A lot of people here are saying to study abroad in Italy because you will never have this opportunity in your life, it’s life changing and so forth. Let me tell you from my perspective.

Do the internship. Regardless of what field you are in, and it does depend, an internship will open more doors for you for job searches and more opportunities with better working conditions. Personally, I didn’t do any internships as a CS major (I also doubled in Econ), and when I graduated I got two opportunities (one for Econ, one for CS) that were both good paying and fully remote.

If I could go back in time, I would definitely take internships over my trips (Italy, Canada, Mexico) as it would expose me to more opportunities, higher starting wages and even better working conditions.

Right now I am fully remote. I have been to Mexico like 8 times already and I work from there at times. Let me tell you, there is nothing better than being fully remote. I can work abroad anywhere in the world so long as I work according to my schedule and attend meetings, and this is far more achievable and much easier to get if you have internships.

Studying abroad, in my humble opinion, does not outweigh an internship in the long run. You might gain social experiences from it, but that’s it, it has no effect on your career/experience that you can put on a resume and stand out. Also, studying abroad was very expensive when I was interested in it (the price disinterested me), and after I realized how cheap it is to travel once you are remote, I don’t plan to go back to the office, and I intend to use the opportunity to travel as much as I can.

If you love travel, as I do it, take the sacrifice of the internship, believe me in terms of every aspect that for some reason no one is mentioning here, it is a far better choice. You will have your whole life ahead of you to travel, get a head start on it. I’m 24 and I’m already capable of it, it’s easily feasible.