What does home mean to you?
Living abroad gives you freedom. A powerful word comes with great responsibility.
I looked back on my life journey until now. I won’t regret any decision to move abroad. Twelve years have passed already this month. I never returned, and I will stay longer.
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I decided to write about the power of freedom in living abroad, as it relates to change. Change is hard at any time. It requires open-mindedness, flexibility, agility, trust, and optimism. Our mental health and sense of security will expand as our comfort zone through challenges extrapolates living in different cultures and environments.
My story begins in Portugal. I was born in Cascais, surrounded by the coastline. Although, I grew up listening to most of my childhood and teenagehood stories about Mozambique, as all of my direct family was born or lived there.
I am for the motto: life is made by phases. You are born in a specific place. Then you grow up in the same or another location depending on your parents’ decision. Yet, it does not mean you have to stay in the same place all your life.
I moved to Denmark twelve years ago, more than one month in Ukraine, sometimes here and there in The Netherlands, and my most extended stay is in Sweden (10 years so far). It has been an exciting melting pot in how it moulded my personality, as it has allowed me to acquire new perspectives of seeing life and meet and connect with people worldwide.
It’s a strange feeling to say I am fully from a specific culture or country. All these countries made me the person I am now. It defined my mindset, way of living, and eating.
You immerse in the culture while you experience it every day and for an extended period. As time passes, you learn deeper while interacting with people, culture, and the way of living, and you consistently acquire the most significant experiences in your life.
I am not referring to travels, hikes or workshops abroad. I guess most of us do it. As you know, living in another country is not the same. The longer you live abroad and are independent, the better you know yourself.
You leave your comfort zone, your close ones, your past life. You have the opportunity to build yourself according to your purpose, freedom to design your life, and, of course, great responsibility.
Developing new ways of interacting with the world and unlearning what is no longer relevant takes time, continuous awareness-growth-reflection, and accountability — it is transformative and highly personal.
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. — Nietzsche.
The challenges we face once living in a different culture indicate suffering should be taken as an opportunity to build strength and resilience. Those who are already persistent and strong stay in their new homeland. Honestly, I would not fit in if I had to return to my birthplace, being the person I am now. And, I still keep connected to friendships from there.
I want to share a few takeaways I have learned while living out of my birth country.
1 — Diverse people can achieve exceptional outcomes
While working in multicultural teams with different skills and backgrounds, I understood that if we all have ownership, we can take the best of each and produce superior outcomes.
2 — Focus on the positivity
While living abroad, I have been developing a sense of focus, simplifying as best as possible, and immersing myself in activities I enjoy. Therefore, I avoid rumination and nurture my mental and physical wellbeing. Freedom brings great responsibility, and it’s healthy to set goals and break them into feasible steps. Sure there is uncertainty, but if we prepare for the worst, we are flexible and open to adjusting our plans according to the changing circumstances and keep the positivity inside us. It allows innovation and change. I always thrive in environments where there is cultural and gender diversity.
3 — Focus more on liveability
Keep the question in mind, What does home mean to you?
Is it the size, the vibe of the city and the people? Is the infrastructure, medium size, easy to walk and bike in, or the lower crime levels? The opportunities life can bring to you? Is it the empathy you feel for the culture and language?
Liveability means social interaction and, therefore, well-being.
4 — Peace must be shared
Unfortunately, some places in the world are destroyed by war. It’s strangely sad to watch images in Ukraine where I have been and recognise which are now devastated. The most resilient and strong people I met. I took inspiring lessons in many aspects of life there. The most emotional moment for me was when I talked to people whose relatives experienced the Holodomor by Stalin. I didn’t even know what Holodomor meant until that moment. Peace is a human right, and it should be a universal gift.
In summary, our present gives us great opportunities to create enjoyable living places. If we embrace ideas of diversity, optimism, livability, shared peace, and safe spaces for everyone, then our future cities genuinely be home, and it’s an idea worth spreading.
