There may come a time where you seriously consider living abroad. You might have been traveling all over the world as part of your childhood, or perhaps you’ve never even left the country you were born in. But no matter what your story so far, you can always decide to cross borders when moving provided it satisfies the criteria you are looking for. Also, having almost the whole globe to choose from when looking for a new space is pretty much the textbook definition of being ‘spoilt for choice.’
But how should you consider your opportunities when desiring abroad residency? What should you expect? Is this something you should try to delay until you know more, or something you should grab with both hands? What kind of personalities are best helped by living abroad, and how long does it take to settle in and relax in that environment?
Is living abroad extremely expensive? Or could you potentially gain much more real estate than you might have considered? These are great questions all, and the answers will mean different results to different people. Thankfully, we are here to volunteer some answers. Let us begin by suggesting the following:
Ignorance Melts
It’s so easy to live in our own bubbles. We know that there are other cultures out there, other ways of seeing the world, and other things to experience. But, through the convenience of what we know, we can often stop ourselves from seeing it. Now, it’s hardly the case that sticking to what you know automatically makes you ‘ignorant’ to others. But, making the effort to travel and experience the world, in whatever capacity you can, and certainly, in residing somewhere, any ignorance you might have does melt.
Ignorance isn’t always defined as pop-culture seems to enjoy defining it these days. Being ignorant doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re racist, out of touch, or hateful of others. It could just mean that you hold onto stereotypes because you don’t know any better, or haven’t seen any difference. It might be because you simply do not know anything outside the usual flow of your life and career. It’s quite normal not to have a deep and complex understanding of the world unless you go out and seek it. Also, despite being nomadic creatures for most of our human history, we can still feel a deep kinship with the environments we reside in.
Consider someone who may have lived in the heart of England all their life. They wish for a change, and so they decide to buy Johor Bahru property in the Malaysian state of Johor. You can be sure that after some time, they will start to feel a sense of pride and personal connection to the country, and to this extent, their personality becomes a little more textured.
The Food!
Political viewpoints, religious ideals, ideas surrounding what makes a good person and how to best live life can all be argued until the end of time between people. But bring said people to a dinner table and have them only discuss the food? They’re likely going to find some closer connections than they had thought. This is why it’s said that you never quite know a person until you break bread with them, and perhaps enjoy a glass of wine for good measure.
You can add lists upon lists of pretentious ideals about how moving abroad can uplift your soul, help you see the world as one, make you more patient and even give you the opportunity to walk on water, and perhaps one or more of those is true, but none of these reasons will ever be met with a reactionary warm smile as much as ‘hey, I just moved for the food.’
Living abroad not only gives you a chance to make a cuisine you may have only experimented with everyday become your new norm, but it can also help you expand your culinary repertoire and tasteful appreciation each and every day. You’d be surprised just how beautiful this can be, and how comforting it can feel to eat in the presence of such flavour. No matter if you wish to learn the best Malaysian cooking techniques, live in France in contact with so many incredible restaurants, wish to move to a town such as Modena, famous for its Parmesan cheese, or anywhere your taste buds lead you, most people will understand. Eating like a king or queen is one of the truly recommendable indulgences on this Earth, and we would absolutely encourage you to find that out for yourself.
Professional Development
It’s entirely possible that when you’re abroad, you’re going to come into contact with many professional opportunities. Not only is business developing at a rapid pace, and technological evolution is helping developing economies explode at a stellar pace, but if you do ever decide to return back to your home country, overseas work can look incredible on a resume.
But it goes deeper than that. It might be you learn methods of treating your employees right from siesta culture such as that embodied in Spain or learn the value of keeping them well fed. Perhaps you are better able to confidently open an enterprise because of the skills you learned while abroad. Perhaps you even consider this country a better incubator for business and wish to make your name there also. It’s quite likely that when moving abroad, you’re going to need to work. So making a name for yourself, keeping your head down and considering just what techniques you could take inspiration from might be the most worthwhile approach you’ve taken in some time.
More For Your Money
It can be quite haunting to see what the going rate for a small apartment is in New York City, or LA, or the San Francisco area. One million dollars worth of real estate space gets you relatively little compared to how areas are continually shooting up in price, and how gentrification can shift communities out of their usual residences. This isn’t to say that those problems do not exist elsewhere, but moving abroad gives you the opportunity to find you much more for your money. What might grant you a two bedroom small house in your current area could grant you a four bedroom, beautiful house with a garden in another country, provided you’re willing to search deeply and consider the location that means something to you.
This could, quite simply, transform the idea of moving abroad into something actually quite financially feasible, especially if you sell your current property before moving there. Most countries are welcoming to those with money willing to invest in property, especially those who are willing to respect and care for the local culture.
Personal Growth
Of course, we recently suggested the idea of moving for personal growth to be a ‘pretentious ideal,’ but it’s not that at all. If travel broadens your horizons, then residing abroad can smash your horizons wide open. There’s an entire side to every culture we often don’t see when only spending two weeks exploring the tourist hotspots. The reality of life in any place can help you figure out what’s best for you, and over time, can slowly give you the chance of bettering yourself and who you are.
No matter if you learn the language, build professional contacts, help your children raise in a bilingual and multicultural environment, or generally wish to see beautiful geography you can’t get anywhere else, all of this will enrich your experience and help you become more insightful than you might have ever been.
With this advice, we hope you consider the true benefits of living abroad.
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