“Euro-Summer” What the social media aesthetic actually looks like for new college graduates

By Gracie Carrigan and Morgan Calcara

About a year ago, my mom sat me down and told me that she, my dad, and their two best friends were going on a three-week trip to Italy in the Fall of 2022. Gallivanting around Italy was always the dream vacation of my parents, so it was no surprise to me that immediately following the pandemic they would decide it was the right time to go. It was going to be the trip of a lifetime: a three week tour of the country, hitting all the notable spots including Milan, Rome, Positano, and Capri. She talked about boat days, dinners overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, cooking classes, vineyard tours; basically three weeks of pure luxurious adventure.

As she walked me through the itinerary of the trip, I couldn’t help but think, “Man, I would love to do this with my friends after college.” I knew a lot of people set aside time right after school to go on a trip with friends, and I couldn’t help but start to daydream about how amazing it would be for me and my roommates to trade in our Syracuse winter coats for knit dresses and heels in the Italian heat. how and where to take the right Instagram photos to make your followers jealous, they show you where to sign up for the premiere cooking class, and they even tell you how to ask for more wine in four languages. But, if you pay attention, you realize that they never really show you the price of what you are getting into. the reality of traveling to Europe for three months really is. Beckwith said she had to find a way to make it possible, including getting a job to start saving money.

I told my mom that she was describing my dream: a “euro-summer” trip with my friends to the coast of Italy, and if they had fun, I was going to look into getting a group together to do a few weeks post-grad in Europe.

And then she laughed, looked me dead in the eyes and told me the “euro-summer” trip I wanted was going to run me about $15,000. And suddenly my dream of a drunken Italian graduation celebration with my friends died right then and there at my kitchen counter.

The “euro-summer” aesthetic and social media trend has been around for a while. But, the social media aesthetic really began to regain a following on TikTok after COVID-19 lockdowns began to lighten up in 2022 and everyone was romanticizing the ability to travel somewhere outside of their homes. The aesthetic is a play on the “it-girl” trend, emphasizing beach wear, sundresses, Aperol Spritz and adventure in a European setting.

“The really expensive part was the flight over there,” Beckwith said. “Once you get there, it’s possible to live and travel cheaply.”

If you look up “euro-summer” on any social media, and especially TikTok, you are bound to see hundreds of videos explaining to you how you can plan your dream European vacation. The content creators who push this “euro-summer” aesthetic show all of the enticing parts of this type of vacation: all the beautiful clothing you could wear, all the amazing hotels and villas you can stay in, the crazy boats you can ride. They show you

It is not a new phenomenon that college graduates, like myself, want to go on a trip after finishing a grueling four years of schooling. It is even less surprising that this trend has been enticing people to want to jet-set off to Europe. In fact, a lot of people do end up going on a European trip with friends. But the “euro-summer” that most college graduates can afford looks nothing like the trend being romanticized on social media. The social media version of this trip costs tens of thousands of dollars that new graduates, most likely without a full-time job, do not have.

Grace Beckwith is a senior at Syracuse University, graduating in a few weeks. She explained that she has been wanting to go to Europe as an after-graduation-trip since she was a little girl. But as she was planning the trip she began to realize how expensive

For most college graduates, the “eurosummer” trip is anything but the luxurious lifestyle it looks to be on Instagram feeds and TikTok pages. Instead of private, beachfront Italian villas, most are staying in cheap Airbnb’s or hostels. These are much more cost efficient than hotels and villas, only costing a traveler a couple of euros a night, according to Beckwith.

“It’s not necessarily a glamorous stay,” Beckwith said. “I’m planning on staying in hostels, which most of the time are with up to 10 strangers, bunk beds, and you have to lock your stuff up when you leave.”

Not only are young travelers typically staying in hostels and other less expensive housing options, they are also taking the cheapest modes of transportation to all of their destinations. Unlike the private jets and fancy boat rides you see on social media, postgrads are taking trains, buses, and subways to get around, according to Beckwith.

“It’s all about how you can get where you need to be for the least amount of money,” Beckwith said.

In addition to housing and transportation, people participating in the “euro-summer” trend show off a different outfit in every location. But, because young travelers are often constantly on the move, traveling to multiple countries in a short period of time, it’s important for them to pack light. Recent college grads don’t have the luxury of bringing along huge suitcases of outfit options for every scenario. Brooke Breton, who is traveling to five different countries this July, says all she is bringing with her is a carry-on suitcase.

“I’m not bringing a lot of clothes,” Breton said. “I’ll probably buy toiletries once I get there so I don’t have to travel with them”

Upcoming SU graduate, Naomi Weinflash agrees that you don’t have the option to pack your entire closet. For the whole summer, she is only bringing a singular 40 liter backpack, which can only hold about five to six outfits, according to Weinflash.

“You just have to mix and match and make different outfits out of what you have,” Weinflash said.

While the reality of a European summer trip can sound daunting, Weinflash says this is how she prefers it. After traveling abroad her junior year, Weinflash says that so many obstacles come up when traveling that push you out of your comfort zone and allow you to get more experiences.

“The Instagram stuff, it’s a highlight reel,” Weinflash said. “You get to stay in a glamorous villa and stuff and that’s great, but you really get to know a city when you’re navigating it yourself.”