Sarah is a Singaporean law student who spent her third year abroad at the University of Southampton in the South of England. She says "It was, without a doubt, the best year of my life to date. I found myself and my happiness, my independence really took flight and, most importantly, I had the opportunity to visit 14 countries and more than 70 cities!" Sarah has continued writing about her travels on her blog, The Travel Spotlight, and here is her insider guide to living in Southampton and making the most of its location to travel around the UK and Europe.

Where to start? With such a small country packed with so many eccentricities? Tea, biscuits, pickle, the Queen, castles, Mr Bean, glorious countryside, Mini Coopers, cider, traditional pubs, old townhouses, Carnaby Street... this island flung on the northern side of Europe has a lot to answer for in terms of popular culture, habits and customs.