Perhaps you are reading this post before your trip to Arch
101 in Spain. Or… you are just bored out of your mind and you are missing the beautiful
beaches of Guardamar before all the vacationers took over, the flimsy restaurant
napkins, and even the Pension Jaen meals during the oh-so-convenient siesta (which
was a perfect excuse for taking naps, catching up on your tv shows and being a
lazy bum). But fear not, such symptoms of withdrawal are common now that you
are back to the more mundane days in California. Whatever the reason you are
reading this, here are some of the items I thought would be helpful to have or
have had on this trip!
1) Adapters/Converters
This is
a must if you want to use your electronics in Europe. While you can easily find
adapters here, it will just be best to have 2 or more before you leave the U.S.,
so that you can charge your electronics at the airport or as soon as you get to
Spain. I say two or more because if you want to be charging your laptop while
you charge your phone, camera, etc., you will want more than one adapter. As
for converters, most portable electronics now are capable of converting between
110V (US) and 220V. BUT. If you are planning on bringing a blow dryer, don’t
bring the one you normally use unless you want to blow the breaker when you get
here. If you still plan on bringing one, make sure you bring a travel size one
that can convert on its own. If you are still insistent on bringing your
personal hair dryer, be sure to bring a converter. Otherwise, I did not need a
converter for anything. But I ended up not using the hair dryer for most of the
trip as it got hotter and I just let my hair air dry.
2) A Moleskine sketchbook… or two.
You can never have enough of these
nice babies (especially as an architecture student—we capture our entire studio
life in that tiny book), and it’s just best to have the essentials before you
get here because sure you can buy some over here, but you would have to first
find a place that sells them. So to just save time and money, bring at least
two (moleskine) sketchbooks so you can start scribbling your thoughts and
sketches down as soon as touch ground in Spain. Two because you never know how
much you’ll write and draw when you are here in Europe!
3) Tupperware.
So. If
you ask anyone, they will tell you that the one Pension Jaen meal you get every
day from Monday to Friday is of a decent first course, second course portion.
Therefore, if you want to be economical, environmental, or just lazy because
you do not want to cook, I suggest you bring 2 medium-sized tupperwares to this
trip.
4) A cold mask/scarf.
In
Asian cultures, it is pretty common to wear cold masks when you go out even
when you don’t have a cold, but I cannot really say the same for Spain. I got a
few confused stares when I wore my simple white cold mask when I was walking
around, but otherwise, it was suuuper helpful. Let me tell you why. So, I
imagine you will want to take various modes of transportation to get to your
destinations throughout your stay in Spain and beyond. Well, you will have to
get used to cold, over air-conditioned buses, trains, and planes. It might seem
nice at first, seeing that it is summer and hot after all. But do not
underestimate how dry the air gets. That can cause your nose and throat to dry
up, which can make your body more vulnerable to catching a cold. Cold masks don’t
just prevent you from spreading the germs you have when are sick, they most
definitely keep you from catching one in the first place as well, since your
mouth and nose will be covered. The major cities in Spain can also smell of
sewage and other gunk as well, so it was very useful then as well. If you would
prefer staying fashionable, try a scarf—my roommate bought a scarf from the
Mercadillo and that proved to be almost as efficient during her travels.
5) Shower sandals!!
Another
thing you should definitely bring is a pair of shower sandals. Whether or not
you mind standing in the pension showers with your bare foot or not does not
bother me much, but the hostels! I definitely regretted not bringing my $5 Old Navy flip-flops with me when showering at the hostels with questionable
sanitation. But those sandals are also useful when going to the beach, as they
can act as beach sandals too.
That’s all for now. I hope that this post
was helpful.
May you have a safe and fun trip!
- stacy (summer studio 2013)
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