Students say travelling across Europe together prepared them for living in a 'bubble'

'It makes our living circumstances much more manageable'

A pair of Nottingham students living in the same flat have said travelling together across Europe just before lockdown has made living together in a "bubble" more manageable.

Lewis Ashman and Emily Howell, both 19, spent around seven weeks in January and February travelling across 14 countries including Italy, Norway, Poland, and the Netherlands.

The two veterinary students met at an induction day last year at the University of Nottingham's Sutton Bonington campus, where they realised they both had plans to explore Europe at a similar time.

They are now living together in the same accommodation flat - as part of the first cohort of UK university students to return to campus - and both think that their time abroad together has prepared them for life in an on-campus bubble where they will be learning, socialising, and exercising in the same group.

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Lewis, from Birmingham, is in his first year and only moved on campus a few days ago to live with Emily and three others.

He said: “We had a big group chat for about a year and got to know each other through there. I met Emily in person during an induction day and became good friends.

“I told her I wanted to go travelling and she had plans to do the same. Then we realised we both wanted to go to Europe.

“We ended up travelling across 14 countries at the start of the year, Norway was by far my favourite place we went.

“We initially wanted to go for two months but then the pandemic started and while we were in Italy, we decided to get an early flight back home ahead of the lockdown.”

Emily, from Manchester, arrived on campus around two weeks ago as part of the University's staggered approach to bringing students back on campus.

She said: “We’ve been speaking to the people on our course for about a year now and so because we’re living with one another, we already knew our flatmates.

“It makes our living circumstances much more manageable because of the time we spent together. We didn't know each other over a year ago.

“Also because we spent time living in hostels and halls are essentially a posher, nicer version of that.

“It prepared me for living on my own too because I cooked a lot of my own food while travelling too.

"When we were on our way back we thought we maybe wouldn't get to go to university, or it would in September. We realised how bad things were back in the UK."

Measures have been put in place to protect the students who begun their course remotely in April, but are now back on campus as face-to-face teaching resumed on Juy 27 but has been restricted to what is "absolutely essential".

Lewis added: “In some respect it’s a bit less social than it would be normally, but we're able to learn the same things as our flatmates and it’s a closer relationship we’re able to build in that sense.”

Dr Paul Greatrix, registrar of the University of Nottingham: “The students are arriving on a staggered basis so even families avoid contact with one another.

“They will be forming new households that they will be working and living with for the foreseeable future so they are not potentially excessively spreading the virus.

“We have a responsibility to make students feel confident at this time.

“It will be good for them. It’s an opportunity to grow as a group and be even more supportive of each other."