Poky Little Wanderer

Slowly wandering my way everywhere

Category: Study Abroad (Page 2 of 2)

Trees in mist near Hakone, Japan

Semester at Sea: Independent Travel in Japan (Part 2)

Published January 24, 2019 / / 2 Comments

*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links (at no additional cost to you) I will earn a small commission. Click here for the full disclosure*

*I’m going to apologize in advance for the lack of photos as I lost many of my photos from my travel in Japan in an unfortunate situation in Beijing (but that’s a story for another day).

Independent Travel

After finishing up my tour of Yokohama and Tokyo with Semester at Sea (which you can read about in part 1 of my Japan posts) on my second day of travel in Japan, my plan was to meet up with a group of friends in the city. However, my afternoon did not go as smoothly as I had anticipated. One of my friends had a cell phone that worked internationally which I was to call when I reached Tokyo Station so we could arrange where to meet.

Continue reading
Senso-ji or Asakusa Buddhist Temple in Tokyo, Japan

Semester at Sea: Exploring Japan (Part 1)

Published December 14, 2018 / / 2 Comments

*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links (at no additional cost to you) I will earn a small commission. Click here for the full disclosure*

Yokohama skyline while Poky Little Wanderer was exploring Japan
Views of Yokohama, Japan from the ship

The second port on my Semester at Sea voyage was Japan, which was also the first international port. Having only traveled out of North America for my family’s trip to Ireland, I was both really excited and really nervous to land on the shores of a new country and continent. We had five days exploring Japan, an island nation and cultural titan. Since I wrote so much about this country, I’ve broken it up into a couple parts.

Continue reading
Black sand beach on Hawai'i

Semester at Sea: Aloha Hawai’i

Published November 14, 2018 / / 12 Comments

*This post may contain affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase through these links (at no additional cost to you) I will earn a small commission. Click here for the full disclosure*

Aloha Hawai'i! Hawai'i was the first land sighted in 9 days
Aloha, Hawai’i! This was the first land we’d seen in nine days!

Our first port of call after sailing out of Ensenada, Mexico was Hawai’i. It was back in the United States, but a new state for me (visiting all 50 is on my bucket list). We were scheduled to be docked at Hilo, Hawai’i for two days and Honolulu, Hawai’i for two days for a total of four days in the state.

Continue reading
Sign on the MV Explorer stating how weird things about shipboard life make it better

Semester at Sea: 5 Weird Things About Shipboard Life

Published October 17, 2018 / / 8 Comments

Signs on ship warning of strong winds and not to use certain doors

Weird things about shipboard life included signs you wouldn’t see on your campus at home…

When I sailed with Semester at Sea during the Spring 2010 voyage, it was aboard the MV Explorer, a converted cruise ship from the Mediterranean Sea. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to circumnavigate the globe visiting ten countries throughout the semester, but there was so much more I got to experience as well. There are some weird things about shipboard life that took some getting used to as it was completely different from the last 2.5 years I’d spent at college. Continue reading

Semester at Sea logo on MV Explorer at sunset

Studying Abroad: A Semester at Sea

Published August 21, 2018 / / 10 Comments

Semester at Sea… What’s that?

As a Tourism Management major in college, my professors often talked about different destinations around the world and how they handled tourism. One fateful day in February 2009, my professor mentioned that a fellow student in our program was currently studying abroad with Semester at Sea (SAS). He gave the briefest description that this student was studying abroad on a ship going around the world. After class I returned to my room and immediately looked up the program to get more information. Continue reading

Newer posts »

© 2024 Poky Little Wanderer

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