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Freshman 15 and Abroad Bod

10/26/2018

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By: Simmi Uppaladadium
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You heard about the infamous “freshman 15” even before you came to college. Everyone told you about the freedom you would have: no one to tell you when to sleep, what to eat, whether or not to go to class, or when to wake up. All this freedom seems wonderful until you go home over winter break and your best friend’s parents say “you put on a bit of weight.” (fun fact, that actually happened to me. Talk about a wake-up call!)


While it may seem really hard right now to avoid getting ice cream and cookies after every meal, there are simple measures you can take right now to brag later on that “the freshman 15 never hit me!” If I tell you right now to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night, go to the gym 3-4 times a week, and also eat healthy food, you’ll probably laugh in my face and say that it’s impossible and you would rather spend that time hanging out with your friends. Why sleep more when you can get dollar pizza at 3 am? *Just* this one time. NO!!

You can work out with friends and have a healthy life while keeping your social circle. Oh and all of that “totally legal” alcohol you’re consuming? Yeah, that isn’t too great for keeping off the pounds either. (I’m looking at you, abroad kids. There’s a reason it’s called abroad bod and not sophomore 16.) Staying physically healthy isn’t only good for your body, but also for your mental health.

So how do you do your best to enjoy college without turning into an oompa loompa? Eat healthy when you can: save the calorie-heavy meals for when you’re going out with friends. Eat breakfast!! Way too many students ignore the value of a good breakfast, but it’s a great way to start your day and to avoid overeating at lunch. By the way, coffee does not count as a full breakfast. Eat on time, or at least don’t eat after an hour before you’re about to sleep. , so 3 am Artichoke Pizza doesn’t exactly qualify. And as hard as it might be, try to make it to the gym at least twice a week. You may think that you don’t have the time, but you have to make the time to feel good!

As college students, we put sleep on the back burner and say “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Well, that may be sooner rather than later if you don’t get enough rest. Learn to prioritize your work and make deadlines for yourself so that you’re not pulling an all-nighter to write an essay or study for an exam. Lack of sleep means eating at unorthodox hours and feeling, for lack of a better word, GROSS.

Of course, you should enjoy yourself in college – you do live in New York City after all! It’s all about a balance and you definitely deserve to treat yourself once in a while. It gets easier as the years pass by, and soon enough you’ll be a junior looking at freshman pictures and saying “wow freshman 15 hit me hard.”

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NYC Bookstore-Hosted Events

10/19/2018

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By Johanna Dong
In a previous blog post, we covered a number of amazing bookstores around Manhattan. But New York is never short of visiting authors, notable journalists, and even generally famous people more peripherally related to writing—and many bookstores here host events featuring such people weekly. Here are some local shops that regularly schedule events, most of them for free:


1. Books of Wonder, 18 W 18th St.
Also featured in the last bookstore blog post, Books of Wonder is an independent bookstore that hosts an insane amount of panels. Many of the authors featured are children’s or YA writers—previous panels I’ve attended included acclaimed YA authors Adam Silvera and Laini Taylor, and some upcoming events feature Julie Murphy and Zoraida Cordova, among others. But Books of Wonder doesn’t just feature genre writers—last month they hosted Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Hamilton star Phillipa Soo! Check out their events page for their October/November schedule:
http://booksofwonder.com/booksofwonderevents.aspx

2. McNally Jackson, 52 Prince St.
Though their lineup is not as extensive as Books of Wonder, McNally Jackson in SoHo (with another location in Williamsburg) has a solid running schedule of book launches and panels. They’ve previously hosted authors such as Courtney Summers, and NYT bestseller Tahereh Mafi will drop by for the launch of her next highly anticipated novel in mid-October.
https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/event/2018-10
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3. Barnes & Noble, 33 E 17th St.
This one should be pretty obvious, but just in case you weren’t aware—B&N locations, especially the one on Union Square, host some great events. In September and early October visiting celebs included Neil Patrick Harris and John Cena, and Nicholas Sparks, Charlamagne tha God, and Ina Garten, among others, are scheduled for mid/late October. All such guests come to promote their books or book-related projects, even if they’re children’s books or cookbooks, so be on the lookout for events you’re interested in!
https://stores.barnesandnoble.com/
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4. New York Public Library, across NYC
Technically the NYPL isn’t a bookstore, but they still offer thousands of events annually throughout NYC, many of which feature plenty of authors and academics and celebs. In the past I’ve attended panels with award-winning authors such as N.K. Jemisin and Madeline Miller; most of these events take place at the Mid-Manhattan library branch, so they’re a perfect excuse to go admire its architecture and get some work done in the massive reading rooms as well!
https://www.nypl.org/events/calendar




B&N photo credit: https://twitter.com/BNUnionSquareNY/status/1048350418198257669
McNally: https://www.instagram.com/p/BbAsI-vFFmG/?taken-by=mcnallyjackson
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Study Abroad Diaries: The Broke Student’s Guide to Cheap Travel in Europe

