20 Best Moving Abroad Quotes
Are you looking for inspirational moving abroad quotes? I’ve got you covered!
Moving abroad is an exciting experience you must do once in your life because there are so many good things about living abroad! From making good friends and learning a different way of life to building your confidence.
However, as an expat, it’s sometimes difficult to express exactly how you feel about living abroad, and that’s why these moving abroad quotes will help you pass the message.
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20 Moving Abroad Quotes
Quotes about taking the leap to move abroad
Ordinary life does not interest me. – Anais Nin
You know you have to move abroad when you feel the need to experience another place, try different flavours, speak a different language, explore new places, and leave your comfort zone!
I never doubted the fact I wanted to experience life in a different country, of course, I was a bit afraid about moving abroad and missing home, but I knew that it was “now or never”. You don’t know if you like being an expat, until you try it.
Be the girl who decided to go for it. – Anonymous
There will be some people who won’t agree with your decision about moving abroad, and I am not only talking about a neighbour, but very close people to you like your parents or best friends.
They want you to stay close to them and leave you to make them sad or worry about you (especially if you’re a woman moving abroad alone).
If you’ve been waiting so long for the moment, you could move abroad, stop listening to others and remind yourself of your dream because it’s your life and future.
The worst thing I can think of is living with regrets.
You’re never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.– C.S. Lewis
Have you ever heard a friend saying, “I’m too old to do this”? Or maybe you’ve said that to yourself.
Since we’re born, people expect us to behave in a certain way and sometimes make decisions that aren’t our own. They make us believe things like “you need to be married by 30”, “you should have kids”, “you need to know what you want in your mid-20s,” and the list goes on.
They sound stupid, right? But we sometimes fall into the trap of believing this in our unconscious minds.
Well, you must be firm and believe in yourself and what you want! Age is just a number, and you can achieve what you want as long as you have the right mindset.
Going back to living abroad, there’s no better time to move abroad than when you feel ready. Yes, many people move when they’re 20, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it if you’re 40.
We tend to look for excuses like…I have been working in this company for 6 years; I have kids, I have a house, etc.
If you really want something, such as moving abroad, you will make it happen.
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
As strange as it may sound to you, it’s possible to be homesick for a destination you’ve never been to. This may be your dream destination, that one that you can’t stop thinking about, or you’ve seen all over films or social media, and you haven’t been able to go there yet.
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
Travelling certainly teaches us many things from other countries, but the reality is that living abroad in a country is how you’ll truly get to know it.
I’ve travelled to a destination for two weeks or even a month, and despite learning things, I felt like that time wasn’t enough because I knew I still had so much to learn.
The longer you live in a place, the faster and easier you’ll learn about its culture. But the truth is that no matter how many years you’ve been living in a specific country, you’ll never know everything.
I genuinely thought that by living a couple of years in the UK, I would know everything; the truth is that I’ve been living here for over five years, and I still discover new things.
Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show. – Unknown
Experiences are the things you will remember as you get older; you’ll go through your pictures and remember how good it was living abroad, travelling, falling in love, and meeting friends.
And even if you had some bad experiences living abroad, you’ll also be thankful for those experiences because they’ve taught you a life lesson.
Quotes about living in the country (the daily expat life)
The best way to travel abroad is to live with the locals. – Unknown
The best way to learn about a culture and a place is, of course, by meeting the locals. They know how life works in their country and will show you things that you can’t learn from a book or the internet.
When I moved to Leeds, what helped me the most was talking to the locals. I discovered new places, words, and food that I had never heard of before, and I wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for them.
I know how tempting it can be to mix with expats from your own country because they make you feel closer to home and have more things in common, but you have to remember that you moved abroad to have a different experience.
Splendid to arrive alone in a foreign country and feel the assault of difference. Here they are all along, busy with living; they don’t talk or look like me. The rhythm of their day is entirely different; I am foreign. – Frances Mayes
Many expats will tell you how amazing living abroad is, but it has its challenges too. When you move abroad with someone (friend, partner, etc.) it is much easier than when you move alone.
From experience, moving abroad alone was a bit scary and lonely at the beginning. You’re in a place where people know each other, and you’re a foreigner trying to fit in because you want to be part of their culture.
There were days when I felt lonely and homesick, but there were many things that helped me feel less homesick.
Also, if you’ve just moved, you need to give yourself time to meet others, adapt to your new routine, learn about the culture, and improve the language.
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
An advantage of living abroad is the fact that no one knows you, so you feel less scared of doing something or being judged by others.
When you grow up in a small village, everyone knows you and people are more likely to comment on what you do, who you talk to, etc. But all these things don’t happen when you move to a different country.
You have the chance to start a new life or try new things without feeling so pressured.
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
At this point, you know that living abroad isn’t all roses. It isn’t easy, but it will make you grow by stepping out of your comfort zone.
The language, culture, people, food, etc., aren’t there to make you happy or comfortable; you’re the one who needs to make an effort to get familiar with the country and, ultimately, feel like it’s your second home.
You have no idea how far out of my comfort zone my entire life is. – M. Greff
Only expats know what living abroad is like; you can try to be in their shoes, but you won’t get to understand everything.
From the moment you’re in that country, you need to be strong and trust your gut that this is a good decision – you’ll appreciate this experience and all the things you have now because of the decision you made that day.
