Despite being a full-time university student, I am afforded more time to flexibility and travel. However, this can also be challenging for students when it comes to budgeting and time management when trying to balance school life, work and travel of course! So here are a few tips for balancing life and travel.

Planning 

The first thing that students can do is make a plan before travelling. Taking small breaks over the weekend or during reading week (when there are fewer or no lectures at all) is your best bet. Identifying when you have time off is helpful when thinking about where and how you could spend these few days to travel whilst still balancing ever-present coursework, assessment and exam deadlines. During these short holidays, you can plan short trips to close by destinations, allowing you to explore and recharge your batteries so that you can save travelling time and have more time to explore places instead. Longer holidays such as the Christmas or Easter breaks can be used for longer trips away that require more travelling time as there are more days to spare and you do not have to worry about your travelling plans being delayed. Planning will undoubtedly help you make the most of your travels and the break you have from university. 

Prioritising 

The other thing we should take care of is prioritising work as well as travel plans. As full-time students, it surely is difficult to balance academic life and your travel plans. Grades and schoolwork are constant priorities we cannot avoid. One of the ways to balance and prioritise schoolwork is by staying organised. Keeping note of exam dates and assignment deadlines is one of the best ways to make sure you are organised and staying on track. Using different trackers like calendars or planners can help to remind you of key dates, ensuring that you can better distribute your time and avoid last-minute stress. Doing this will also allow you to foresee the times when you will be busy and when you are free, which allows you to manage your time and your workload and ensure that specific time is allocated to studying and assignments so that you are on top of your tasks. You can have more free time for travelling as well as not having to worry about missing coursework and worrying about exams.

Flexible Studying 

For students who are struggling to catch up with myriads of exams and coursework, another easy way to balance learning and studies as well as travelling is by studying flexibly. If there are options in choosing online/remote learning courses, this is a good option to consider when aiming to maintain your flexibility regarding learning and travelling. There are different opportunities to learn whilst you travel, like participating in study abroad programs, volunteering programs, international internships, or research projects which allow you to travel abroad. This will mean you combine learning and gaining experience in academic areas with exploring new destinations. 

Therefore, there are a lot of ways to travel as a full-time student. Whether we want to travel alone or through the opportunities given at university, we should always plan and make sure we can balance our studies and manage our time wisely so that we can enjoy both our studies and our travel at the same time.

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