Suggested packing list, Oxford 2010
Passport
Plane tickets
Prescription medications (prescriptions cannot be refilled in England)
ATM card –notify your bank that you will be in England before you leave
Credit card – Note: Visa, MasterCard, and American Express are most widely accepted; Discover is not
used in Europe. Notify your credit card company that you will be traveling before you leave).
Student ID (for discounted admissions etc.)
Camera(s), film, batteries
Battery charger(s) for cameras, phones, laptops, etc.
Travel alarm clock – battery operated
Wristwatch?
Daypack, daybag, fanny pack -- something to carry your stuff in as you walk around during the day or to
take on the bus when touring
Address book (for postcards)
Broken-in walking shoes, preferably treated with water repellant.
Hat
Rain protection of choice poncho and/or rain jacket and/or rainhat)
Pens, notebook, a good book to read
Thumb drive
Casual, flexible, functional wardrobe. Although cut-offs and short shorts are not allowed in college, one
need not be terribly formal. Think “preppy” as the norm with “business casual” at the high end.
You’ll want a sweater, sweatshirt, or for cool evenings; shorts or capris, t-shirts, and flip-flops for
some warm afternoons. (Note that hoodies worn with the hood up, a la Eminem, are seen as gang
fashion in England – not the best attire for going downtown or into London.) You’ll want a more
formal outfit for our gala dinner – a simple black dress or a jacket & tie (with Oxford cloth shirt?)
will suffice – just something so that you can “clean up nice.” (There are at least two used
clothing stores in Oxford specializing in “posh frocks” and the like; the Oxfam shop around the
corner usually has a suit or two for sale at a reasonable price; a costume store will rent you
academic regalia if you’d like.)
Washcloth(s) (relatively unknown in England and Europe, though you can purchase them in shops –
better to bring your own)
Sunglasses and sunblock optional.
Any athletic equipment (running shoes, weightlifting gloves) that you anticipate using
Cash – you should probably carry $100 or £50 with you for your trip from the States to England (if
you’re going directly).
There are coin-operated washers and dryers, along with ironing boards and irons, available 24/7 in
college.
You can buy your textbooks in England; Oxford has plenty of bookshops, and in a pinch amazon.com/uk
can usually ship a used book to you in about 48 hours. (It’s a small country.)
We have 5-6 umbrellas (functional but not sweet-smelling.) in storage at BNC which you are free to
borrow and return as you like. We also have a variety of books and maps for London and the Oxford
area.
BNC provides bed linen (pillow, pillowcase, fitted sheet, comforter – usually no top sheet) and changes
the sheets weekly and sometimes more frequently. They will also provide towels and refresh your supply
every two or three days. Three years ago, they even provided us with wash cloths, although the English
(and other Europeans) do not ordinarily use them; last two years, no wash cloths. If you’re going to be
traveling around and staying at hotels, you should probably bring your own wash cloth. If you’ll be
staying in hostels, you should bring your own towel as well – and maybe a bug-proof sheet.
Packing
When you book your flight, check to see what the luggage allowance is. Generally, for direct
international flights, airways have continued to allow two checked bags at about 48 pounds (weight)
apiece. But this is in flux.
You should keep in mind that you’re probably going to need space in your luggage to bring back all the
gifts and goodies that you pick up abroad. One way to do this is to bring with you some stuff that you
will consume or jettison while you’re abroad: I usually bring several bags of my favorite trail mixes,
some Gatorade mixes, a bunch of magazines that I haven’t read yet, sometimes a pair of shoes that is
likely to barely survive the trip, and so on. These things aren’t coming back, and will make room for
things I pick up while I’m there.
You might consider checking thrift shops, beginning in mid-April, for cheap luggage.
Electronics
All rooms have internet cable connections. If you bring a laptop, you do so at your own risk and you
should be sure to lock your room when you’re not there (including when you step out to the bathroom).
In four years, we’ve had no problems with theft, but we’ve also always exercised caution. You will need
to provide your own Ethernet cable; or you can purchase one from IT at BNC.
Any American electronic appliance will require a plug adaptor in order to plug into wall sockets. Most
appliances will also require a voltage converter (aka transformer) to convert the 220 volt energy from the
wall socket to the 110 volts that our American appliances are accustomed to. (Note: many battery
chargers and laptop cables already have transformers: read the small print on the big heavy black box on
the cable to see if it says the device can handle 220 volts. These will need only an adaptor). Many
transformers allow you further (confusing) refinements, letting you set the transformer for high energy
using appliances like hair blowers or low energy using appliances like radios. (Even with a transformer,
electric clocks will run slow. Don’t bother bringing an electric clock. Get a battery-operated travel
alarm.) Your best bet, if you can find one (try Magellans.com or a travel/luggage store in your local mall)
is to get a combination transformer/adaptor labeled specifically for the UK. (Plugs in “Europe” are
different from plugs in the UK. Beware of purchasing transformers or adaptors from Radio Shack where
they do not seem to make this distinction.) Transformers and/or adaptors that promise multi-country
usability tend to be difficult and/or confusing to use; at best, because they are bulky and frequently long
(once you’ve assembled all the parts), they have a tendency to fall out of the wall socket.
Even though they tend to be expensive, transformers are wildly unreliable, especially when used with
cheap appliances. I suggest that you plan to rent or purchase hair blowers, electric kettles, and the like in
England. See below for a list of what we have available to rent. If you purchase such appliances new in
England, at the end of our stay I’ll offer to buy these from you for ₤3-5 to reduce your cost and then pass
the savings on to future students.
Cell phones: Unless your cell phone is a GSM phone, it will be inoperable in England. If you want to
use a local network while in England (to avoid long-distance international charges on a call to your friend
in the next quad), it must also be “unlocked” so that a local SIM card can be inserted. You can rent a
cheap cell phone in England – they’re available at the airport when you arrive or you can buy a cheap
phone from one of several shops on Cornmarket St. in Oxford. Either the Orange Shop
(http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/pay-as-you-go) or Vodafone (http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/ ) in
Oxford will sell you a mid-level phone with a somewhat customized pay-as-you-go plan at a rate
comparable to what you might pay to rent a phone. BSOP also has several cheap, unlocked GSM phones
for rent.
Rentals & Used Books
BSOP has the following used books for sale and items for rent for the duration of our time in Oxford, first-pay-firstserved:
For rent:
Hair dryer (2)
₤5
Hair straightener (1)
₤5
Battery operated alarm clock (3)
₤1
Electric kettle (2) ₤2
Ethernet cable (1) ₤1
AA battery charger w/2 rechargeable batteries (2)
3-band battery-operated radio(1)
₤1
₤1
One-piece voltage converter and adaptor(1) ₤5
Step-down converter and adaptor (good for rechargers and other low-energy devices) ₤5
Digital camera charger adaptor (1) ₤2
Voltage converter (needs adaptor) (1)
₤3
Plug adaptor (1) ₤1
Unlocked 3rd-world GSM cell phone (3) ₤5
Fan (1) ₤2
For sale:
2 copies, used – Norton Critical Edition of The Canterbury Tales, ₤3 (Medieval World class)
2 copies, used – Beowulf, ₤3 (Medieval World class)
1 copy, used - Morte D’Arthur, ₤3 (Medieval World class))
4 copies, used – Brook, The Empty Space, ₤2 (Drama class)