Before you begin packing for your time abroad as a student in the United States, make sure you understand what to leave out.

Clothing That Would Be Culturally Inappropriate

There are some clothing items that international students can wear all over their home country without issue that might be problematic here in the U.S.

For example, what Americans see as a swastika most Asian people would immediately recognize as an ancient symbol prevalent in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism.

Nonetheless, if you’re wearing jewelry or clothing that displays this symbol, you won’t receive a warm reception here in the U.S.

Another, far more common example would include what you’d wear to work. For instance, in many places all over the world, women wear no sleeves and open-toed shoes to work. Here in American, many offices or places of work would see this as too casual.

Too Many Shoes

A lot of international students make the mistake of overestimating how many pairs of shoes they’ll need for their time abroad. As a result, they end up needing another suitcase in order to accommodate them all and only later realize they’ll never wear half of them.

At most, international students will only need four pairs of shoes:

  • Daily shoes
  • Exercise shoes
  • Formal/Offices shoes
  • Sandals

Pack more than that and you’ll most likely find it was a waste of space.

Also, make sure you understand the climate you’re moving to. You may need a warmer pair rather than sandals, for example. Even if you need sandals for the shower, you can very cheap in America.

Books

Pack one for the trip if you want. Otherwise, try to rely on your smartphone for entertainment along the way.

Unfortunately, books are heavy and will weigh down your bags, making them a real pain to carry for even short distances.

Keep in mind that many international students pick up a book or two during their stint abroad, so you’ll want to leave room for that, too.

All of Their Electronics

This is a tricky topic.

You should pack your smartphone, if you can. However, for some international students, this isn’t really an option because their devices won’t work in the U.S., even after they swap out their SIM cards. Do a little research to see if this applies to you.

The other major problem is that the vast majority of electronics used by international students won’t work in the U.S. because they require different outlets. Therefore, any electronics you can’t live without will require an adaptor.

After that, leave the rest at home. Electronics are always targets for thieves and many smaller ones are simply too easy to lose.

Also, you don’t want too many distractions – like handheld game devices – as you should be focused on getting out and exploring this new world around you.

A Huge Suitcase

You might assume you need a huge suitcase to go live abroad. You’re pretty much moving the items you require for everyday life thousands of miles. How else will this work?

One of the best tricks passed amongst study-abroad students is to purposely buy a smaller bag. This will force you to make hard decisions about what to bring.

Furthermore, think about how many items you buy over the course of six months or a year. You’re probably going to purchase a similar number in the United States, anyway. As it stands, you’ll be lucky if you have enough room to bring them back for your return trip.

That’s about it. Avoid those mistakes when you’re packing for the U.S. and you should have nothing to worry about – well, except packing what you actually need.