Money matters in Italy

Italy was a lot more expensive than a normal semester, especially since I wanted to travel and experience a lot of things.

For food, at least it is normally possible to take advantage of a communal kitchen and fresh produce is generally a lot cheaper in Italy than in the US. This can help put down your general food costs.

Hostels are pretty cheap, you can stay for a night for $15-$30 in most cities. Trains can be quite expensive depending where you are going. Make sure to check different rates because they can vary quite a bit.

Money matters

Everything is extremely cheap in Bolivia. Your dollar will take you further than in most other countries in South America, especially with food and transportation. You can find three course meals for around 2 dollars and take a 7 hour bus ride across the country for around 6 dollars. But if you want certain items like electronics, imported items (food/name brand personal items/etc.) from the US, it often is as expensive or even more so than at home. If you plan on going to Bolivia before the program or staying after, be sure to plan for the costs of visa extensions, new visas for different countries, and the cost of traveling and sightseeing. These things are expensive no matter where you go, so don’t forget to include that in your budget or learn the hard way like I did.