What my trip made me think about moving abroad…
I recently came back from one of the longest trips I've taken in a while, and it really opened my eyes to traveling and living abroad.
I was in Spain for three weeks and let me tell you, I wasn’t just sightseeing or going to touristy areas. I was immersed in the cuisine (even thinking Kalimotxo was going to be my summer drink!), the language, the World Cup watch parties, all of it! So I found myself really thinking about what it would be like to actually live there…because the longer I stayed, the more I started slipping into a different routine that was shaped by the rhythms of being there.
Take siesta, for example…between 2 and 5pm in the afternoon, stores close, people go home and eat with their families, and the whole pace of the day shifts. If you’re looking for a late lunch, it’ll be hard to find that! Dinner doesn’t happen at 6 or 7pm like it might in the US, it’s much later like 8 or 9pm. At first that just seemed like an interesting cultural difference that I was willing to adapt to. But the more I got accustomed to this pace, the more I appreciated the rest and break siesta provided in the middle of the day and relished spending more time at museums or walking around before dinner plans.
This change shifted when I would think about working out during the day, when I would have my meals, and made me think about how different this shift in routine is from my life in the US.
This shift in routine made me think about some of the themes I’ve been fleshing out for Rooted Anywhere, some of which are identity shifts, navigating changes in routines and relationships, and developing our sense of self.
Let’s talk about relationships too.
When you move abroad, the nature of your relationships change and the communities you belong to do as well. What’s funny is that while I was at the gym in Spain, because I speak Spanish I ended up speaking with a few people at the gym when they would make comments to me about lifting heavy weight. Over the week that I went to that same gym, I ended up seeing some of the same people and we exchanged IG handles and it was fun to make some connections with people while at the gym!
As an extrovert, forming connections like that comes fairly easily to me. But I know for a lot of people, the idea of stepping outside your comfort zone to talk to strangers, especially in another language, can be difficult. I got lucky since I speak Spanish, so connecting with people and slipping into the language wasn’t much of a barrier for me.
But I can imagine how isolating it would feel if there were a local community you wanted to be a part of and speaking the language was a barrier.
Getting used to shops being closed in the middle of the day was something else to adjust to. I imagined that if I were working in Spain that my afternoons would look differently and maybe I would take that time to connect with the other people who are at home from work or go for an afternoon walk. I know moving to a new place changes how you work, how you relate to folks, and how you move through a day. And if we’re being honest, moving can change how you think about yourself too. If part of your identity is being a “morning workout person,” and suddenly mornings look completely different, your morning workout routine may shift to the afternoon or evening and you may form a new identity in the mornings.
Your schedule may shift or move to accommodate this one change, and that can be disorienting! 🤪
Which brings me back to this bigger idea of liminal space and what it means to live in the in-between. It’s about learning to embrace uncertainty that comes with big changes and recognize that our routines, relationships, and sense of self can adapt and form new connections. (And that might feel intimidating and challenging!)
We’re going to talk about this in Rooted Anywhere, so if any of these thoughts resonate with you, I really hope you’ll join us. If you’re in the US, send this to your people who live abroad! Or if you’ve recently come to the US in the past 5 years, come join us!