Why Live Abroad?

By Silvana

Some time ago Rupert asked me to explain why I live abroad and what are the advantages of travelling. After a while I thought maybe I’m complicating my life too much. Maybe I should stop living in a foreign country (Germany at the moment, France before that) return to Romania, get a job and a husband and lead a normal life. I know my parents would be thrilled. I don’t want to convince you to travel or live abroad, just explain how it changed me as a person and why I keep doing it.

Why travel and live abroad?

1. Living abroad taught me to be open minded. Before moving to Austria, where I lived for two years, I was a shy person and didn’t question anything that I had been taught in school. Travelling made me meet new people and slowly, out of someone who blushed when talking to people, I became eager for human contact, for stories and learning. I realised that getting good grades in school is not as important as having an open mind.

2. Travel taught me how to love. I learned how to love and to be loved while travelling. You have to give in to your feelings and let go of the fear of suffering. I learned that nobody dies of a broken heart. I learned how to love myself, how to love others, how to be romantic, how much fun it is to steal a kiss and that you should just enjoy life. When you are travelling you know that none of your friends are there to judge you so you can go with the flow and enjoy life.

3. Travelling taught me the value of time. I learned how to cherish moments. How to use my time in the best way. When travelling you often need to catch a train, or to get out of your room by 11am, or meet someone to see the sunset by 7 pm. After missing a bus or a train you learn how to prioritise and use your time to do the things that YOU like most. This brings me to the next point:

4. Travelling is being selfish. Yes, that’s right. And yes, I see it as a quality as long as you don’t exaggerate it. When you become aware of the limited time you have to visit a place you start thinking what you’d like to do most: I need to see this girl I met in the hotel and help her buy summer shoes. You become aware of your own wishes and you pursue them.

5. Travelling makes you surpass your limits. Maybe you’re afraid of heights. But you just met some awesome people who want to climb up 400 steps and see the city from the top of the tower. Maybe you’ve never tried sleeping in a tent because you’re afraid of bugs and bears. Chances are you’ll end up doing things you would normally never do. When I started travelling I met two guys who needed to sell their car and they bet me I couldn’t sell it in one single day. Guess what: I did! And they rewarded me with a 20 minute ride on a ski jet (of course I was afraid of ski jets at the time).

6. Living abroad teaches you the value of money. No, I didn’t learn to value money in the sense that I want to buy a house or a car. I learned that you should only think of a house and a car after having travelled and lived abroad, after using your money to visit a new country, to buy a new camera and take amazing pictures, to pay the entrance fees for the wine castles in France, to live in Barcelona for two weeks, pay for a language school or be in France and buy a chocolate croissant every morning. Once, I even rented an observatory for my birthday because I wanted to watch Jupiter at midnight. And it was worth it!

However, you should keep in mind that travelling and living abroad is not a way of life — unless you settle down. It is only a step, a period of time. You should invest in it if you want to know yourself better, spend money in a way you wont do when you’ll have kids and a mortgage. Finally, it’s a way to piss off your parents who will keep nagging you to grow up and save money. Guess what: you’re already more grown up than they are because you had the courage to go your own way and to face the unknown.

Silvana is from Sibiu, Romania, and she currently works in Frankfurt. You can see her new blog here.