If participating in a program like Global Gateways, then the first step to travelling out of the country is attending classes. Not only did I have to go to 7 class sessions, I had to complete a variety of homework assignments including a four-week lesson plan. These assignments involved a lot of reading on the country's education and society in preparation for student teaching abroad. From culture to the classroom, I have learned a lot about Ireland, but does that make me totally prepared? No.
From there, the first step is obviously getting a passport. This can be a painstaking process of filling out forms, finding your birth certificate, and making sure you copy everything correctly. Besides these hassling issues, you are also required to take a picture without smiling for the passport. 9 out of 10 people will end up looking like a felon with a really bad mugshot. I, for one, definitely did end up looking like a high and angry person who just spent the last 24 hours on a flight with kids screaming and kicking my seat. Now for the 1 out of 10 who actually have a semi-descent picture for your passport I applaud you! Once the picture is taken and the application is in, the wait begins. Waiting for the day your passport will finally arrive and you can leave the United States on the journey of a lifetime. Once that passport finally arrives, you must find the perfect location to place it until the big day arrives. You better hope you don't lose it, like I did. I had placed it in my car, but when I went to grab it, I couldn't find it. I was in absolute panic. I didn't want to have to go through the entire process again. After weeks of searching, my cousin found it. In my car. Where I thought I left it. Why I couldn't find it? Who knows.
Now you have your passport, you must figure out exactly what you will be doing. Where do you want to travel? What do you want to do there? For me, I am student teaching in Ireland. But that's not all I want to do. I have the weekends to travel as well as a 2-week spring break. So I must decide where exactly I want to travel for spring break especially.
Once you've decided where you're going, the next step is RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! Some great websites for research include:
Rough Guides
Trip Advisor
Virtual Tourist
Conde Nast Traveler
World Travel Guide
So now that you have all these amazing resources to do some research you're ready to truly start planning your trip out of the country. These might be the best you can do as your first steps into travelling out of the country. While there is so much more to come, getting your passport and doing research on places is the best first steps to prepare you for this amazing journey.
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