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Departure from Hawaiʻi

Writer's picture: Alyssa Grace CaballeroAlyssa Grace Caballero

Updated: Feb 3

Hello everyone!


Welcome to the start of my study abroad adventure. It is currently 10:07PM (GMT +1), Sunday, January 19th, 2025 as I am writing this, and I am already in Copenhagen! While this blog is mainly for the purpose of sharing the actual experience abroad, I think it is also important to share my experiences prior to actually being in Copenhagen, as well as some tips and tricks I would recommend doing if you are planning to go or prepare.


My trip looked a little different from the rest of the students studying abroad with me as I had to fly from Kailua Kona (KOA) to Honolulu (HNL), but most of us decided to fly together from Honolulu (HNL) to San Francisco (SFO), San Francisco (SFO) to Frankfurt (FRA), and finally Frankfurt (FRA) to Copenhagen (CPH). Overall it was about 27 hours of traveling, and it was quite exhausting; but overall it was amazing and well worth the effort.


Here are some photos that I took of our 11 hour plane ride from SFO to FRA.



Fun fact: We got to fly over California, Nevada, and Idaho and saw cool things like the Sierra Nevada and Lake Tahoe!


Tips and Tricks:

  • Bring a water bottle in your carry on

    • Self-explanatory, paying close to $5 USD for water at the airport or being dehydrated does not feel great.


  • Warm gloves and thick socks in your carry on

    • If you're traveling between another country and Copenhagen, it will likely be VERY cold. After landing in Frankfurt we had to deplane on the tarmac and load on to a bus to transfer to another terminal. While we weren't outside for long, it was still very cold and you would be a lot comfier wearing gloves, warm socks, and thicker clothing once you leave the airport.

    • If you buy gloves, make sure to buy some that are compatible with your touch phone and fit you well, otherwise it makes it very difficult to keep warm, use your devices, and navigate efficiently.

    • Thick socks are just great to have, they help you retain more heat!


  • Neck pillow in the plane

    • My study abroad friends had these on hand, and I wish I had it on the plane! Very comfortable and would highly recommend on long haul flights.


  • Bring a international travel adapter BEFORE coming to Europe

    • Keep in mind you are are planning to charge multiple devices (ex. phone, laptop, tablet, camera, etc.) you might want to buy multiple adapters or one that supports multiple devices.


  • MOISTURIZE

    • The air is very cold so it dries out your skin. Make sure you bring facial moisturizer, body lotion, lip balm, hand cream, etc and apply generously.


  • AirTag in your check-in luggage

    • My study abroad friend did this and I thought it was genius! While airports usually do a good job of bringing your check in luggage to its final destination, things happen, and luggages can become lost. Inserting an AirTag in your luggage, or even tracking your luggage through your airlines app can be a great way of ensuring your bags are safe and keeping peace of mind.


  • Make sure to have notifications on in case of gate changes.

    • In Frankfurt our gate changed twice and luckily there was a lot of us with the email notifications on but in the case that you don't it may be difficult have immediate information as to where your new gate could be, so keep this in mind.


  • Travel credit card/debit card

    • Absolutely essential! European cities like Copenhagen mainly take card and mobile pay so it is extremely important to have these on hand. Additionally, having a travel credit card or an airline credit card can help you accumulate points that can be used to purchase flights, hotels, etc.

      • My recommendations:

        • Credit Card: Chase Sapphire Preferred

        • Debit Card: Charles Schwab Debit Card (esp. if you need to withdraw cash from an ATM for any reason).


That's it for now! See you in the next blog.


CBS Students headed to Frankfurt, Germany!
CBS Students headed to Frankfurt, Germany!
Onboarding for flight to Copenhagen (it was really cold!)
Onboarding for flight to Copenhagen (it was really cold!)
Arrived at Copenhagen, Denmark!
Arrived at Copenhagen, Denmark!



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