Best Things About Living Abroad

As my month-long trip home comes to a close, it's time to start thinking about returning to Ireland. And though I'll miss my family, friends, and Costco, there are some awesome things about living in Ireland. I rarely admit that - that Ireland can be awesome, too - so I figured I'd document it now lest someone argue that I am only ever complaining about missing the peanut butter and such I can't find in Ireland. But Ireland really is lovely, and some of the best things about living in Ireland have everything to do with the fact that I am simply living abroad.

Like so many others, I love traveling. But living abroad has given me many things that simply traveling - no matter how lengthy each trip - has not. Living abroad has taught me to love both where I am every day and to love where I've been, my home, my family and friends. It has given me the opportunity to travel and to explore, and it has allowed me to meet some amazing people.

Allow me to share five brilliant reasons why living abroad is epic, in case you didn't already know!

1) Learn to Love

Living abroad has taught me to try to love every single moment. When I'm outside of my comfort zone, sometimes the most comforting thing is to remember to look around and enjoy where I'm at. Thousands of miles from home, I've learned how to love a place by challenging myself to explore it, to find my niche that feels like home, to reach out to people and really pay attention to the kind of friends I'm making rather than just accepting people I've known forever.

2) Connect with the Motherland

Living abroad makes my homeland seem a million times more awesome than it probably is. I have American flags hanging all over my room, and I am sure to celebrate every patriotic holiday with my Irish friends. Every time an Irish person recognizes my accent, I get to have a ten minute conversation about America, which often ends in a new self-deprecating reflection from myself. Living abroad gives me the opportunity to really think about an identity when at home I only took being American for granted. With a picture of all the things that I would take advantage of if I were living at home hanging in my apartment - such as my puppy and my parents' house - living abroad once again teaches me to love and appreciate every small thing.

3) Different Foods

There will always be things about home I miss. I always miss my mother's cooking and good Mediterranean food, but there are certain foods that are just more common and more interesting in Ireland. Scones, sausages, and millions of potatoes, it's the home of comfort food. It's no okra, but sometimes those potatoes are just darn homey.

4) International Friends

Something about being a foreigner makes it incredibly easy to find and connect with other foreigners. Not to mention all the locals. And I'm always missing my friends back home and around the world! People think I'm good at keeping in touch. This is false. I'm better about keeping in touch simply because I'm so far away. I don't live near some of my dearest friends, and therefore I very deliberately try to keep in touch. When I don't live near everybody, when I know I won't be living near my currently near friends forever, I never take a conversation or a friendship for granted.

5) Treat Life as a Daily Adventure

Every day is a once off gift. Too often, people seem to spend their time doing jobs they don't really enjoy, studying subjects they're not really interested in just to fulfill what we all feel are our life duties. But our life duty is not to be miserable, to just fill the days. I think that a lot of us wait around expecting to have a life-calling revelation or something, when we suddenly realize exactly what's going to make us sublimely happy. But that won't happen. We have to find our own happiness, we have to work at being happy, and loving what we do, and at finding the adventure in every day. Living abroad has taught me that; no matter how miserable and homesick I am, I am still on an adventure. You just have to treat it that way!

I freely admit that I complain about living so far away from home often. Homesickness is real, and there will always be things that are better in either my home country or my adopted one. Sometimes it feels like by living abroad - and particularly studying for a Masters degree abroad - is just a shorthand for avoiding reality. But I'm living the dream right now, and I've learned so much about myself and the world from living abroad. This is as real a life as working 9 to 5 back in the States. But unlike a lot of people, I've chosen my path.

And never let it be said that living abroad means chasing pipe dreams or constant homesickness. We're chasing adventure!

Almost Done: Checking Off A Summertime Bucket List

Summer is over for the vast majority of people by now. My younger siblings have all started school, my friends have all returned from their vacations, and even my parents seem more routine-y lately. 

But I don't head back to classes until September 16th, and I'm still in (what should be) sunny Virginia, though it's gotten a little cloudy the last couple of days.

I made this summertime bucket list at the beginning of the summer, and now it's time to check off the last few. Here's a stock take of the as yet unchecked items....

Irish

1) Host a Fourth of July party/barbeque

My friend and I hosted a barbeque on July 4 at the BF's house. While we only expected a maximum of 20 people, more than 50 people and 6 hours later, we checked it off as a success.

2) See Cork City at sunrise

I have a sneaking suspicion that the boy reads this blog and gets date inspiration from it. I suppose that's smart. It's kind of like being able to read the girlfriend's mind without being psychic or having to call her friends. Anyway, he surprised me one day and suggested we get together early in the morning and drive out to watch the sun rise over Cork. Check!

3) Start a DIY project

Not quite a check yet, but I did buy all the supplies. That counts, right?

American

1) Host a beautiful bridal shower and bachelorette party for one of my loveliest friends

Check!! She's getting married so soon! 

2) Go hiking in the Blue Ridge

See Number 3.

3) Visit a Vineyard

I must confess that when I wrote 2 and 3 on this list, I knew exactly what kind of bachelorette party my friend wanted. So we went for a hike around the mountains and had a picnic wine tasting at a nearby vineyard. Check!

4) Go to an amusement park

Still unchecked!! 

5) Weekend at the beach

Spent the whole of a Sunday at an Ocean Club down in Southside Virginia with the boy and a great friend last week. Resounding check! 

6) Visit New York City

Epic speed visit to NYC with BF while he was visiting America for two weeks. So many friends to see in such a short time, we set up a big happy hour at a great pub called Fiddlesticks in Greenwich Village to see everyone at once!

7) Host a patio tea party

I don't even know what I was thinking with this one, but it is as yet UNCHECKED!

Summertime

1) Take a roadtrip (or several)

The most roadtrips have happened. But I'm still open to more! In the process of being checked!

2) Have a pool party

I don't have a pool, so I don't suppose this one was ever really going to happen. Wishful thinking, but still unchecked.

3) Surf (as much as possible)

So far this summer, it's only been ONCE! But we did manage a couple of days surfing in March. Does that count?

4) Camp out for a night under the stars

I had this great idea to get an inflatable pool and fill it with blankets for the evening (thank you, Pinterest!) but I haven't done it yet. So, UNCHECKED!

5) Attend an outdoor concert

In this case, I think Josh Groban at Wolf Trap counts! Woohoo! Check!

6) Make margaritas

As yet, unchecked. And yet it's so simple! Sheesh, Diva. Get it together!

7) Have a bonfire beach party

 I don't live near the beach, but I did hear talk of a nearby firepit..... Hopefully soon to be checked!

8) Go horseback riding

I love horses, and I miss riding so much sometimes. Horseback riding in late summer is like the best thing ever for some reason. As yet unchecked... the boy was too nervous to go with me ;) 

9) Eat popsicles

Easy and delicious. Check!

10) Visit a farmer's market

I suppose this can happen in the Fall, too. But see farmer's markets are cliché in the Fall, and therefore must be cooler in the summer. But Dad's grown a ton of peaches this year, so it's almost superfluous. 

11) Go to a carnival

Still unchecked!

12) Hang out with friends and family

The most checks. But I would love to add some more checks to this one, too!