I've been living abroad for years now so I think I am well qualified to share some observations.
At first, living abroad felt great and absolutely perfect. I started slowly with only a month of living in beautiful city of Kassel in Hessen region, Germany. My stay there was very temporary so I wanted to enjoy everything that I could fit into the 30 days I had. Here I am in front of the Cologne Cathedral, the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, and in front of Goethe's house.
Then I moved back home and went back to college. My masters was a 2-year graduate program but I decided to take a gap year in the middle and left for the U.S. after the first year.
I was lucky that my tourist visa application was accepted, so I could stay for 6 months, and then I was even more lucky to have my visa extension application accepted as well. That allowed me to be in the US for 12 months without having to go back to Europe for another visa stamp. I have great friends here who hosted me at their houses and I could travel to places I would never dream of.
But that year was also over faster than I wanted. I went back to college and got my masters degree.
However, when my college friends where looking for full-time jobs to start after our graduation I was again so lucky I didn't have to do that. I found a great employer while in Boston, who wanted me to work for him and was even willing to start the visa process for me. Thanks to that I was ready to depart my home country soon after my graduation.
I realize that I was more lucky than anyone else I know. Many different coincidences let me to meeting my American friends, my Joe, and my current employer. I wasn't looking for any of it at first but found exactly what I wanted.
Until here it might sound like a dream for some people. But since I'm living in Boston for quite some time now and not everything seems so perfect anymore, I've decided to share some insights why it might be hard to live abroad and why even to consider moving back home. Come back next week for the second part of Living Abroad series.