What I Learned From Spontaneously Moving Abroad

Four years ago, my sister had a beautiful destination wedding in Greece. The majority of my large family of eight packed their things and flew out to attend. We have relatives in Greece, so I decided I would crash for a mini vacation after the wedding took place. After the wedding, everyone flew home, and I stayed with my cousin, soaking up the sun as much as I could. I had just recently gotten out of a long-term relationship back home, and had actually quit my job before hopping on that plane.

So one afternoon, over our habitual cup of afternoon coffee, a friend of mine mentioned the possibility of staying in Greece. I remember how I instantly shut down the idea. There was no way that I could just pick up and live in a foreign country…right? Suddenly, I realized that I was at a crossroad. This moment would determine everything.

That night, I called my parents up and informed them that I would not be returning home. I was going to live in Greece for as long as I could. I was going to go against everything in my comfort zone. My things were sent over to me and, with the help of some friends (I spoke zero Greek at the time), I landed a job over the summer and settled into my very first apartment. It wasn’t long before Greece began to feel like home. I even found a beautiful puppy that became my forever-friend.

There were so many lessons that I took away from the whole experience. But I managed to narrow them down into my top five! So without further ado, here are the five things I learned while living abroad:

1. THE WORLD IS A HUGE PLACE

It is so easy to limit ourselves. We convince ourselves that the world consists of our own backyard, combined with our daily route to and from work. We become accustomed to this bubble we live in, and it is a sort of comfort, this familiarity. But there is SO MUCH more to see out there! During my time in Greece, I tried to see as much of the country as my tiny budget would allow. And every place I traveled to was more beautiful than the last. Every small village had a rich history and every shoreline seemed to reach out into eternity. It really made me realize how much is out there to be explored. The opportunities truly are limitless.

2. CULTURE IS EVERYTHING

Living in America is an experience of its own. There are so many cultures and it can be beautiful to see the way that they compliment and interact with one another. But living in a country that has one culture is a whole other story. The Greek people were so open that I honestly didn’t know how to handle it sometimes. Being a slightly shy person myself, I had a hard time matching the constant energy and enthusiasm that the people beautifully expressed on a day-to-day basis. They laughed with abandon, spoke in a way that both portrayed passion and intent, and would gladly welcome a stranger into their home to have dinner and meet their grandchildren. It was a rich and colorful culture and, the longer I stayed, the more contagious it became. I came to Greece feeling intimidated by how deeply the culture was engraved in the people. And I left Greece with a better understanding of what it means to truly live.

3. LOVE TRULY COMES WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT

During my stay, I became re-acquainted with a friend of mine I had only met upon prior holiday visits. We became best friends over the summer of 2014, and I can easily say it was the greatest summer of my life. Because for the first time in my life I wasn’t looking for someone else to complete me. I wanted to take this time to be alone and work on myself. I wanted to learn what it truly meant to love myself. And so, months passed, and happiness began to come so naturally. And, without even noticing, I realized by the end of the year that I had fallen in love with my best friend. It was so natural, and I couldn’t have chosen a better way to fall in love. It was truly unexpected and that, in itself, made it perfect.

4. TAKING RISKS IS NOT ALWAYS EASY

As much as I loved making the decision to move to Europe, it had its fair share of obstacles that came with it. The year I moved to Greece was the year that the banks crashed and the country was struggling through an economic downfall. And to say that my life abroad was constant sunshine and rainbows would be a lie. I remember more than one occasion (or five or ten?) that my boss was unable to pay me my weekly wages. There were weeks where I would live off of tomatoes and onions, and became ridiculously creative with how many ways you can cook a potato. But I never once regretted taking the chance I took, leaving behind my pampered American lifestyle.

Ultimately, I did return to America, partly due to the Greek economy. And therein was the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my entire life:leaving behind my then-fiance, with the promise of meeting again in the USA. But that is a whole other story…

5. JUST BECAUSE IT DOESN’T GO AS PLANNED, DOESN’T MEAN YOU FAILED

It’s true. I would have preferred to remain in Greece with my fiance. It took everything I had to pack up my pup and get on that plane, leaving him behind. And for a long time, I felt as if I’d failed. I felt like I sought out to do something, and I couldn’t achieve it. We tend to be so hard on ourselves. Over the course of the years, I realized that I gained so much more out of my time in Greece than I could have ever imagined. I learned a new language, I met the love of my life and I traveled and made memories that will last me a lifetime. And so, although things didn’t go the way I expected, this was far from failure in my eyes.

I could go on and on with this list, but I will leave it at that for the time being. Spontaneously moving abroad was one of the best and most memorable adventures yet. But I know now, the best is yet to come.