5 things you can learn from moving to another country

6 years ago we moved from Hungary to the UK. We call it our longest trip, as before our move we have already travelled a lot with my husband. So what is the difference? We are staying here a bit longer. I feel like we are forever tourists and this is what we have learnt.

1. Think like a tourist, because a tourist always looks for beautiful things and wants to enjoy the trip. When you live in a new country you don’t have a strong attachment and long past, so you do notice nice things easier. However, I noticed that as time goes on and you live here for a longer time you start noticing the bad things more often again. Conclusion? Be a tourist. Always. Don’t get too attached and move on quickly.
2. Don’t own a lot of things. It is much harder to move on. When we moved from Hungary to the UK, we were selling a big house with lots of things. Oh my God, it was an exhausting 2 weeks. We quickly gave away all of the things that we could not take with us. I don’t want to do it again. I am a huge fan of books but converted strictly to digital books and borrowing from the library as I don’t want to leave my books behind once again. Minimalism all the way.
3. Reset the way you think. New country new mindset. It is not an overnight thing, but you do change when you move to a new country. The UK and Hungary have quite a different mentality and we are learning a lot since being here. New language new personality.
4. Begin again. Every day is a new beginning. You don’t have many connections in the new country, so it is like being born again. You have to build your support network step by step again. We also learned new skills and started a new business. This beginner mindset actually pretty interesting and taught me the importance of letting go of the past and focus on the present moment and the things I want to achieve.
5. Your best friend is someone you are with at this moment. When you move to a new country it is inevitable that you won’t have longtime friends. That helps you revalue the way you look at friendships and you start to value small human interactions more. Like someone, you had a conversation before the yoga class or the helpful stranger on the street when you were lost. Take on the mentality, that friends are everywhere. They are indeed everywhere if you are open.