8 Things You Learn From Moving Abroad

The best because it's made me confident, strong and open-minded, and it's been so much fun. The hardest because I'm living my dream life, only my team back home can't be a part of the adventure for more than a few weeks a year. One thing for sure about moving away is that it will change you. Forever.
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Moving abroad is definitely the best and hardest thing I've ever done.

The best because it's made me confident, strong and open-minded, and it's been so much fun. The hardest because I'm living my dream life, only my team back home can't be a part of the adventure for more than a few weeks a year.

One thing for sure about moving away is that it will change you. Forever.

Here are 8 things you need to prepare for if you're planning a big move abroad.

1) Anything is possible
It sounds cliché, I know, but moving away teaches you that anything is possible. It's challenging and it forces you to push your boundaries and really get yourself out there.

You have to find new friends, a new job, a new home, a new groove - pretty much new everything. It's not easy, by any means, but it's so worth it.

Because once you do that, everything else suddenly gets easier. The world becomes your oyster and anything becomes possible.

2) You own too much stuff
This isn't really a deep or meaningful realization, but it's a realization nonetheless. Only when you're forced to condense your life into 2 suitcases do you realize how much stuff you have. I was shocked at how much useless crap I owned, and not only that, but how much money I'd spent on it too.

If I calculated all the money that I've spent on fad hair products, nail polishes, shoes that never even fit properly and clothes that I never had any intention to wear, I'd probably be able to afford another 3-month trip around Asia.

3) Your accent is an instant icebreaker
I always want to learn about someone's story if they have an accent. And surprise surprise, people are interested in you when you have an accent as well.

It always makes me laugh when the clichés come out and people ask whether I've met the Queen or if I drink tea every day. My favourite is when people ask me to "say something dumb" because apparently, anything sounds intelligent when you say it in a British accent.

I'm not complaining at all - having an accent is the best icebreaker, so you have to make the most of it!

4) Some people just don't get it
This is definitely one of the harder lessons you'll learn. The reality is that some people just don't get it. They'll assume you're running away from something or question how you could possibly be happy living a life so far from home.

You'll try to explain it from your point of view, but in the end, you'll just go around in circles.

Because some people just don't get it.

It's different and risky and for some it's pretty shocking, so you can't expect everyone to understand what you're doing. You just have to suck it up, smile and know in your heart that what you're doing is right for you.

5) Home really isn't that bad
There are some comforts that you'll just never find elsewhere (like custard creams and good teabags), and I don't think you ever fully appreciate home until you leave.

When I visited the UK briefly last year I saw it in a different light. I appreciated the culture and the architecture and funnily enough, how good the grocery stores are. I realized that it is a pretty cool place, and I don't think I'd have come to that conclusion had I never left.

6) It's not all fairies and gold dust
I'm not going to sugar coat it and say that moving away is all fairies and gold dust...because it's not.

It's hard. It's different. It's foreign.

You can't just pop back to your parent's for the weekend. You can't take your best friend out to celebrate her birthday. You can't call your dad at all hours of the day, because there's an 8-hour time difference.

All because you live thousands of miles away.

But ultimately, moving abroad is a choice, and choice is all about sacrifice. When we make a choice, we consider this: what are we willing to lose in order to gain?

When you go on vacation, you're willing to lose money to gain a week in the sun. When you move abroad, you're willing to give up being close to your team in order to gain life experience and opportunities.

7) You'll change forever
The whole process of moving away changes you.

You become more confident and develop this trust within yourself that you'll find a way to work it all out.

You develop new priorities and new passions. You become interested in things that before, you never even considered, and lose interest in the things you've loved for 20+ years. Before we moved here, I wouldn't have been caught dead in a pair of hiking boots. Now, hiking is one of the things I love the most (although I did find a stylish pair, of course).

Some things, though, never change - like your relationships. You appreciate your family that bit more because you can't see them every day. And even though you go without seeing your best friends for a year or more, you still share this deep, unbreakable bond, and when you get back together again, it's like no time has ever passed.

8) It's all one big rollercoaster
...and it's a fun one too. I now have this constant desire to explore and learn and push myself to achieve new things. And I love it.

Who knows whether we'll live abroad forever. That's a question for another day.

All I know right now is that for me, it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.

This post was originally published on www.golivexplore.com

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