Traveling and being in foreign cultures has always been really stimulating for me, partly because, when I’m living abroad, everything is new and like a puzzle to work out, by virtue of it being a foreign culture. — Joshua Marston
This is one of my favourite expat quotes because I can totally relate to it. I love new things and new places, and by living abroad, you’re constantly trying to figure out how the culture works.
Everyone smiles in the same language. – George Carlin
The language barrier can be real, but you must remember that certain feelings and actions like smiling, laughing, and crying are understandable in any culture.
No matter how different languages can be, you’ll find a way to communicate for sure.
No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other’s worth. – Robert Southey
I know how it feels to worry about losing friendships and other relationships because of moving abroad. But time has taught me that real friends will be there for you no matter what.
Yes, your relationship can change, but the moment you reunite, you’ll be the same as before and appreciate your relationship even more.
Also, I think we often forget about ourselves. If you really want to move abroad, but the fear stops you, you’ll regret not taking action in the past.
Quotes about the challenges of living abroad
So, here you are. Too foreign for home, too foreign for here. Never enough for both. – Ijeoma Umebinyuo
This is something that no one had told me before moving abroad. You’ll never be the same person once you move from your home country. I’m not saying your personality and ideas will completely change, but some will do.
And it’s part of the process!
If you’ve been living abroad for a while, you sometimes feel like you don’t belong to any of these places, and I can relate.
When I am in my hometown, I miss being in England; when I am in England, I miss my hometown, and sometimes, I just feel like I need to live somewhere different.
You will never be completely at home again because part of your heart always will be elsewhere. That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place. – Miriam Adeney
This is one of my favourite feeling homesick quotes. Although I haven’t moved back home or to another country yet, I’ve heard friends saying how “homesick” they feel after living abroad and going back home.
If you had a fantastic time abroad – you made good friends, felt welcomed by the locals, loved the food, etc. – it’s likely that when you go back to your hometown, you feel like a part of you is missing.
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
Living abroad isn’t for everyone, and it sometimes teaches you that there is no better place than home. That doesn’t mean you don’t like travelling or living abroad, but by living abroad, you appreciate things you weren’t used to.
When I was living in Spain, my home country, I underestimated the weather because it was sunny all the time; now that I live in the UK, I miss the sunny weather, and I’m so happy when I go back home because I make the most of the weather.
The same happened to me with food. Some fruits and vegetables are far from fresh and tasty like in my hometown, or I can’t find certain ingredients – and even if I find them, they don’t taste the same.
So yes, I can guarantee you’ll start appreciating certain aspects of your hometown.
It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same. – Sarah Turnbull
I’ve already mentioned to you that living abroad will change your perspective about your hometown, where you live and the world.
You’ll never be the same, and things and places will change as time passes.
Our homes are not defined by geography or one particular location, but by memories, events, people, and places that span the globe. – Marilyn Gardner
Your home country or the place where you currently live doesn’t determine where you belong; you’re the one who decides where you belong.
But if you don’t know where you belong, that’s absolutely fine too! You may have a preferred place right now but still don’t know where you want to be in the future. Also, you don’t have to feel like you need to settle down in a place forever.
We change our opinions, and our lives change because of people or experiences, and that’s okay. It’s part of being alive!
So much of who we are is where we have been. – William Langewiesche
Travelling or living abroad changes a part of us, and we take a few things from each place (maybe a new meal, a new language, a new tradition you want to include in your life, etc.)
Before moving to the UK, I had never tried Indian food, and I didn’t know Indian food was such a big thing in the country. Since I tried it, having an Indian meal every two weeks has become something normal to me.
This is just a simple example from my experience of how small things can change ourselves and our routines.
Conclusion on these quotes about moving abroad
I hope these quotes have inspired you to live abroad or express how you feel about living abroad.
Do you know any other living abroad quotes? Let me know in the comments below!
If you have any questions or want any advice on expat life, reach me on my email at cristina[at]mylittleworldoftravelling.com or on Instagram. I’m always happy to help.
Cristina xx
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Ahhh this gives me major FOMO – I wish I was living life abroad right now! 🙂 I love the quote that says you can be homesick for a place you’ve never been before– I’m constantly day dreaming of places!
I love this! It’s hard to pick a favorite, but this one stood out to me. “The best way to travel abroad is to live with the locals. – Unknown” My all-time favorite trip was to Cuba, where we ate dinner with locals in their homes & engaged in community activities, there’s nothing like a trip where you get to “live with the locals”!
Your beautiful adventure is so inspiring to so many. Keep adventuring and embracing those life-changing moments outside of the comfort zone. Thank you for this inspiration!
I totally agree. Working with travellers I always wonder, why they don’t take their time. Most of them feel to have no enough time but probably they don’t know how to take advantage of it. Filling a trip with as many destinations as they can it’s like a starving men that throws himself on a table trying to eat chicken with pudding, fish with marmalade, etc. I’m a daughter of an expat and I passed many years of my youth in different countries. In a peninsula like Italy where most of the population was born and raised locally I’m always a fish out of water but this situation gave me also an amazing intellectual and spiritual freedom.
Most of the qoutes moved me. I can absolutely relate. Awesome story, thanks for sharing. Keep inspiring us.