There are two types of people: those who have studied abroad, and those who have to listen to those who have studied abroad.
Anyone who has spent time living in another country knows just how exciting it is to find someone else who has shared that experience. Whether it’s a classmate, celebrity or a random Tumblr post, it’s nice to know there are other people who understand your thoughts. Here are twelve of the best study abroad quotes: reminisce, shed a tear, start to plan your next adventure.
1. “I spent half a year getting lost in back alleys, hitchhiking through towns I couldn’t pronounce, having intimate conversations with complete strangers, wandering until my feet were raw with blisters, and experiencing impossibly perfect moments that left me in awe. I had never felt more alive.”
2. “And then I realized adventure is the best way to learn.”
3. “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” –Terry Pratchett
4. “Nobody can discover the world for somebody else. Only when we discover it for ourselves does it become common ground and a common bond and we cease to be alone.” –Wendell Berry
5. “Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” –Mary Ritter Beard
6. It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed is you.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald
7. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you…hopefully you leave something good behind.” –Anthony Bourdain
8. “You get a strange feeling when you leave a place. Like you’ll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you’ll never be this way ever again.” –Azar Nafasi
9. “You will never be completely at home again, because part of your heart will always be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.”
10. “Even though your time abroad is coming to a close, this is not the end. You’ll take it with you. This experience that you’ve had is not something you leave at the airport gate of your flight home. It will shape your future, and you may not yet realize the amount of influence that it’ll have, but believe me, influence it will.”
11. “Exchange isn’t a year in your life; it’s a life in a year.”
12. “The fact is, with every friendship you make, and every bond of trust you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world. That is so important. So when you study abroad, you’re actually helping to make America stronger.” –Michelle Obama