so you’re about to head over to Europe. I know the little buzz of excitement you feel–the tinglings that creep through your neck and hands when someone says, “I wish I were going to Europe;” the melting sensation when you realize you’ll have the best pastries you’ve ever laid taste buds on; the ideations and titillations that will occur in the (*ahem) coffee shops. I’ve felt all this before. I know where you are right now.

If you have been to Europe as a college student before, or if you are confident that you’ll fare just fine without this little message, no worries. But if this is your first time over to Europe, I implore you to take a few minutes to digest my advice. 

First of all, it’s of paramount importance to make the distinction between traveling to Europe as a college student and traveling here at any other time. If you came over here earlier in life (say, with your folks or with a high school group), then you probably didn’t really do Europe right. In fact, I would argue that you are coming over to Europe at precisely the right time for four reasons: 1) you’re young, energetic, open-minded, and eager to experience another culture; 2) you’re not fettered by your parents or your age; 3) Amsterdam is one of the coolest cities in Europe, if not the world; and, finally, 4) Europe is less expensive right now (and still getting cheaper) than at any point in the past decade. Good work. The ball is already rolling advantageously.

It should be noted that these pieces of advice are reflections of my personality and experiences. I’m waging an internal war against looking like a Raging Tourist while I’m over here, and so far I’m in a stalemate. I recommend that you also make an effort to break out of the Raging Tourist paradigm. Europeans put up with more tourists than you or I can fathom, and they appreciate seeing foreigners make an effort to live in their city instead of treating it like a playground. Try to walk a mile in their clogs. 

So, without further ado, here are some flash points to keep in mind for the upcoming Euro adventure.

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Getting ready to come to Europe

Exchanging money is always a headache. To make the process as pain-free as possible, I strongly recommend that you exchange money at your local bank for some euro bills (about $400 USD should be plenty) to keep in a wallet or purse. Traveler’s checks are safer than cash, but harder to acquire. I had to go down to San Francisco to get traveler’s checks from American Express for this summer. It’s a godforsaken system. Anyways, keep this cash securely on you until you get settled in the apartment/dorm in Amsterdam. This will serve as a rainyday fund, in case you cannot find a bank or someone steals your credit card(s). Once we’re in Amsterdam, find a reliable/cheap bank’s ATMs to use. Exchanging a load of money at your bank in the U.S. will probably come with a 3.75% service charge, which is about the same as what you will be charged in Amsterdam. Once you have your initial euro bills, don’t sweat the money. Just use ATMs.

(Important note: the biggest bank in Paris, BNP Paribas, has set up an agreement with Bank of America where clients of either bank can take money without any flat fee for the service. I’m not sure if there is a similar agreement in Amsterdam. When you call your bank to register your cards for going abroad, ask them if they have a set-up with a bank in the Netherlands. It would certainly be worth the phone call.)

If you trust craigslist.org or are a prudent e-consumer and can find a good deal, I recommend that you start looking for a bike before you get to Amsterdam. Don’t pay in advance, of course, but get to know the seller/renter. Everyone I’ve met who has spent a decent amount of time in Amsterdam couldn’t overstate the benefit of having a good bike as opposed to a piece of shit with square wheels. And while we’re on the subject of the internet, give Amsterdam a few Google searches to see what sort of activities are going on. The World Cup will be done by the time we arrive, but I’m keeping fingers crossed that the Dutch win the tournament so that everyone is in a happy mood. I’ve also found out that a huge classical concert series will be going full-bore while we’re there. I don’t know if that is your cup of tea but I couldn’t be happier. Blunts-and-Brahms sounds peachy. 

Packing is always a trepidation for some of the style-minded folks in the group. (Here’s looking at you, gals.) Even though living in my own apartment in Paris has brought out my inner nudist, I still believe I can weigh-in on this subject with a fair degree of expertise. That being so, I cannot stress this enough: Do not pack too much. Sure, find the biggest suitcase you have and start tossing in your favorite shirts and hot pants, but do not go overboard. You will quickly regret bringing that third pair of leather boots or that 18th black t-shirt when you’re lugging all your stuff through the crowded metro by your lonesome. Err on the side of packing too light, i.e. only bring one or two of your larger items, skimp on the t-shirts and undies. You can easily buy a pack of t-shirts or a bundle of socks after arriving.

Moreover, do not sweat the small stuff on fashion over here. If you have a burning desire to wear designer clothing everyday, go for it. But I’d warn against that. It’s the summer, it will be hot and sticky every day and most nights, and we probably won’t have top-rate washing machines and dryers at our disposal. White t-shirts are the way to go; Armani be damned. I’ve been in way-too-trendy Paris this summer and eurotrash-at-its-worst Berlin last summer, and I’ve never been treated differently because I’m wearing humdrum clothes. If anything my plainness turns heads in a good way. American items are considered chic over here, so you’ll look like a million bucks even if you’re wearing your “hungover in a four-hour Tuesday morning lecture” outfit. Trust me.

