Aussie Study Abroad

I had the opportunity to study abroad for the fall semester of my junior year in college.  I immediately took this amazing opportunity and decided to go to Australia.  I wanted to go someplace warm and exciting, and someplace where I possibly may never get to spend a long amount of time there again.  I thought Australia would be the perfect place!  I went through Butler University's Study Abroad Program, which was arranged with my home university.  I decided to study at the University of Queensland near Brisbane, Australia.  I was able to travel extensively during this time and hope this guide will help any considering a trip Down Under, regardless of the amount of time they get to spend.

The trip began with panicking over packing.  I completely unpacked and repacked about an hour before I had to leave for my flight!  Deciding what to take and what to leave when I was going to be thousands of miles from home for 4 MONTHS was difficult. 

I flew New Zealand Air which was very nice and comfortable.  My flight route was from Nashville to Los Angeles to Auckland to Brisbane.  I was very nervous about transferring at LA as I've heard the horror stories about LAX, however, it was not too difficult.  I've never been to CA, but the views of LA from the plane were breathtaking and made me want to plan a trip there someday.  The overnight flight to Auckland was ridiculously long, but it goes by fast.  You lose track of time.  It didn't seem any worse than a flight to Europe, even though I think total plane time is about 21 hours or something ridiculous.  Auckland to Brisbane was fine, and then in Brisbane I met the rest of my study abroad group to head to orientation.