When College Teaches You How To Travel

On Travelling as a Student, Saving Money and Spending It All

- Lubna Amir

Looking at the ticket stub in my hand, I gulped. For a two-hour train journey from Düsseldorf to Münster, my first in Europe, €42 felt like an awful lot. I was an exchange student in Germany for three months, and budgets were tight. Worse still, this was only my first day.

When in January 2015, I was admitted into the University of Münster, I was told I didn’t have to pay any tuition fee. Education in German public schools and colleges is free. I did, however, have to pay €220 for a ‘Semester Ticket.’ Back then, sitting in Mumbai, I had little idea about the kind of money this ticket would help me save. Having this ticket meant I did not have to pay for public transport in the entire state of North-Rhine Westphalia, which included cities like Köln, Düsseldorf and Bonn. That €42 I paid was an exception. I went to university the next day to get myself that semester ticket.