Quotes About Living Abroad That Will Inspire Your Dreams
Whenever I need some inspiration or thoughts that I cannot put into words, I often refer to quotes. I love quotes since these are usually better than I can say myself.
I cannot exactly explain what living abroad feels like whenever people ask me. You learn new things every day, and it is so much different than living in your home country.
Because of that, I already have a long list of quotes about living abroad, and here are my favorites.
If you are contemplating whether you should start your life abroad, then these living abroad quotes might help inspire your dreams!
Quotes About Living Abroad
Working and living overseas taught me different perspectives and experiences. It may sound scary to make the big move and have a fresh start in a completely foreign country, but sometimes this is exactly what you need.
A YEAR FROM NOW YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD STARTED TODAY.
Karen Lamb
This is one of my favorite quotes about moving overseas and can also be applied to anything in life. One of the things that scared me about living abroad is having to start over again. I know it’ll take years for me to fully settle in a new country, but this quote is perfect for that situation: a year from now you will wish you had started today.
After living in Sweden for a few years, I will soon apply for permanent residency. I never thought that it was that time already!
ORDINARY LIFE DOES NOT INTEREST ME.
Anaïs Nin
WE GENERATE FEARS WHILE WE SIT. WE OVERCOME THEM BY ACTION.
Dr. Henry Link
We all reach a point where we ask ourselves “what if?”
We normally think of the worst scenarios in our heads, but what if it will be better than you expected?
It’s normal to be worried about starting a new life abroad. But, trust me, it gets better each day!
NEVER TOO OLD. NEVER TOO BAD. NEVER TOO LATE. NEVER TOO SICK TO START FROM SCRATCH ONCE AGAIN…
Bikram Choudhury
I often get messages asking if it is too late for them to move abroad. We have different circumstances; but, I think it is never too late for anyone to start from scratch. That’s why this is one of my favorite quotes about living abroad.
Related: Unexpected Advantages of Living Abroad
When you move from one country to another you have to accept that there are some things that are better and some things that are worse, and there is nothing you can do about it.
Bill Bryson
This is one of my top moving abroad quotes. Sometimes, we just have to accept that things will be different.
I’m missing home because my friends and families are there. I grew up & got accustomed to how things are in the Philippines. I miss the food, I miss being in a familiar place, and I miss celebrating Christmases there!
But, there are a lot of things that I don’t like in the Philippines.
That’s the bittersweet feeling in expat life.
So, here you are. Too foreign for home, too foreign for here. Never enough for both.
Ijeoma Umebinyuo
Sweden is my new home, but I don’t feel totally at home here yet! I am still learning the language, and I am still far from making conversations in Sweden.
I still choose to be surrounded by Filipino friends since I feel more at home with them. I haven’t tried some Swedish traditions yet.
I work and live here, but I’m too foreign for here.
And, it will be the same when I visit my home country. Since moving to Sweden in 2018, I haven’t been home yet. A lot of things could change during those years.
Loving life is easy when you are abroad. Where no one knows you and you hold your life in your hands all alone, you are more master of yourself than at any other time.
Hannah Arendt
This is definitely one of my favorite quotes about living abroad. I realized how much I have changed. I like exploring and getting to know more about what I really want and find my inner peace.
No one knows me here in Sweden, it’s not so hard to change my bad habits since no one but myself will remind me about my past self.
When you are living abroad and no one knows you, you’ll feel less scared of trying out new things or being judged by people.
It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same. Even smells the same. You realize what’s changed is you.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
This living abroad quote speaks to me.
I’m too comfortable in Sweden and my quality of life has improved so much! Everything keeps getting simple in Sweden, while in the Philippines, things get complicated all the time.
I don’t think I can stand being stuck in traffic when I go home. The need to process documents and being in the queue for almost half a day. I also know that I could not stand the heat anymore.
When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.
Clifton Fadiman
One of the reasons why I love traveling is because I get to learn more about different cultures and social norms.
Being Asian means getting unnecessary comments like “wow, you speak English so well” or anything about my race that is inappropriate for me but other people didn’t realize.
I don’t want to be that kind of person when I travel abroad.
Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.
Terry Pratchet
Imagine yourself living abroad for five years & every time you come back, you’re different. People around you are different too.
What I like about living overseas is I get to share my stories about my expat life and inspire other people to do the same.
Travel early and travel often. Live abroad, if you can. Understand cultures other than your own. As your understanding of other cultures increases, your understanding of yourself and your own culture will increase exponentially.
Tom Freston
I got lucky I had an opportunity to study abroad in Australia when I was younger. Since then, it has helped me understand different cultures & met a lot of people too.
It doesn’t have to be an international trip first, but traveling to different cities in your own country can help you increase your understanding of other cultures too!
I just love it. I could spend my life arriving each evening in a new city.
Bill Bryson
The loneliness of the expatriate is of an odd and complicated kind, for it is inseparable from the feeling of being free, of having escaped.
Adam Gopnik
Making a big life change is pretty scary. But know what’s even scarier? Regret.
Adam Gopnik
I studied and lived in Australia when I was 16. Even when I was younger, I have always wanted to move abroad. But, back then, I wasn’t strong enough. I went back to the Philippines sooner than I planned, and I regretted that decision for a couple of years.
It taught me that even though I want to move abroad, I need to overcome my fear. It took me almost 10 years to get that chance again, so when I did, I took the courage because I don’t want to have the same regrets again.
Everywhere you go, you will experience some challenges while living abroad and that’s okay.
Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you’ve never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.
Judith Thurman
Our homes are not defined by geography or one particular location, but by memories, events, people, and places that span the globe.
Marilyn Gardner
You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place like you’ll not miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place because you’ll never be this way ever again.
Azar Nafisi
It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.
Sarah Turnbull
The best way to travel abroad is to live with the locals.
Zach Braff
If you never go, you will never know.
You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.
Geoffrey Willians
The man who goes alone can start today, but he who travels with another must wait till that other is ready.
Henry David Thoreau
Part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you page for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place.
Miriam Adeney
Maybe you had to leave in order to really miss a place; maybe you had to travel to figure out how beloved your starting point was.
Jodi Picoult
I hope you enjoyed reading these quotes about living abroad! It’s easy to think that living abroad is bliss, but sometimes it is twice as hard, especially when you’re alone. It is worth it, though!
Moving abroad is a life-changing decision that shouldn’t be taken too lightly. But, if it feels good for you, then go for it.
Let me know which ones are your favorite quotes about living abroad! I will keep adding my favorites.
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