Everybody always expresses hopes and desires to travel the world but do you think you have what it takes to truly do that? What of leaving the life you know, the culture you are familiar with, and packing up to live abroad for a period of time, or for the rest of your life? Do you think you could do it?

I think the first plane ride I can ever remember being on was on the way back from Salt Lake City with my family after visiting my Grammie. I remember looking at Mt. Rainier out the window and vaguely that my brothers were hogging more than their share of leg and arm room on the flight, even then. My parents instilled in me a love of traveling and other cultures but honestly I don’t really remember many adventures when I was little. I blame the head injury.

In seventh grade, my fourth brother decided to study for a semester in London. Even at that age I remember feeling jealous of my brother for this experience. I also recall the excitement when we traveled to visit him for two weeks. As an awkward youth, I was enraptured by England and Scotland and it gave me a taste of what it was like outside the United States.

At fifteen, I had transferred schools from a very small private school to a very large public school. It was a culture shock and I was both happy, and yet not. One of the few things I did get from that private school was a broader appreciation of international cultures and an interest in foreign exchange. On an open-night, I had my Mom visit the foreign exchange booth. Lots of paperwork and general preparation later I was traveling on a plane, by myself for the first time, headed to be an exchange student for a year in Japan. 

After my  time in Japan, I came back to the United States and have not gone abroad since. Don’t get me wrong: it was not for a lack of really, really wanting to go. First, my passport expired three months after I got back and I just renewed it last year. Also, when I came back I had heavy adjustments to make from being an international exchange student and going back to being a “regular” high school student. I headed straight to college a month after graduating from high school, got an amazing job straight after, went to college again, graduated, and moved to Florida. Traveling abroad, unfortunately, takes time and a lot of money.

One of the many things that attracted Mack and myself to each other was a love of world travel, and a desire to get out there and just explore. Mack’s mother’s family immigrated from Ireland years ago and he has been working at figuring out his family tree and history for years. With all of his hard work, Mack wants to visit the land of his ancestors and experience it and perhaps even live there just to see what it is like. 

I’m all for this plan, and have been researching what it takes to move abroad and find it kind of… disheartening. There are so many restrictions on people who can move and try to become citizens over there. In thinking of all the possibly limitations, we’re trying to find our best solution (starting a business we can work anywhere from? Telecommute to the states? Go to England where it might be slightly easier for me to get citizenship) and sometimes we just want to bang our heads against the wall.

Living abroad: a do or a don’t? Do share.

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