Moving and living abroad can be the adventure of a lifetime. Most of the people you’ve probably grown up with might not even have a passport. So you’re probably asking yourself, will moving abroad be worth it? Am I sacrificing my future for this itch I need to scratch?
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Is living abroad worth it? Views from a 20 year Expat.
Although I never originally planned on living abroad for more than 20 years, I have found that living abroad has definitely been worth it.
Living abroad has been worth it for a variety of reasons which I will discuss in more detail below, but for the most part, it’s expanded my perspectives and outlook on life, people and the world in general.
Since living abroad, I’ve been able to learn and speak three languages, including improving my own modern tongue as well actually. In fact, I’ve improved my own mother tongue by teaching it.
I’ve also picked up three additional languages and speak them with varying degrees of fluency.
I’ve lived in a couple different foreign countries. I have friends from different parts of the world.
But most of all, living abroad has been worth it because it’s also giving me a new perspective on my own country.
Living abroad is not without its drawbacks and tough times though. I’ve had a few of those as well.
All in all, I think living abroad has been worth it because it’s given me a more heightened sense of reality.
Simple things like shopping for fruit or arranging transportation or trying to figure out what something means or communicate even a simple thought often become mini accomplishments when doing it in a foreign country in a foreign language.
However, I’m going to discuss below some of the more common questions regarding life abroad and whether or not it is worth it.
Is moving to another country a good idea? Is life abroad better?
Any way you look at it, if you’re thinking about moving abroad to another country it’s not only a good idea, it’s a great idea. Why?
Worse comes the worse, you spend a year abroad, get to experience life in another country and have some interesting stories to tell when you come back home.
You might realize that life in your home country is so much better and will appreciate your home country and those you left behind much more.
However, the opposite might be true. You might realize that life abroad in another country, dealing with the language, culture and mentality differences and the lessons you learn will cause you to grow, develop and become a more well-rounded individual.
You may fall in love and decide to make your new country your home. You may decide to take the person that you fell in love with back home to your home country.
You may start a business and find many more opportunities abroad, than you would have if you had stayed home.
Either way, moving abroad, even for just a year, will change your life forever.
Is living abroad hard?
Living abroad is not hard as long as you prepare for it. Preparing for life abroad means researching your destination first and foremost.
Find out about the local costs for starters, like accommodations, which will generally be your largest expense.
Transportation costs in your new location as well as crime rates, cost of food, utilities etc. If you plan on working abroad and don’t have a job lined up, then contacting companies in that country before you go to enquire about job opportunities would be a good idea.
You can find listings of companies in specific fields that you’re interested in or that you have experience in, on websites such as chambers of commerce for example, The American Chamber of Commerce as well as the European Business Association, etc. are international in scope and usually have chambers and offices in most countries. Check them out first.
In addition, if you’re looking to pick up any type of work just for the experience of living abroad in a foreign country for a year, learning language etc. then you might want to consider volunteering, internships or even teaching English as a foreign language.
Teaching English has gotten a bad rap and in some cases rightfully so. However, if you go about getting the correct qualifications, i.e. a Cambridge CELTA or a Trinity TESOL and research the more reputable schools in your desired country, city, etc.you’ll more than likely wind up with a decent job.
Anyway I can’t stress enough how much doing your preparation before you go will save you a lot of trouble.
However, unlike you, I did not have access to the worldwide web and all the information available to you on the internet. The internet when I left was still in its infancy and I had to do a lot of leg work on the ground.
Most of the information I got was only once I landed in the country. I had a couple local contacts and I made the most out of what I could.
You should have a much easier time than I did. Just do your homework. Here’s a post on, “18 Difficulties of living in a foreign country an Expat faces.”
Life abroad is not easy.
Although as I’ve said above, life abroad is not difficult as long as you prepare for it.
However, that doesn’t mean that life abroad is easy either, because it’s not. You have to become very adaptive and flexible when you move abroad.
There’ll be things that you will need to deal with, that despite all your preparation, you might not have been able to prepare for.
Simple day today tasks that you take for granted back home may become monumental. You may also have trouble dealing with the different mentality of the people in your new host country.
Remember, people will not be like they were back home. This can be good and this can be bad.
Although life abroad is not easy, it can be challenging and invigorating. You will learn how to deal with different people using different languages.
You’ll learn a lot about human psychology and the role that culture and mentality play in the day-to-day life of your new country.
You also must accept that no matter how well you learn the language, no matter how well you feel you have integrated, even if you meet someone special, get married and have children etc.
You will always be an outsider. But that doesn’t mean it has to be all bad. After all, I’m sure you didn’t move abroad to find America. But you may find yourself.
Is living abroad worth it? There’s only one way to find out.
As you can see, living abroad has definitely been worth it for me, even after 20 years. Actually, I still live abroad and have no plans to repatriate any time soon.
In fact, I would think that this is the main drawback of living abroad. The longer you live abroad, the harder it is to actually repatriate and come back to your own country.
To be honest with you, once you set your path, whether that’s life abroad or in your own country, there’s only one direction and that’s forward. But living abroad after 20 years has definitely been worth it to me. Check out this post where I go into this in more detail, “20 Benefits of being an Expat and working abroad.”
However, the only way you will find out if living abroad is worth it to you, is to take that plunge. The beauty of living abroad is that each of us has our own experiences.
Though, you can’t live life through other people’s experiences, you have to live it through your own.