It's absolutely no secret that we all love holidaying. Whether it's skiing down the slopes in Val-d'Isère, necking flaming sambucas in Maga, or hiking up mountains in Bali, we all have our favourite holiday destinations. A holiday is that one or two weeks a year, maybe even more if you're a jammy bastard, where we leave all of our woes at home, wave goodbye to any stress or negativity that every day working life brought on us, and for once in our lives, sit back and think 'life is bloody wonderful'. As Brits abroad, we're in that airport terminal sipping pornstar martinis and jumping on that plane quicker than you can say 'más vino por favor'.
Granted, holidays are great. But living abroad isn't just an extended holiday. On holidays you don't have days where you're homesick and don't know the next time you're going to see your friends at home. On holidays you don't have to try and find somewhere to live entirely from scratch. On holidays you don't have to worry about the money you're spending because the fact of the matter is, you're on bloody holiday. Despite the struggles that you might face upping and leaving home behind, moving abroad and living in another country is, I think, the best thing anyone can ever do, and here's why...
Living the dream
Our favourite abbreviation Yolo tells us that life is short and without going all Eminem on this, we only get one shot. It might be scary to leave life behind as you know it, in fact, I could tell you that for free, but it doesn't get much better than experiencing life in a new city, country, continent. Especially if it's a dream of yours.
I'm currently in Australia, which obviously isn't far removed from Western culture, but it is bloody far away from home. I have regular moments where I have to pinch myself and remind myself that I am actually living in Australia. It's so easy to become complacent with life, so to step back and remind yourself that you're doing something you've only ever dreamed of, is really fucking special. Whether it's Barcelona, Canada, Vietnam or anywhere in between, to live out your dream is a feeling that can't be replicated by anything else in the world.
The people
Obviously travelling the world you will meet people from every corner of the globe. You will come across people you don't like, people you want to punch in the face, and people you know you will be friends with for a very long time. You learn who you want to make the effort for and you get to a point where you think 'fuck it why bother' or 'yes, you're a good egg'.
When I first moved to Australia, I thought living in hostels was a sure fine way to meet people. The first hostel I moved into I thought it was standard etiquette to be really out there, so having met a nice enough guy in my room, I wrote a note and left my number and put it on his bed when he was out. Safe to say he was not wooed by my purely innocent but utterly creepy gesture. In my second hostel, I met a group of girls and enthusiastically said 'hey!' only to have four blank stares returned. They may as well have just said 'you can't sit with us'. I did however share a spliff with some guys from Texas that were so white and so gangster all at the same time that I didn't know whether I was confused or high. So, swings and roundabouts.
Moral of the story is, you will meet lots and lots of people and not only learn stuff about them, but yourself too. And as long as you're not creepy 100% of the time (I've taken note), you will meet completely amazing people that you won't ever want to say goodbye to.
The confidence
My Timehop constantly reminds me that two, three, four etc years ago I was tweeting that I would be in Australia this time next year living the dream. The fact of the matter is, I would have been far from prepared to start a new life on my own then; I was a baby. There might not necessarily ever be a perfect time to go travelling, but there's definitely a wrong time, and that's when you're a naive and innocent speccy twat.
Having said that, moving abroad is possibly one of the best things to do to build confidence. You have absolutely no choice but to apply to jobs, find a house, make new friends, entirely on your own, and when you've done it, you can remind yourself that you did that because you wanted to and you were your best support and guide. Sure, there will be moments along the way where you feel weak, lonely and just want to go home, but by starting a new life entirely on your own, a new found confidence emerges and you don't need anyone other than yourself to tell you that 'you got 'dis'.
With newfound confidence comes a new perspective on people, on experiences, on life. If you have the drive and determination to get somewhere, you can achieve it, and you will only ever grow as a person as you do it.
The stories
My favourite reason of all; the stories. From watching a whale calf breach across the entire horizon, to driving through bushfires and thinking the world was over, to getting essentially jumped by tree frogs, to blubbing my eyes out like a baby watching fireworks over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, to driving hundreds of miles and the first town in view is called 'Yass'. Creating stories is essentially the reason I decided to leave my life in Brighton behind in the first place. Our twenties are the time for exploring new corners of the world, having little responsibility but enough to remind us that we are technically adults, and most importantly, trying new things and making mistakes. If it doesn't work out, at least we have a funny story to tell.
When life becomes a rut, something needs to change. Those stories 'aint gonna write themselves.
So Sydney might be my home for now, but I know in the future, circumstances will take me elsewhere where new dreams will be lived out, new people will be met, confidence will continue to grow and new stories will be written. If, like me, living abroad is something that you've always wanted to do, I urge you to do it. Amongst all struggles that you face along the way, you will come out of it a stronger, more rounded person and you will look back and say 'I did that. And it was the best thing I ever did'.
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