Author: Jay Kaehr

I made it to Germany! It was a bit scary the first week of my summer language camp, but I settled in and here are some of the first things I noticed about Berlin.

The public transport system is way better than anything in Alaska. In Alaska you are lucky to find one bus per town.

Ice cream servings are smaller. Normally in Alaska if I want ice cream I need to get the kid size or I’ll end up with a scoop of ice cream the size of my head. In Berlin, I can find ice cream everywhere and it’s in nice small servings.

People tend to dress nicer. I rarely ever see people in sweat pants or with messy hair.

There are trees everywhere. When I flew in the first thing I noticed was that the entire city had trees in every spot you could fit a tree. It gives the city a magical feeling to it. I wish more cities were like this.

The  buildings are beautiful. Berlin has hundreds of years of culture and it shows in the building. Everything in Alaska is relatively new and there is little culture in the cities compared to Berlin.

Chocolate is better and cheaper. You can find a high quality bar of chocolate in any little mini market for a reasonable price.

Hi, I’m Aria. I’m going to a German language camp in Berlin for a month, and will be blogging as part of my Greenheart Travel Correspondent Scholarship. I’m an artist and the eldest of nine siblings. I live in Alaska so I spend my winters holed up in the house doing school work (I’m home-schooled).

My summers have to make up for the seven months of boring winter and fortunately they don’t disappoint, because I’m a carny kid. I spend my weekends selling soups and sandwiches at festivals. It’s a pretty sweet gig and I consider myself lucky to have an opportunity like that. I get to meet all kinds of people and often they offer me job opportunities. My family has gone to a few countries before and my mom always had to pack small because of the large amount of people in my family.

Just last year we went to Chile for five weeks and I brought only a backpack and a small purse. Of course, my parents carried the important things like passports, cameras, and stuff like that. I’ve never gone to a foreign country by myself before so naturally I put a little more planning into my luggage.

I planned on bringing a larger bag but I think bringing less luggage will make this trip easier. I want to do anything I can that will lower the amount of things I have to stress about.

Packing Tips for Traveling to Germany

Toiletries:

It was recommended that I bring toiletries for the month, but that’s a waste of room. Plus, I really like shopping in unfamiliar stores. I figure I’ll bring shampoo, toothpaste and soap for a few days and buy some in Germany.

I’ll save precious space and have an opportunity to practice my German some more. Win-win!

Coordinating Your Clothing:

Another thing that makes packing easier is to coordinate your clothing. If everything I bring matches everything else then there are more outfits I can create from a smaller closet. Partially by coincidence, all of the shirts I am packing are blue or grey. Jeans go with everything, so I’m bringing two pairs. A few brightly colored scarves and nice accessories, and I have a wardrobe for a month in a carry-on bag.

Room for a Few Extras:

The hardest thing to pack is my books and art supplies. I was asked to draw pictures during my trip and to be honest, I am bringing a lot of art supplies, and a journal, and dictionary… It’s pretty tight now but I made sure to leave room for souvenirs.

Follow my adventure abroad here on Greenheart Travel’s blog, and check back soon for my next post when I arrive in Germany.