Arcadia Spain

One of the most common questions that all of you have is what should I pack? Don’t worry, you are not the only one wondering yourself if you will need that light jacket or you should pack the winter one.

Here you have some tips that we hope they’ll help you:

• The golden rule: you should only pack as much as you can carry yourself! You must be prepared to move your luggage through airports, on and off buses, and up several flights of stairs to your room.  You don’t want to be stuck with bags you can’t manage!!
• The silver rule: there are as many shops in Spain as there are in the US! You can also buy stuff here in case you need or forget something.

Regarding electrical appliances: 

There are some items that will not work in Spain, unless special dual voltage item, so consider buying them once in Barcelona, such as a hair dryer, curling/straightening iron, or an alarm clock.  It will be cheaper to buy them in once in-country.

The following items should work, though you will need to buy an adapter for the plug and ensure that the items are dual voltage and will work with both American 110V and Spanish 220V electricity:

• Laptop computer
• Small personal electronics, such as iPods, iPads, mobile phones, tablets, e-readers,..
• Electric shaver
• Anything that operates exclusively on batteries 

Regarding clothes: 

Keep in mind that jeans are a student uniform in Europe just as they are in the states; however,  we don’t wear pajamas, sweats or yoga pants to class!! So bring them if you want to be comfortable in your own room, but don’t plan on wearing them out ;-)

Students suggest that you pack:

• Raincoat with a warm lining or waterproof jacket
• Lighter weight jackets, windbreaker, raincoat or jean jacket for warmer weaher. Just make sure a sweater fits underneath
• Jeans. Bring several pairs
• You will do more walking abroad than you do at home, so bring one or two pairs of comfortable walking shoes. Also a pair of dress shoes. If you like to job, bring running shoes.
• Cotton t-shirts. Long sleeve and short sleeve. These are good for layering when it gets really cold. 
• Hat, scarf and gloves.. although you can also buy them here. 
• At least one nice outfit for evening events that require dressing up
• Leave your expensive jewelry at home -it's not worth losing it while you're abroad. 
• Don't forget a small backpack that can be carried as a hand luggage in a low cost flight company if you travel during the weekend. 

No matter how well you pack, you’ll probably find yourself needing to pick up a few extra items once you get to Spain. No worries! We have plenty of shops and we’ll help you find the one you need.

And overall, remember the golden and silver rules.

Good luck packing and looking forward to meeting you soon!