If you are reading this then chances are you are embarking on your first overseas journey. Congratulations, you are about to have a life-changing adventure. To give you a bit of a head start on hijinks that might ensue, we have compiled a list of things that all first time travelers inevitably go through.

Start with some homesickness, and make your way to lovesickness… and everything in between! Bon voyage!

Start with the fighting!

No we are not talking about your video game fight pep talk; you will inevitably start having fights with your travel buddy be it your best friend, your partner or just family. That is because you will be spending all the waking hours together and that will eventually make you get sick of each other. Learning about each other quirks and habits can be a double edged sword. Do not be surprised if you feel such amount of abhorrence for each other that you will end up wondering why even you decided to travel with each other in the first place. Get as much of college student online discounts as possible to save a few fights over money.

What’s the solution?

Starve off from making any kind of rash decisions. Do not act on ideas like ditching them to travel alone for the rest of the road. These are people you absolutely adored before you got on a plane together, and now a different side of theirs is just apparent to you. So, do not act out of impulse, take a breather or if so a few hours apart from each other and you will get over this. Chances are they are feeling the same way about you as well.

Moments when you “want your mommy”!

If this is the first time you chose to travel alone without your family then be prepared to miss them. Like a lot! Now, we know what you are thinking, “No way that will happen, I booked this trip to get away from them, I want to find my independence”. And you will do so. But in between loud hostels and exhausting day trips you will learn to grow a deeper appreciation for your own bed and the warm embrace of your family.

What’s the solution?

Feeling homesick is normal, but no need to bump up on the return tickets. Just remember to stay in touch as much as you can and remember this is just one trip for a few days, you will not be gone forever.

Getting lost!

Okay you have gone through every map of the area and have all the apps for getting around that came recommended from Lonely Planet, but you will end up getting lost! It is something unavoidable. But treat this as your stepping stone to the vagabond life!

What’s the solution?

The key is to maintain calm and not panic. In fact try and enjoy it. This is one of the best ways to get a feel for the place. Be prepared for this moment, learn basic directional vocab of the place and find yourself around! Also once you are there find out places that offer discounts with student ID.

Sprint discounts for students makes backpacking easier for kids in college, which is the best time to travel, explore and learn from experience!

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You may have touted yourself to be the loner type. When your friends complain about their partners you roll your eyes around for several minutes and sigh, then comes your most taunting “I am a free bird and I can do whatever I want” speech. A speech that secretly kills you a little inside, yet you put up a brave front. I am the lone wolf with a prowl of pride, yet I am unhappy and sad inside.

It is ironical that sadness is always met with anger from others. People attack you when you are the most vulnerable. And getting attached to someone means that you are so sensitive to everything about them that even a slight change in their tone makes you churn the thoughts about what you might have done wrong.

But there is a reason you took to the path of solitude, someone left you scarred and now going through the same things is giving you the uneasy jerk of PTSD! But think of it in this way – if you could love the wrong one so much, imagine how much you can love the one that’s right.

So, put your best foot forward and ask out your crush on a date, Kolkata is India’s Paris for those with the right eye.

Here are the most amazing date-worthy places in Kolkata:

Take her out for some coffee:

The best way to get to know people is to have an interesting conversation over a cup of smoking hot coffee. Accompany it with some freshly baked cookies and you have two perfect pairs in the setting! 

Tip for first date: pick the perfect outfit that makes him/her go ‘Wow’ when they lay their eyes on you, but also it should not seem like you are trying too hard. Keep 30 minutes for getting yourself ready so, that you do not need to rush, but also not make your date wait. 

A good place to have coffee in Kolkata is at the Caafe 360 degree. They serve good quality cuppa and also an assortment of lounge menu. To make the most out of this special day we recommend getting a YUP Card subscription. A YUP Card is only available to college students in Kolkata and offers amazing student offers on restaurants.

Make Ice Cream better:

If you and your date both enjoy a sweet tooth, then the place to take her out on a date is at Mama Mia. Also associated with YUP Card one can enjoy exclusive studentoffers on Mama Mia.

 

Tip for those going on a first date: while your instinct might compel you to ask several questions but, do you really want you date to appear like a college or job interview? All you need to do is to make the conversation going. You could even try making funny observations like – “Don’t you feel awkward when you make accidental eye-contact with people who have stopped next to you at a Red light”.

