PhD student travels UK to Belgium monthly to visit partner

Carla Clé, a 24-year-old Belgian PhD student at the John Innes Centre within the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK, travels back to Antwerp, Belgium, every three to four weeks to visit her boyfriend.

The recurring journey involves a six-hour commute including a bus to Norwich airport, a flight to Amsterdam, and a train to Antwerp. These trips cost between £125 and £250 per month, totaling approximately £1,500 to £3,000 annually.

To manage her research workload alongside frequent travel, Clé has adjusted her schedule by working on weekends and using transit time for leisure reading rather than academic work, noting that attempting to study during layovers was ineffective.