Find a place abroad that feels like home

By: Ava Scott

When you are an eleven-hour plane ride away from home, you need to find a place abroad that feels like your home away from home. For me, that was Můj Bagel in Vinohrady, Prague. Before leaving for my study abroad program in Prague, I was so anxious about the food options that were available. I had no idea if I would like anything, if I could find anything that I was used to, or if there were going to be options close to me. All of these fears went away when I found this bagel shop. Immediately my roommate and I were greeted by friendly workers, adorable decorations, and a familiar-looking menu. 

Now, I cannot even count the amount of times we have been back. And while the bagels are delicious, they are not the reason for our frequent returns. No, that is because of the feeling we get when we walk in. It feels like we are always welcome, like we are home. This is completely due to the store’s owner. 

When completing an awkward homework assignment for our Czech class, we got to know him. Because of the assignment, we were chatting with him and got to know each other pretty well. Now, we go back to the shop to give updates on our lives and our travels. He serves as our local friend that we go to whenever we feel homesick, or even just want a recommendation on where to eat dinner. 

We found this kind of a thing to be very important to us as we navigated our first time living abroad. Finding a sanctuary away from your program that you enjoy spending your time in is something I highly recommend. At university or at home, not everything is about schoolwork, so why should your abroad program be like that? There are many ways to go about finding a place that makes you feel at home while you are abroad, but for us, Můj Bagel was the perfect place.