Show her your adventurous side with a themed restaurant date:

The best way to connect with people and have real chemistry; is to be your own weird self. So, if you think roller-coaster rides and arcade games are the best places to date or a quiet walk by the old cemetery is romantic! Then so be it. 

You could further mix it up with a themed-restaurant lunch or dinner date at Jaisalmer, this is a north Indian restaurant with amazing ambience and a la carte and buffet menu worth salivating for hours! With a YUP Card subscription you can get student discount at Jaisalmer of up to 10% off on the total billing amount. 

Here were a few from the long list of date-worthy spots in the City of Joy! For more such articles and news on best deals for students stay tuned to the updates from YUP Card.

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With the risk of sounding like your nagging parents, we are going to start off by suggesting that college students mostly spend their pocket-money on junk foods, or as they might want to call them – SOS foods. 

If you have decided to read on further through this blog after reading the title, then it means that you definitely understand which part of your monthly expenses is ‘eating’ away your budget. Before we begin our list of cheap yet filling snacks for college students, read the incident mentioned below to ascertain that we are the right people to take food advice from! Almost all of us may find this story highly relevant to some of our own experiences with hunger.

You get off from the endless hours of class after class daily grind and some more tuition classes when you hear a bone-chilling almost haunting sound, like that from a man-hungry haunted mansion and you soon realize that it is nothing but the sound of your stomach. You remember that in this daily grind you completely forgot to refuel your stomach and start imagining how you can indulge in some fast food to satiate your hunger.

You head off to a nearby Indie-Chinese joint with a menu of delicacies that are mostly spelt wrong and suddenly the smell of freshly cooked tandoori or Chinese food whooshes into your nostrils making you drool uncontrollably. So much so, that while ordering the food you can barely keep your bodily embarrassment in your mouth and the waiter is slyly smiling seeing your hunger. Seeing this unspoken exchange between you and the waiter you choose to get out of the situation fast and do not even ask you about the total and order as much as possible. Soon the food arrives and you pounce at it embodying a lion in his conquests. After you’re done you ask for the cheque and seeing the amount mentioned in the bill what leaves your mouth is not a satisfactory burp but an exclamatory sigh! Darn it...you know have to diet and live on bananas for the next two days to compensate for this impulsive indulgence!

Relevant right?! But fear not as we have some other convenient options other than plain old banana for snacking within budget. Here’s a list of such foods:

Go nuts for nuts:

This is an easy way to find a healthy dose of protein while not compromising the health of your pockets. To keep things interesting try a mixed bunch of nuts for some added sweetness and combination of different textures. And the best bangs for your protein buck are pistachios and almonds.

If you want to get especially adventurous then you can also try some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds.

You get Yogurt:

Again to save your pocket from getting hurt (rhyming unintended) you could get some yogurt which is a healthy and economical snack that is also readily available. This food has also got some recent buzz as a pop culture favourite, but it does have some valid points for staying. A snack low in sugar with a good content of protein and being a creamy delight (Greek yogurt) to be a good replacement or ice-cream makes this a weight loss staple.

Eggs for eggs-treme hunger:

Too hungry to think straight?! Do not get lured into buying that oil dripping cutlet, simply reach for the hard-boiled egg instead. They are fast filling as well as light on the pockets being around INR 5-6 only. They are also a primo protein source and are packed with healthy amino acids. The compound choline present in eggs is also known to be fat fighting.

Here were our best examples of cheap yet filling snacks that do not taste blunt, or in other words are not Oats! But jokes aside sometimes college students get really hungry and the wait to getting a healthy food when there are so many easy unhealthy options available around them is difficult. So, we recommend that you step into a quality eatery that make their foods from scratch and use fresh produce. And if you are worried about your budget, then try out a college student discount card to save on every order.

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Do you often end up with too much month at the end of your money? Have you been trying hopelessly to save as many Gandhi Ji’s headshots as possible with futile results?

It may often seem impossible to save money especially for college students, living on a tight budget and too many items on their To-do list of fun and hangouts. But if you invest a little time and planning into your budgeting and financial discipline you can always save more than you were, for stretching your money a tad closer to the end of the month.

The battle of saving vs. spending:

A common idea for saving money is to just use it less often! But this basic idea does not seem too enticing to most people, especially youngsters who have the least of care in the world apart from almost mandatory social obligations of having the ‘raddest’ parties with friends. So, saving is often the last of their thoughts.

