After signing up and attending several international society trips through my school I would definitely recommend them to other study abroad students. As an exchange student, joining is free and comes with discounted trip prices. One thing I love about these trips is that they allow me to travel to different cities and places that I have wanted to go to but not have to deal with the stress of booking transportation and hostels on my own.

All you have to do is show up at the bus stop on the morning of your trip and everything else is taken care of for you. Several of the trips I have been on have included walking/coach tours in the cities we have gone to, or visited other nearby locations that would have been difficult to get to had you been traveling solo.

Since January, I have gone on four weekend trips and one day trip with my international society. Three of them were cities in the England while two of them were in Scotland. On a couple of the trips, I had signed up with some friends of mine but on the other ones I signed up and went on my own. While I can’t speak for every school, this was a great way to get introduced to other exchange/international students.

Even on the trips I went on with my friends, we ended up meeting other students and hanging out with them for the day and even when we got back to Manchester. I actually met one of the girls I went traveling with for Easter break on an international society trip!

I’ve said it before, but I do think it is important to take advantage of all the activities and clubs that are available for exchange students. While making friends from the city/school you’re studying at is important as well, I have found that it is really nice to get to travel with other individuals who are also foreign to the area and to get to experience it for the first time as well.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: University of Manchester: Exchange