







Hello guys, I hope you're doing amazing this week.





This week's post is going to be personal and based on my experience living abroad. I hope you like it and that this can help you in some way.





I think it's fair to start by explaining why I decided to leave Portugal.

For the ones that don't know, this is not my first time living abroad. When I was 12, my mom left our country and started a new life in Switzerland. I was young and my French (at the time) was not the best. It was not easy at first because I had to deal with a lot of racism and stupidity from people and general, but besides that, it was an awesome experience and I would do it all over again.





Now I'm 22 and I decided to leave Portugal again to start a new life and try to be happy.

I finished college last year and I thought to my self that my life needed a change. A big one.

I always wanted to leave Portugal, to be honest. I never felt really happy in there. The only thing that made me really happy where my friends, my true friends. But time was flying by and I started to feel depressed, sad and doubting everything I believed in.





In February my mom came to the rescue and I left. I currently live and work in France, but things are not always easy.

But in other hand, I feel grateful for being close to my family, but I really miss some people that are still in Portugal and are super important to me. But hey, I talk to them everyday and hopefully they'll visit me soon (can't wait!).





Besides that, the things I consider the most complicated are the cultural difference between me and some people in here. Sometimes the language/culture differences get in the way and I feel overwhelmed. I'm super open minded and I respect everyone, but sometimes the big problem is that others don't put themselves in your shoes, you know? If they had to leave their country, speak another language and don't have all the support from family/friends they had before, well, things would be different.

Sometimes I feel anxious when talking to my boss or even to my co-workers because I'm afraid of not saying things correctly... I guess it's all in my head, but my body reacts in those moments. I feel very stressed and I start doubting everything.

It's probably a language barrier that I have. I have no idea why I fell so scared of rejection or error. And I am super tough with myself. I want to do things perfectly and sometimes I put waaaay to much pressure on me.

I guess this happens because I never worked abroad and I'm scared of failure. But I try my hardest and my best to do things the best way possible and to please everyone at work!

But in a general way, I had the chance to meet some nice co-workers and some other super nice people in general.

My boss is actually pretty nice and helps me a lot when I'm in trouble, that's a plus!





I try my best to adapt to new situations and I like that challenge. To step out of my comfort zone and embrace this new world it's not easy, but I like it. It's interesting to get to know other people's backgrounds and to learn something with them.

Sometimes my anxiety fucks everything because I don't believe in myself and I start to tremble and I just want to cry for not felling capable of doing certain things, but it's all in my head. I can do it and I will continue to challenge myself everyday.

Food wise, I like some typical dishes from here. I'm picky with food because I barely eat meat, I don't like milk or butter and I don't really like certain cheeses. Those smelly ones, god. But hey, I survive. It's not thaaaat bad.





The cool thing about living in another country, is that you can share your own culture.

I do that a lot, even at work! I like to tell tourists that I'm Portuguese and usually we create a bond and start laughing for some reason.

Things are not bad in here, you just have to be open minded and accept others in your world, and hopefully others will do the same and be nice to you.

Do I regret changing country? No, not at all!

I would do this all over again. I like how things are going in here.





I have my own apartment, I live with my sis and I have a kitty. That's cool, believe me.

My neighbours are a bit loud, but they are nice, in a general way.





If you're thinking about moving abroad, do it. Embrace the idea, meet new people, travel and be happy. Change things and most importantly, change your life for the best. Don't live in fear and don't regret the things you didn't do.





I really hope this post can help you in someway. Remember that this is not a super detailed type of experience, but if you want me to write more about this, please tell me in the comments bellow.





Oh, and please don't forget to follow my social media! You can send me messages, suggestions or simply say hello!

That makes my day.





Have a great day and I'll see you on my nest post!





XO,

Di.