The world is a lot different than it was ten years ago. In this era of globalization people who live and work abroad can hop on a plane to the other side of the world for a relatively low price, catch up with friends via video calling and use virtual work spaces to earn money from wherever their feet may take them. Living abroad is where it’s at and here are seven reasons why you should take the plunge and become an expatriate.
1) It’s much easier than it used to be. Living abroad is not quite as challenging as it once was, so forget about all those excuses as to why you shouldn’t do it and start to set your sights on an exciting future.
2) Living abroad offers you an education that you just can’t get in any school or university. You may think you know about different cultures and places, but you won’t really know them until you actually live in and amongst them. You may think you know yourself, but you won’t really get to know yourself until your transported out of your safety zone and put to the test.
3) Experience of living and/or working abroad is quite simply the best thing you can have on your resume. Whatever career you are interested in, interviewers will immediately hone in on your overseas experiences and want to know more.
4) You’ll build an amazing network. One of the best possible things about living in a foreign city as an expatriate is the friends you’ll meet. Expatriates have friends from all over the world and these friendships will be of enormous benefit to you over the long term.
5) You will develop new perspectives. It isn’t until you live abroad that you’ll notice how blinkered and narrow minded you actually are. Living alongside people of different cultures and traditions will open your mind and challenge your existing views of government, politics, economics and life in general.
6) You will learn what is important to you. Living abroad for a while can help you to put your entire life in perspective. Things that you thought were important and you couldn’t live without will suddenly have no meaning whatsoever for you. Being taken out of your normal life and transported elsewhere for a long period of time will force you to consider what’s really valuable in your life.
7) You will realize how insignificant you are. You may think that your nation/family/viewpoints are the centre of the earth. Spend just a short time living abroad and you will realize that they are not.
