Advice to My Pre-expat Self: Expat Q+A

As the holidays come around, I can't help but long for family, friends, our music and food-filled celebrations, and egg nog. So I've been living in Peru the last two years and have grown accustomed to a lot of things here, which is fun and really makes me feel like a local. But there are always things that I miss, whether its a person, food, a mindset, or a natural beauty. I'm glad to be joining Belinda and Bailie with another Expats Q+A link-up today, sharing some advice to my former pre-expat self.

Question 1. What advice would you give to your pre-expat self? 

Traveling and living abroad actually showed me that there are more opportunities to take advantage, even back in the town and state where I'm from. While I definitely love international travel, it's nice to remember that there's so much to explore wherever you may be. So I would tell myself to take advantage of all those opportunities. (ie. after living near San Francisco for nearly all my life, I just checked 'walking the Golden Gate bridge' off my bucket list last year!)

And, I'd tell myself to take pictures of everything! My first time living abroad in Spain was during college. It's funny looking back at those pictures, the majority of partying or silly times. I would have told myself to start photographing any and everything. But I suppose that's where I was at that age...

{more bucket list items here}

Question 2. How do you reconcile what you thought life would be like in your new home and it is in actuality? i.e. did you think you would be fluent in your new language and your are struggling with the basics.

Moving to Peru was kind of like a big jump of eagerness to leave the US. I was planning to probably teach abroad and perfect my Spanish. Although, the reality of transitioning from traveling for several months to working full-time, was a big adjustment. While my time and experiences were more limited, I was able to live more like a local and rent a place. There are times I wish I could be traveling and exploring again, but it's a trade-off I've taken to be here. But we're planning to take more short trips the upcoming year and I can't wait!

{photo from my old apartment in Cusco}

Good to see you here - join in the link-up if you'd like!