The Best Bits About Being an Expatriate

We thought about calling this report – ‘the top ten (or 4) reasons for moving abroad’ – but really, if you’re thinking about becoming an expatriate you probably have your own list of reasons for escape.  Whether you want to go in search of better weather or more money, you want to retire to a more laidback pace of life or you want to hook back up with friends and family who have already emigrated, you probably don’t need much encouragement.

However, because we at Shelter Offshore have been lucky enough to live all over the world, we thought we’d show you why you’re so right to want to experience a whole new way of life.  So in this report we’ll share with you the best bits about being an expatriate – in our collective opinion!

Whilst you may well not need direction in terms of making the ultimate decision to start a new life – this report may very well give you that final soupcon of encouragement and positivity to enable you to put your plans into action, sooner rather than later.

Your Access to International Travel Options

One of the most wonderful things about escaping from the giant island that is the UK is the fact that all of a sudden you’re in the mix – you’re in a whole new territory, you are surrounded by different nations, you have altogether alternative travel options and you can explore!  In many parts of the UK you’re a fair distance away from even France – one of our closest neighbours.  But once you relocate, even if you move to Australia, all of a sudden the world seems to open up and travel options expand.

It may not be a factual reality that you’re closer to more nations for exploration, but by becoming an international citizen of the world – i.e., an expat – all of a sudden the whole world seems ripe for travel and adventure!  Few expatriates that we’ve come across seem content with sitting on their backsides in their new nation of choice.  Rather, once they’ve bitten the bullet and moved abroad, they want to see more of the world.

Of course there are the odd exceptions to the rule who have simply replaced their boring lifestyle in the UK for a boring existence in another – usually cheaper and sunnier - country somewhere else, but the rest of us immediately seem to see that there is so much more of the world to get to know.

Whether you’re presented with literally easier access to international travel options once you move abroad, or it’s more of a cognitive change or an emotional awakening, one of the best things about moving abroad is really and truly seeing more of this wonderful world of ours.

You Cannot Help But Learn!

As soon as you move away from your familiar network of friends and associates and you leave all that’s well known and straightforward behind, you have to learn a whole new way of everything!  You even have to learn how to shop at the local market and supermarket, you learn about new laws and traditions, you potentially learn a new language – or enough of it to get by.  And by beginning to learn again you engage parts of your brain that were probably in sleep mode since you left school or university! 

The advantages of this are so manifold – you make new friends, you have your belief system challenged, that which you thought you knew may well be altered and all of a sudden you realise that you’re open to change and opinions and you become a better person for it!  Absorb new cultures, languages, ways of life and languages and you can’t help but be a more open person – and one less likely to judge and jump to conclusions.  And that’s a good thing for sure.

You Broaden and Deepen Your Level of Acceptance

I wouldn’t say that moving abroad makes you a better person – for you are who you are!  However, by constantly being challenged on every level, you tend to become far more accepting.  Whilst this doesn’t mean you give up the beliefs and ideas you hold dear, you can learn a new understanding when it comes to what is and isn’t important.  Those who never travel can never understand a person from a different culture or religion – on meeting them on their own home turf they may marvel at the similarities that are in common – but meeting said person on their own turf, i.e., abroad, you quickly see how wonderfully different we all are – despite the similarities! 

Such an ‘awakening’ generally allows you to become more accepting and more challenging at the same time – you are less likely to take things at face value, more likely to explore and question and as a result you will probably get more out of your own life.

And Finally…You Gain a Higher Level of Appreciation

When you live in one country your whole life you become jaded by everything around you – even if you live in the most wonderful part of the UK with stunning views you’ll reach saturation point and fail to see those views most of the time.  You won’t appreciate the services you have around you – from the road gritters in winter to the libraries and leisure centres.  You’ll fail to appreciate the fab shopping options and the relative ease with which you can gain access to decent levels of medical and social support.

As soon as you move abroad and leave all of that behind you gain a sudden appreciation for all that you have lost!  Even if that’s only your access to Pukka Pies and HP Sauce!  What’s more, you suddenly appreciate the better weather, the sea views, your new friends and waking up every day in a whole new world.

Your level of appreciation and your ability to appreciate are heightened – and that is a very good thing indeed!  Trust us!