Three years of living abroad

Can you believe I have been living abroad for three years?! Well, to say the least, I cannot believe it.

When I arrived in 2015, I knew a lot would change but a lot more has changed that I anticipated. I remember when I first moved I felt like I had stepped right into a fairytale. The polished cobblestone streets flooded with people, the abundant flowers teaming the open spaces.

The move was exciting but stressful as hell.

For 4 weeks we (family) lived in an Airbnb house, while we were waiting to move into our new home. I remember when we finally moved in for the first 4 weeks we had no furniture, and I had to do all my school work sitting on the floor while working on my laptop.

And while moving abroad is incredible and full of excitement and joy, the truth is that it was also wrapped in both happiness and sadness. We had to say goodbye to Family and Friends the worst of all we had to give our pets away. We struggled to find a place to live, I had to finish School online. It was all just a big bubble of mixed emotions.

But it also brought about things I might never have experienced in my life. I have made a few good friends from all over the world. I’ve traveled to places in Europe that I’d never would’ve visited to if I didn’t live here. I’ve fallen madly in love with small towns, big cities, and entire countries.

Now that I’m looking back at my time abroad so far, it feels as though I’ve been here for 10 seconds, and at the same time like I’ve lived a lifetime in Europe. My perspective on certain things has changed drastically. My views on cultures, the world, and how I want my life to look has taken on a new form. Maybe that’s of experience growth, but I think some of that comes from living overseas.

I’m often questioned on why I don’t want to move back home. I am a homebody, but this experience has been the best of both worlds.

What I’ve learned, maybe more than anything else, is the importance of soaking up the moment. Life is so swift. I had so many questions for myself when I came here “How will I find a job, or make friends”, “Where and what will I study”. Three years later I have figured it out, all you need to do in life is take baby steps and keep on trying. That’s not to say that it was easy, it was everything but easy. But I think we often forget to take a hard look at what we want out of life.

I hope the message you receive is to find out what makes life worth living. We are very lucky to live in a time where travel is more accessible. It’s incredible that I’m able to live abroad and experience all that comes with it. So what makes you happy? And how can you lead a life surrounding that? I think we don’t spend enough time figuring out our dreams.

Thank you for following my journey since I started this blog, three years ago. Blogging is my way for me to share my experiences and life.

xoxo

Chante