Next semester a friend and I will be studying abroad in Australia. We live in the USA (I live in NJ she lives in PA) and we would be going to the University of the Sunshine Coast. We are super excited to have the opportunity to go but neither of us have studied abroad before. Actually, neither of us has been out of the country… Since we are so inexperienced with travel I decided to come to you guys for some advice. We're worried about keeping costs low since we really don't have much money to work with. Thankfully the cost of tuition will be covered, but our concern lies more with certain things like phone costs and the like. We have been working with our college international directors but some outside advice (or warnings) can't hurt.

We would appreciate any advice that has anything to do with studying abroad whether it be cost, tips on packing, planning, things to do while there, or different cultural things to look out for, it would be greatly appreciated!