6 Reasons To Experience Life In A Different Country

If you have ever thought about moving abroad, this is your sign to DO IT! At 25 I had never lived outside of my home country. It was something I wanted to experience but I was scared of the unknown. Finally, I booked a flight to Toronto and never looked back. It was by far the best thing I’ve done. If you still need a little convincing here are 6 reasons to experience life in a different country.

#1 Gain Your Independence

Nothing helps us to gain our independence quite like life in a different country. We are talking about uprooting our entire life, moving to another part of the world with nothing but a suitcase and starting a brand new life. It is terrifying, exciting and liberating all at once. We have no safety net. We are far from family, friends and familiarity.

And this allows us to truly gain our independence. Once you realise you can rely on yourself, you become empowered to live the life you want. Knowing that if everything in my life went up in smoke, I could pack a bag, move to a new country and start all over again, gives me great comfort. A comfort I gained from experiencing life abroad.

#2 Make Life Long Friends

For most people, if you are at home, you have family, friends and neighbours you can call upon in an emergency. When you live abroad, friends you don’t know very long, quickly become like family. They are all you’ve got and so you start to offer each other a support network. And that just doesn’t develop with friends you make at home.

Now, this can be scary because it may mean you trust people who can let you down. However for the most part, people are good and usually in the same situation as you. They need a friend as much as you do. This leads us to develop life long friends from all over the world. And the best part is, now we’ve got friends to visit in many different countries around the globe.

#3 Learn About Other Cultures

There are many ways to experience new cultures without living abroad however to truly appreciate the authenticity of a place and culture, I think you need to live there. Even in countries that are seemingly similar to your own, if you live there you will start to notice slight nuances. This allows us to become citizens of the world. We have the opportunity to try new foods, learn new languages and discover a new way of living.

Toronto is a very multi-cultural city with people from all corners of the world living there. This gave me the opportunity to meet people and learn about cultures I had never previously encountered. I was able to make friends with people from different parts of the world and learn first hand how those people live. A very rewarding experience, it allows us to become more well rounded individuals. It also helps us to be more accepting of ways of living that are different to what we know.

#4 Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Neale Donald Walsch said “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone” and I couldn’t agree more. Doing things that make us feel uncomfortable, push us to our limits and allow us to realise just how much we can do, if we put our minds to it. On the surface, moving abroad may not seem that far outside of one’s comfort zone. However leaving everything you know for the unknown is definitely pushing your limits.

And then when you are there, in your new country, you will have endless opportunities to get out of your comfort zone as literally everything is new. Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is a life long skill. It will stand to all of us in every aspect of our lives. And developing that skill intentionally through travel is incredible.

#5 Discover A New Way Of Living

The way you and the people around you live now, is not the only way to live. Until we see it though, sometimes we find it hard to believe. I moved to a country that is sunny in summer and snowy in winter. Where I am from, we go on sun holidays abroad in summer. The Canadians stay home in summer and go on sun holidays in winter to escape the snow. They participate in winter sports like Ice Hockey, snowboarding and skiing which is just not possible where I am from. I was able to try new things, pick up new hobbies and embrace a total different lifestyle.

From the really big things to the really small things, experiencing life in a new country opens your eyes up to endless possibilities for the way to live your life. The best part is you get to take the best bits for your own life and ignore the parts you don’t want to embrace. But it all starts with exposing yourself to those possibilities.

#6 Recognise the Bubble

The most important lesson I learned from living abroad was realising that my hometown is just a tiny bubble in a much bigger world. And there are pros and cons to that. On the one hand home will always be home and being abroad made me realise the little things I appreciate about my home.

However on the other hand, it made realise that things that seem really important in a small town, like the local sports team, small town gossip and the opinions of others is but a drop in the ocean in the greater scheme of things. It is refreshing to know that most things don’t really matter. There is a whole world to be discovered and if you feel like you don’t belong where you are now, there are many other places where you probably will feel at home. Leaving your home town will help you to see this for yourself.

Define 'Life in a different country'

Of course, there are a number of other ways to experience life in a different country. Maybe you want to study abroad for a year. Perhaps you can sign up for a volunteer programme as part of a gap year. Maybe you prefer inter-railing for a summer (would recommend!). Or with the pandemic and increased opportunity for remote work, becoming a digital nomad is very popular.

How you decide to do it is up to you, but I can’t recommend it enough. Even if only for a year, the experience you gain will stay with you forever.

If you want to explore becoming a digital nomad, you should check out these really insightful posts from Amber, who took the plunge and is currently living the digital nomad dream in Indonesia: 5 Reasons to quit your job and become a digital nomad and The Best Destination for a first time female digital nomad. If you have travelled or are planning to do so share your stories, tips and experiences in the comments as we’d love to hear from you! Best of luck!