To sum up the pre-departure bit, here’s a quick list of things NOT to bring:

• big towels
• more than one jacket
• non-essential toiletries, e.g. shaving cream, toilet paper, shampoo and conditioner, etc. — my mom stuffed a bottle of shampoo in my bag without me knowing last summer and it exploded mid-flight. I love that woman.
• shoes you’ll wear fewer than once a week
• pictures of loved ones (Only kidding.)

Anything that you did not pack with you, you can buy in the Netherlands. We’re not exactly going to Timbuktu, here. In the first day or so, get together with your roommate(s) and figure out what the apartment needs in terms of groceries, cleaning supplies, panache doodads, and the like. The more communal we all live, the cheaper it is for everyone. Viva socialism!

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Once you’re in Amsterdam

For the past two summers, I’ve made the monumental mistake of paying way too much to start off my trip. The common faux pas is to go on  a spending binge once you land. People think, “Well, shit, I’m in Europe! Of course I’ll buy that 8 euro beer and a 15 euro salad!” Don’t do this. Be remarkably frugal once you get over here, at least until you have a better idea of how much things cost and where to find your deals. We’re students, after all, not a Hilton sister.

The easiest way to keep your finances in check is to keep mental notes of how much you’re spending a day. Then extend that out to a week, and in turn the month. Never let your weekly expenses go beyond your month’s budget–we’re all braniacs here, find the derivatives. If you go out on the town and spend way too much money on a cute blonde with kind eyes one night, penalize yourself by eating-in for a couple days. Since I’ve been in Paris, I have kept to a regimen of making myself two meals a day and eating out for the third. On days where I make all my meals at home, I might rev the engine a little bit harder at the bars that night. A few kids in my Berlin group last summer went hogwild in the first week and a half of the trip and had no dough left for the most fun festivities at the end. They were running on fumes and mooching handouts for the last week. Don’t do that. Just don’t.

Once you’re settled in a little bit, I strongly recommend getting to know your neighborhood (or another area in the city) as well as you can. It is very rewarding to dig your teeth into a part of town, especially in a vibrant city like Amsterdam. My spot in Paris is famous for its gourmet pastries (God is real, and he is flaky.) and its homeless guys. That being so, I’ve made sure to bump into most of the bakers and patissières in the area and  have a couple humorous run-ins with the hobo crowd. Don’t leave Amsterdam without being able to say that you lived it the right way.

All that being said, allow me to get back to the anti-Raging Tourist campaign. Money aside, we student travelers are often guilty of some big mistakes. It’s important to keep your head and not lose track of your trip’s goals. We’re young and foolhardy, but not so much as to warrant looking like an asshole or angering the locals. Actually, fuck the bombastic paragraph… I like making lists.

• DO NOT think of Amsterdam as a stoner’s paradise, or at least not in public. The city’s population doesn’t really like to smoke that much. Tommy Chong isn’t running for mayor or anything. It is similar to how winemakers only drink milk and beer at the dinner table. They’re sick of the plant and the stupid kids in Dispatch t-shirts who overindulge. Keep it classy. 
• DO check out the Heineken plant. I hear it’s pretty sweet.
• DO NOT go to any parties with a bunch of ambulances around it. They had those in Berlin and half the crowd belonged in a Rob Zombie music video while the other half looked like sleazy Courtney Love doppelgängers.
• DO NOT be too loud in a public area. A lot of people, especially the young ones, speak English and don’t care if you think “that puppy is so fuggin’ cute!”
• DO at least a couple things a week that you can only do while in Europe/Amsterdam.
• DO NOT walk alone at night, especially if you’ve been partying.
• DO make an effort to call your parents and friends. At the very least, they are probably trying to live vicariously through your Amsterdam stories.
• DO NOT make those calls after figuring out what the hoopla with absinthe is all about. (Sorry, grandma.)
• DO brush up on your Bob Dylan and Michael Jackson.
• DO NOT mention Bob Marley’s name. He’s always accompanied with the aforementioned “stupid stoner” label.
• DO NOT waste your time mindlessly hanging out in the apartment/dorm. As Ms. Frizzle put it, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!” (<– that would make the world’s best tramp stamp, by the way)
• DO feel free to make me some dinners. I’ll be grateful, pinky swear.

That’s all I have to offer for now. Feel free to hit me with questions/concerns/sweet nothings.

Shameless plug alert…

And if you want to peek at my completely non-academic blog for my Paris travels: http://theoldmonkeysnest.blogspot.com

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