10/12/2018

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By: Shreya Durbha 

A $2 flight to Poland? $18 to go to Paris? $22 for a flight to Africa? It sounds a little too good to be true but I kid you not when I say that this was my experience traveling in Europe last year. Last fall, I had the opportunity to study abroad at NYU’s campus in Florence, Italy. Ever since, I’ve talked the ears off of anyone who will listen about how I couldn’t recommend going abroad more. One of the biggest highlights of my time in Italy was how much I got to travel within and around Europe. In fact, I actually traveled more in those 16 weeks than I have in my entire life. Also, because I’d never been to Europe before (or really anywhere except the US and India lol), I was determined to cover as much as I possibly could without deviating from my very minimal budget as a student. My travel budget consisted almost entirely of tutoring money I’d acclimated from the summer before—all my flights, Airbnbs, excursions, food, and nightlife were limited to this small, quickly-depleting fund. Nonetheless, I managed to knock out 12 countries and 33 cities in just one semester.
    However, many of those who ventured across the pond after I did had a very different experience. They returned to me angrily, questioning the tales of budget-friendly, life-changing travel I had misleadingly promised them. Oddly enough, their flights were much more expensive than I’d ever remembered. Could I have just gotten lucky and that all of Europe decidedly reduced their travel prices in anticipation of the one semester I’d be there? There was no way.
    So, I reflected. I thought back to exactly how I managed to pull off and find the deals that I did. And today, I present you with this list of things you could also do to travel Europe without breaking the bank. This list was derived from my own personal experiences, other travelers’ recommendations, and a lot of research.
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1. Use Google Flights. It seems obvious, but Google Flights has consistently been the best platform for finding cheap flights. Don’t believe me? Read this. If Google Flights isn’t your cup of tea, you could also check out Momondo or GoEuro. Bonus Tip: If you’ve got your eye on a flight but aren’t ready to book yet, track the price! (By clicking the “track price” toggle) You’ll be sent alerts about any price movements. You never know when it could drop.
2. Turn on Incognito Mode. In this day and age, websites pretty much profit off of tracking your virtual movements and selling them as data. Therefore, always look for your flights and hotels in Incognito Mode (refer to picture). I remember one time, my friend and I were sitting next to each other and had the same exact Airbnb listing opened, except mine was significantly more expensive because I wasn’t in Incognito Mode. Basically, Airbnb could tell I was looking to book and had been for a while and thus took it as an opportunity to upcharge me, which isn’t uncommon.
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3. Clear your cookies. For the same reasons above, clear your cookies before searching.

4. Look at nearby airports to fly into. 
Honestly speaking, the Florence airport (Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola) was not the best airport to fly from. Many times, the airport closest to you won’t be the one with the cheapest flights, which tend to fly into the more obscure airports. These flights also tend to be at ungodly hours of the day. My $18 flight to Paris left a 6am (which meant I woke up at 3am) and flew into Beauvais, so I had to take a bus into the city center. If your starting point is Italy, I suggest looking at airports in Pisa, Bologna, Rome, Milan, etc… Disclaimer: Be mindful that your overall trip cost will be more after buses/trains/transportation to and from the airport. Nonetheless, you’ll most likely still be saving at the end as oppose to if you had taken a more expensive flight to a closer airport. Be sure to compare all your options.
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5. Check for bus and train alternatives
. Two words: Flix Bus. By the end of the semester, I’d grown a fondness and admiration for the ghastly neon green color of these unmissable double-decker buses. Overnight buses are the best because they save you money on transportation AND hotel/Airbnb accommodations. FlixBus isn’t always the cheapest but if you download the app, be sure to check for periodic sales. I took a $35 FlixBus from Paris to Amsterdam that brought me right into the city center. Trains are also occasionally cheaper than flights, usually for domestic travel. I suggest using GoEuro, which gives you a side-by-side comparison of your flight, train, and bus alternatives.

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6. Budget Airlines. This is pretty much a no-brainer but use budget airlines. Some of the most common are: RyanAir, EasyJet, Vueling, Wizz Air, WowAir
Bonus Tip: Budget airlines are notorious for delays… just know that you are entitled to compensation if your plane is delayed by more than a certain amount of time. Use this
Bonus Tip #2: Budget airlines are also notorious for charging people exorbitant fees for their luggage… so pack light or risk being charged an extra 50 euros for a bag that’s a tad too big
7. Sign up for airline mailing lists and download airline apps. 
As you might’ve assumed, FlixBus isn’t the only travel company that does periodic sales. Almost every budget airline does as well, and this is really where you can get the most bang for your buck. In fact, we came across the $2 flight to Poland from a RyanAir flash sale. When doing your travel research, be sure to check the company website you’re booking from to see if there are any sales going on. If you’re booking through GoogleFlights, it should direct you there anyways.
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8. Book as early as possible and be flexible in your departure/arrival times and days. Yes, waking up at 3am for a 6am flight is pretty annoying… I actually did this twice in a week during fall break. It sucks, especially when it’s only a 2 hour flight and you have a full day of sight-seeing planned. But, it’s so worth it. Be open to these oddly timed arrivals and departures. Also, book your trips as soon as possible! Cross check with your professors about any important dates and begin planning out your semester as soon as you can.
9. Join the secret flying mailing list. This is actually something I heard about after I finished my semester. You can sign up here to get the best deals delivered to your mailbox.
10. Use Airbnbs/hostels. Using Airbnb/hostels instead of hotels is a steadfast way to save money. Obviously only book the Airbnbs that have positive and recent reviews (if your host is a Super Hosts, that’s a great plus). For hostels, I used this. Bonus Tip: The bigger the group, the cheaper your Airbnb will be. My cheapest Airbnb was in Germany, where it was $16 a night.

Ultimately, as cliché as it sounds, study abroad will change your life regardless of whether or not you decide to leave your host city. The mere fact that you’ve pushed the boundaries of your comfort zone and placed yourself in an entirely new environment should be marveled in itself. However, I also believe that you can and should use this time to travel beyond your comfort zone without compromising your budget. Hopefully, these tips will be at least a little helpful in your doing that. If you need any more advice about this or life in general, feel free to reach out to me
shreya.durbha@stern.nyu.edu and I’d be happy to talk. Also, while you’re here, be sure to check out my good friend Caitlyn’s blog about her travels in both Europe and Asia. She goes into more depth about being a student abroad. Otherwise, thanks for reading— have fun and safe travels!


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