But in this bewildering battle between spending and saving, most of the times, as life is unfair saving wins. So, here are a few tips on saving more money, while you are in college:

1. Make a list: those who were simply scowling at this blog but still reading on to find a way out from the depths of debt have probably starter rolling their eyes now that we mentioned two dull tasks in a go. Yes, we dared to pen two outrageous ideas in a go, first being budgeting and the second of making a list! While most students leap to reach for their mouse to click through more cat videos on YouTube, let us explain why we think this is a good plan. By writing down all your expenses you can analyse the areas where you spend the most. Then determine which ones are necessary and which are not and plan accordingly.  
2. Set up saving goals: simply planning to save will not be the right motivator for helping you to save. You must have a bigger goal in sight. So, plan something you have desired to own or do for a long time and start accumulating funds for that. It could be a new phone, a camera or a trip, whatever sets your savings muscles rolling will do. And at the end of this bitter struggle you will still have a new amazing experience to look forward to.  
3. Determine your priorities right: it is evident that what you most value be it a hobby or a person that will be the one eating away most of your funds. So, sit down and prioritise where your finances must go.  
4. Automate your savings: a good plan for extreme shop-a-holics to have frugal discipline is to automate their savings or fund expanding investments. The idea is that if you cannot see it then you cannot use it hence, you will not spend it! So, automate transfers from your expense account to your savings account the moment you get your monthly allowance that way it is locked in safely away from your own robbing hands.  
5. Try and create an obstacle course whenever you get in the mood of unnecessary spending: whenever you see something that may actually be completely unnecessary in actuality but for the moment you feel like you must have it. We recommend you take a walk or find something else to do before you drop in your precious pennies to make an unnecessary purchase.  
6. Bonus tip – Use a student discount card like, YUP Card: YUP card is a discount card for college students only, with a yearly subscription as low as 499/-. The card comes with a plethora of offers valid in different chains of cafes, restaurants, hookah parlours, pubs, entertainment centres and shopping and retail sites and stores. With a YUP Card one can save up on every billing amount starting from minimum 5 percent to maximum 20 percent or higher. And the card has unlimited usage without any hidden preconditions.

Saving should not be a struggle for temporary change:

In closing thoughts, most youngsters end up paying more than they should due to either bad habit or Naiveness about expenses and costs. If they can simply change their outlook to find an opportunity where they can save more without compromising their quality of entertainment then the whole pattern of spending will undergo a revolutionary change. Thus, saving should not be taken as a short term plan but instead should be proactively built into the lifestyles so, that one’s financial health remains balanced but not completely deprived.

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Thinking of inviting your college mates on a night out at a nearby pub? How about playing some games to celebrate your thirst? Let’s have a look at the four most popular drinking games played at renowned restaurants by college students.

1. Old is Gold, so try your hands on some beer-pong: The age-old game of beer pong is a favourite among college-goers. Over the years rules for playing this game have undergone changes depending on the members, but the basic norms have remained unaltered. The basic ingredients for the game remain the same and include – a ping-pong table and classic red plastic cups. To play the game first, set up a formation of 10 cups on each side of the ping-pong table. Note that the cups should be placed in a triangle. Fill each cup with roughly three to four ounces of beer. If you have big groups then divide them in two teams. Then the players while standing on either side of the table must aim to toss a ping-pong ball into one of the cups of their opponent team. The team clearing all the cups is deemed as the winner.


2. The All-in-one party hit: Drink-a-Palooza is originally a board game involving each member using their skills. This way no one feels left out in the party. Given the challenges are not repetitive; the social gathering won’t get stale. This monopoly of party games combines both old and new drinking games into one box.


3. The King’s Cups: You need plastic cups or glasses placed on the table and spread a deck of card removing the jokers. This forms a circle of cards around the glass. Players stand in a circular position with their drinking glasses and are asked to draw a card. What makes this game an absolute favourite is the fact that people can socialise.


4. The Bomb shot: A game also called as Depth charge is a game that suits just right for people who simply can’t do without alcohol. Alcohol, pint and shot glasses are used for playing this game. Restaurateurs hosting the party have to mix two types of drinks. The proportion will be three-fourth of beer placed on the table with a shot glass of whisky floating in the beer mug. When the glass tips over into the beer, players need to drink it all and those that lose must perform a funny stunt.

Now that you are aware of what to play it will also be wise to save your pay at boozy parties. YUP card takes care of your bills once you subscribe to the card to get exciting student offers on restaurants.

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