What is it Like to Live Abroad For One Month?

While I've experienced a few different types of alternative living on my journeys so far, living abroad for one month has been a unique and challenging experience. I haven't experienced everything that one could while living abroad. However, I will share my experiences and what I've learned.

One month of living away from familiarity can be rewarding and thought-provoking. You can learn a lot about yourself, alternative living, and what you actually like and dislike about long-term travel. Living abroad teaches you lessons that you will take with you through your life and adventures.

What I've learned about alternative living

I've learned so much about living alternatively. Now that I've spent some time living and travelling abroad, I've opened up myself to more experiences and knowledge than ever before.

Things can be the same or as different as you want them to be, compared to your home life. Choices are plentiful, and it's not like in the early 1900s when far-off lands hadn't yet been industrialized. There seem to be western amenities in most places I've visited, and most places have adequate internet, food, cleanliness, and safety.

I've shared experiences with people travelling in many different ways. While some of those acquaintances are only around for small vacation-type trips, I've met a wide array of travel styles. I've met digital nomads, perpetual travellers, and short-term travellers who are only in town for short-term vacations centred around a single day of meetings.

This lifestyle can be as easy or as challenging as you want. Alternative living takes many different shapes and forms. You can choose to live similarly to how you would at home, or completely change the way you live and live like the locals. Needless to say, I've grown my knowledge of what alternative living actually is.

What I've learned about myself

I'm still learning tons about myself as every moment passes. How I want to exist in the world has been one of the biggest lessons so far. What items I "need" to survive shows me that I can focus on more experiences with fewer distractions. Last but not least is how I can get myself out of a travel funk, or feeling burnt out.

I'm not always a big fan of large cities. Some of them are absolutely worth seeing and experiencing. Yet, basing myself out of a major city has not been the highlight of what I enjoy about my travels. I'd rather be somewhere a bit quieter. Somewhere off the beaten path, as they say. Somewhere that walking to the closest coffee shop doesn't mean you risk getting hit while trying to cross two lanes of 8 scooters side by side.

I don't need a lot of physical possessions to make me feel good. Travelling with minimal items is the way to go. When flying as frequently as I have been, staying within the lowest baggage allowance really helps with the cost of baggage and the speed at which you exit the airport. Having a small bag allows me to be much more mobile. I can jump on the back of a bike and have all my stuff with me on the way to the airport. And if I forget something or something ends up being too large to pack, I can likely buy it in the location I'm going

I have enjoyed a connection to nature on my trips more than anything else. It's not too big of a surprise since it's what I enjoyed before long-term travel. It's also generally what I enjoy when I have leisure time. I now know that when I'm exhausted from the cities, options, traffic, and sights, a likely fix will be getting out for a hike or a tour of some natural sight.

Quieter surroundings have produced more desirable results for me. Being mobile through having fewer items not only allows me to move more easily but also decreases the costs of baggage and transportation. Nature is a sure way for me to recover from the stresses of urban landscapes and the requirements of travel.

What I've loved

Culture, food and work. Those specific words aren't typically added together in a list of things that people find enjoyable about travelling. I've been able to identify what things I like the most when I travel and I'm grateful I did as it adds to my enjoyment of existing abroad.

I've loved being a part of different cultures. That can involve speaking with locals and hearing their stories, to eating their food. I've loved engraining myself in others' way of life and living more similarly to how a local does. It's given me a sense of connection, and a closer understanding of how life is wherever I am.

The second biggest thing I've enjoyed is the food and the prices that are often associated with it. While trying to remain safe in my choices of street food, I have been eating from fewer chains and more local spots than ever before (Don't judge me for sometimes working in Starbucks with a Frapuccino sitting next to me. All of the walking I do surely requires carbohydrate replenishment). It's been fun to branch out into other cuisines and experience tastes that are sometimes hard to find back home.

"Working" wasn't something I had completely intended on doing when I started living alternatively. I love the feeling of still being motivated to work on more adulting-type issues. I don't feel burnt out when I need to put my head down and write or work on personal finance stuff. It's like there exists a healthier balance than 40 hours a week, for roughly 50 years, just to hopefully make it to retirement you might not be able to enjoy.

What I've disliked

I've hated the disparity between the wealthy and the common people in the world. I've also hated how much garbage there is.

While there is an income gap, I see people being fully happy with the life that they live. Despite their happiness, there exists a large difference in how people live. I've seen it in western countries, but it's amplified in some places abroad. Some people live so lavishly in comparison to others.

From seeing massive piles of bottles floating in drainages to the ocean, to being smacked in the face by a plastic bag while surfing, there is a lot of work to be done in some places in the world. Of course, I don't want to get started on the whole plastics in the ocean ordeal. But I see where it comes from (I don't mean a physical location or country). I've seen people blatantly leave trash on the ground, and not even think twice about picking it up. Perhaps there needs to be more education, or onus, or funding to address this issue. It sucks to see such beautiful places ruined by the mass amounts of garbage that are littered everywhere.

What I will take forward with me

The lessons I've learned have been so valuable. I've learned a lot about what makes me happy and what I actually need to feel fulfilled in life. I've also been able to prove to myself that I can be happy with fewer material possessions.

Among the ideas of diet, fitness, and mental health, I feel like I'm more in tune with the interventions I can make to ensure I feel my absolute best! Knowing this is fantastic because it adds to the potential enjoyment of living alternatively.

I'll also take forward the idea that I enjoy living like this. Going forward, I want to ensure I emphasize enabling myself to exist this way and ensuring I can address all the other interests in my life.