By Michelle Futo
When I asked my parents if I
could study abroad in Leysin, Switzerland for the first six weeks of summer, they
were excited but also very vocal with expressing their worries. How would we
stay in contact? How would they know where I was and my travel plans? As an
only child, I had to find ways to make sure my parents felt comfortable with me
traveling to Europe so all of us could enjoy my experience. Here are a few tips
I picked up that I used both at home and while I was abroad.Communication
Keep the lines of communication
open as much as possible! While you may be annoyed with the amount of emails
they send you, your parents just want to make sure you are safe. It’s not you
they do not trust, it’s the world. All of the IP Study Centers have Wifi
access for students, so make sure to reply to those emails! Even a few simple
sentences with some photos will make them smile and feel closer to you, even
though you are over 2000 miles away.
If you have an iPhone, iMessage
also works even when your phone is on airplane mode. You can easily send texts,
photos, and short videos to your parents through iMessgae without having to
turn on your cellular data. FaceTime is also a great option. I was abroad for
Mother’s Day and even though I was not physically with my mom, I know she loved
our FaceTime date.
If you have an android smart
phone, I would recommend downloading Viber. Viber is a free messaging
application that also sends texts, photos, videos, and even allows users to
make phone calls through Wifi. Help your parents download the application to
their phones, set up their free account, and play around with sending messages
before you leave the country. This way you can still talk to them and share all
your experiences without having to purchase an international phone plan.
Register Your Travel
Prior to leaving the U.S.,
explain to your parents that you are registering yourself in the Smart Traveler
Enrollment Program (STEP) through the U.S. Department of State. STEP is a free
program that allows U.S. Citizens who are traveling abroad to enroll their trip
with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. Some additional benefits to
enrolling in STEP include receiving important information from the Embassy
about safety conditions in the destination country, helping students make
informed decisions about their travel plans, helping the U.S. Embassy contact
you in an emergency whether natural disaster, civil unrest, or family emergency.
After entering your personal and travel information, the step-by-step wizard
will help you stay connected to the people who matter and who will help you out
in case of any emergency. Parents can also sign up to receive email updates
about information dealing with the country you are traveling to, again keeping
them in the loop about your travels.
You can register here: https://step.state.gov/step/
Create a Blog
If you are a writer, a
photographer, or just want to have a simple way to keep your friends and family
at home updates with your travels, creating a blog gives you a perfect way to
share your experiences quickly and easily! Free websites such as WordPress,
Weebly, or Blogger allow users to make an account and customize their personal blog
to share text, photos, videos, and any other interesting information that
happens while abroad. You can easily upload some photos from your weekend trip
to Venice and write a quick post about how amazing your gondola rides were.
Sharing the link through email or Facebook will give your friends, family, and
especially parents a way to track where you travel and what you are up to. I
know my mom always looked forward to my blog posts and it also is a great
online journal I can always re-visit now that I am back in Tallahassee.
