Going abroad is such a funny thing, you find yourself in such bizarre situations sometimes all you can do is laugh. You are taken from a place you’ve been so familiar with for so long and placed in a totally new environment and are expected to live there. If you’re on the fence about whether you should go abroad here are a few things that should make your decision easier.
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The people that you meet: Few people will really understand what your abroad experience really is like other than the people that experience it with you. When you first get to where you’re “studying” you feel so useless, you don’t know where you are, who you’re with or really how to do anything. You’re basically learning how to live again and the people that you do this with become some of your best friends. It all happens so quickly you forget that you met these people a few weeks ago. Pretty soon you’ll find yourself having friends from all over the world.
The places you’ll see: Everyone has a soft spot in their hearts for the places that they grew up, but the places you see when you go outside your home country are crazier than you think. Looking at a place you have never even dreampt of going and have no real expectations of is a really wild experience. You’ll learn that pictures never do anything justice.
Seeing your friends from home again: One of the happiest times I have had abroad was when I saw my friends from home, it’s easy to forget how amazing these poeple are when you’re not surrounded by them all the time. Seeing your best friends from home in a country 10,000 miles away from when you last saw them is something I never thought would happen but I am so happy that it did.
You’ll get a new perspective on life: Waking up and unzipping your tent to the view of a mountain is something I’ll never forget. You realize how small you actually are compared to the world and how much more is out there that you never knew existed.
You’ll realize how small the world actually is: Everywhere you go and everyone you meet you’ll have a weird connection with. Going halfway across the world and meeting people that know all of the same people you do is the craziest feeling. You start to just throw out names of people and places and you realize how many weird connections you have with people. All of a sudden realize all your friends from different parts of your life are becoming friends in different countries and you can’t help but feel happy.
When you find yourself missing things about home you look around at where you are and nothing else seems to matter. It truly doesn’t matter where in the world you go, with the right people and the right attitude you can make any place feel like home. Going abroad is something that not enough people take advantage of so go out there and get out of your comfort zone!!!