Travel is probably the number 1 reason I went abroad, and I’m guessing it’s the same for many others out there. There is literally no better time in your life to travel than at age 21, when you’re poor enough, resilient enough, and crazy enough to enjoy traveling to the fullest.
Eat street meat, sleep in 18-person hostel rooms, clap when your Ryanair flight lands safely, have a drink in the Ice Bar on the beach in Barcelona, get lost in the middle of the night in Prague, and experience the world in a way most other people will never have the chance to.
Studying abroad is the ultimate platform for globe-trotting students. You have 3 months (more if you’re lucky) of essentially homework free time, you’re within a stone’s throw of dozens of countries, you can pull the student discount just about anywhere, and you have more energy than a can of Red Bull.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’d love to vacation at some the places I visited on my travels when I’m older and have a better paycheck (I’d much rather compare the cost of holidays to Greece when I’m 50 as opposed to 24); however, what will always be more important to me is what I took away from those days I spent trekking through the cities of Europe and Asia as a dirt poor college student.