What Living Abroad Teaches You

Nothing we ever set out to do goes exactly as planned, and moving abroad was no exception. I moved from the United States to Argentina in January 2019 and I haven't left since... which hasn't really been by choice.

The pandemic has made it 10xs harder to visit home since I am still considered a tourist in Argentina. If I were to leave, it would be difficult to return because the borders are closed to non-residents due to the pandemic.

Even though this has been a difficult situation for me, I have had countless opportunities, good graces, and learning experiences by being here, especially during such a pivotal time worldwide.

I wanted to share with you some of the key things that living abroad has taught me so far.

1.Once you take a huge leap of faith, it's easier to continue down that road. I must say when I first moved here, I needed a chance to settle in, get my footing and catch my breath. The ground beneath me was rocky for at least a year, so taking another leap wasn't an option. However, later on, I began to realize that my leap began to pay off. As time went on and my huge leap began to reap the benefits, smaller yet important leaps became easier to make. Not only that, but I had learned to take more calculated leaps from the tough experience I had moving here.

2. We deserve to explore the parts of ourselves that we've always wanted to explore. When I was a kid, I always wanted to live in a Spanish-speaking country, learn the language and experience the customs. I didn't get the chance to study abroad in school, although it was something I truly had a desire to do. I didn't let that one missed opportunity to study abroad ruin the dream though, I still managed to find a way to live in a Spanish- speaking country years later.

It's always worth trying out those dreams that put a smile on your face when you think about them, especially if it has been a theme throughout your entire life.

3. What you want, won't always be easy, but if it's what you really want, it will be worth it. I quite literally jumped off of a cliff when I came here. No money, leaving behind a solid group of family and friends, a growing yoga business. On top of that, I was reaching a point where I finally felt like I was answering my true calling. But then I got another call, and I was told to go to Argentina.

So many people told me it was going to be hard, and so many people were right, but what they didn't tell me was I would learn some of the most important lessons in my life, and make some of the deepest transformations while experiencing massive growth.

From always going with my gut when choosing a roommate, to living on my own and the responsibility that carries, to becoming a digital nomad, a writer, a social media manager, virtual assistant, and virtual yoga teacher. These things are a part of me because I came to Argentina.

4. If you feel a soul connection with someone, you should listen to your gut. I came here because one, I was offered a ticket by a good friend, and two, there was/is a man living here that I wanted to visit since I met him. I met Julian in January of 2017 during a trip to Nicaragua where I was teaching yoga.

I had just taught a New Years' retreat to a group that was visiting the vegan lodge on Apoyo Lake. We did a ritual for the new year, letting go of 2016 and welcoming in new energy for 2017, and for me, the experience was life-changing being that it was my first time outside of the United States, my first solo trip, and such a low time in my life that I was trying to pull myself out of.

I went to Nicaragua to heal. There was someone that I had been trying to let go of for a long time, so I decided the best way to heal was to get away. I signed up for a work-trade position on yogatrade.com and got an opportunity to teach yoga for a month and a half at the first place I applied to. It couldn't have been anymore destined.

That weekend after the New Year Retreat I met Julian, on a boat, on the way to Ometepe Island. The time spent with him felt natural and easy, almost like we had known each other before.

Once we returned back to our homes, we kept in touch throughout the years, updating each other on major life events and sending videos and pictures of our lives in our own countries. I told him for years I would visit him in Argentina. At times I truly believed I would, but other times I thought it couldn't possibly happen...until it did.

Once I visited, everything worked out so perfectly for me to move here, that I should have known that it wouldn't be THAT easy, but when I tell you it was worth it, I mean it.

Julian has taught me how to look at the world through a totally different lens. We are everything the other one isn't and it creates a balance in our relationship. We're able to let eachother shine and contribute in equal parts, and it something really beautiful that I am blessed to experience.

5. Spanish in school isn't Spanish in the real world. So I came here "knowing" Spanish, but when I realized, I didn't actually know Spanish like I thought I knew Spanish, my confidence was shot.

I only recently came across some videos of US people who learned how to speak fluent Castellano (Argentine Spanish) who had a similar problem as me. They thought they knew Spanish, but quickly realized what they learned in school, didn't really prepare them for real life. Also, like me, their confidence felt shot because they felt like if they got it wrong, the world was over, so they just kept it very minimal.

It was only after accepting that we can't be perfect, and mistakes will naturally happen that we are able to relax and not care as much about our imperfections when speaking a second language. And I mean it's pretty obvious by my looks that I'm not native anyway, and luckily more people find this charming than not.

I'm also feeling more confident as I am able to hear the words separately and steal more phrases. In the beginning and for a long time into my learning process, while people were speaking, I wasn't able to hear the individual words, everything just seemed to connect. Now my listening has improved tremendously and I am able to decipher the words more clearly.

My vocabulary is constantly growing and I am able to insert it into my daily conversations more. I still have a long way to go, but I don't stress over speaking to people like I once would have, although I find it most difficult speaking to a group of people in my age group. They speak faster, with more slang, and don't pronounce words as clearly. This has made it harder to socialize with peers. Luckily I have found people that I am able to connect with, although I still would love to have closer friendships here.

Even though I don't have those friendships, it has given me more time to focus on who I want to become. So although I am open to developing those close friendships, the pandemic and new country thing has made it really easy to put the focus on self-development at this moment in time.

If you would like to learn more about my experience living abroad, I wrote an ebook called "What Are You Doing In Argentina" about my first year here.

I would also like to write more blogs about my experience, so leave a like if you would like to see more too!

Follow more of my journey on Instagram!

Social Media Manager page: @calminggraphics

Yoga Page: @vibrantmoves

Until next time friends,

Candice