The first months

1. Adrenaline becomes part of your life

From the moment you decide to move abroad, the word “routine” disappears from your vocabulary. New places, new habits, new challenges – building your life again from scratch can feel scary at first, but before long it becomes something you enjoy.

2. You start to realize that courage is overrated

Lots of people will keep telling you how brave you are. But you'll know that courage was only a small part of the decision – the rest was simply wanting to try. From the moment we decide to go for something, we're neither cowards nor heroes. We just deal with the challenges, one after another.

3. You learn to be patient and to ask for help

When you live abroad, even the simplest tasks can become a challenge: sorting out paperwork, finding the right word, knowing which bus to take. Slowly you accept that asking for help is unavoidable, and you naturally learn to trust other people and their kindness.

4. You become a tourist in your own city

The “tourist traps” you probably never visited in your hometown become must-sees in your new home. Soon you're the expert on every sight in your new city, and when someone comes to visit, it's hard to pick just a few places – you want to recommend everything.

A new everyday life

5. And suddenly, you're free

You were always free, but now your freedom feels different. Once you've left your comfort zone and built a life abroad, you feel like you could achieve anything. The cage opened, you got out, and you can't stop flying.

6. You no longer speak just one language

Sometimes a word in another language slips out by accident, and sometimes you come up with the one perfect word, only to find it's in a language the person you're talking to doesn't understand. As you try to pick up a new language without forgetting your own, the words sometimes tangle into a mix that's yours alone.

7. You're short of words (and have too many at the same time)

When someone asks about your new life, you can't find the words to describe it all. But later, in the middle of an ordinary conversation, something reminds you of “that time when…” and you have to stop yourself so you don't take over the whole conversation with stories about life abroad.

8. Time is measured in short moments

Your new life races along at a crazy pace. Time moves so strangely that you learn to split it into small pieces you can actually hold on to: a video call with your family, a message to an old friend or a beer at the bar with new ones.

How you'll change

9. Normal? What is normal?

You quickly realize that “normal” just means whatever is socially acceptable where you are. Once you've settled into a different culture, your idea of normal starts to shift. You get to know yourself a little better by discovering which things you truly believe in and which are simply things you picked up from the culture you grew up in.

10. You learn to say goodbye... and to enjoy it

You soon realize that many things and people in your life are just passing through. You learn to find that perfect balance between connecting with someone and knowing how to let them go – you start living somewhere between being practical and feeling nostalgic.

11. Homesickness hits when you least expect it

A dish, a song, a smell. The smallest trigger can wake a terrible longing for home. You miss the little things you never thought you'd miss, and you'd give anything to share that feeling, even for a moment, with someone who understands.

12. You change

Life abroad is a journey that changes you at the core – it shakes your beliefs and your fears right down to the roots. You might not notice it right away, but when you look back at the past year, you'll definitely see how much you've grown and how much stronger you've become.

When you go back home

13. Your whole home fits in a suitcase

From the moment you have to squeeze your life into a suitcase, what you called home changes. One day you'll feel at home in your new city and realize that home isn't walls – it's your experiences, habits, memories and the streets you walk every day.

14. You know it's not about “where” but “when” and “how”

Deep down you know you don't miss a place – you miss that magical moment when you're in the right place with the right people. A piece of you is everywhere you've ever lived, so sometimes going back to the same place isn't enough – because what you miss isn't the place but what you lived through there.

15. You have two of everything

Two library cards, two bank accounts, two favorite cities and two sides of life that keep blending into each other. Living in two countries means constant, but very interesting, juggling between two worlds.

16. When you go back home... everything looks the same

You go home for a few free days and you're surprised how nothing seems to have changed. Your life keeps changing nonstop, while back home life goes on the way it always has, everyone busy with their daily routines, and suddenly you realize your own life isn't going to settle down like that for a long time yet.

17. And... there's no turning back now

Once you know what it means to give up comfort, start everything from scratch and be amazed every day by the world and its variety, sitting still becomes impossible. The world is so big that you're left with a constant urge to discover new places and new opportunities.

And where could your story begin?

You don't need all the answers right now. Browse the programs and find the place where your first “I did it” could begin. Applying through Kastu is completely free.

Not sure where to start?

Talk to KastuGPT – it asks you a few questions and helps you find fields of study that match your interests. You're not committing to anything.