Difficulties of living in a foreign country you need to know

I moved out of my home country, Taiwan, when I was 15 and have been fortunate to live in several different foreign countries. Currently residing in New Zealand, working away, and enjoying the best I can 🙂 

While everything might seem so exciting and new at first, some difficulties of living in a foreign country slowly crept up on me after a while. I overcame everything that came my way, and 100% I will do it all over again.

I’m not here to scare you off from moving abroad, as going overseas was one of the best decisions I’ve made 🙂 Hoping for you to say the same, I’m here to prepare you for some challenges of living abroad that you may potentially face. And how to overcome those challenges so you can make the most of your life abroad! 

Feeling Homesick

This is one of the most common challenges you’ll face living abroad. Some people feel homesick just by living in a different city in their own country; let alone moving abroad. Everyone experiences different homesickness, some worse than others; it can be missing your family, friends, or food back home, not adjusting well to the new country you’re in, or simply just wanting to go back home to visit.

Feeling homesick doesn’t make you weak, and doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for living abroad. It is perfectly fine to be homesick but still enjoy your life abroad, and this is one of the difficulties of living in a foreign country that will always be there no matter how long you’ve done this. I’ve been overseas for 10 years and I still experience a little bit of homesickness now and then, I miss the food, my family, and my friends back home. 

To overcome homesickness while living abroad, you must focus on the present, not the past. Think of all the new things, and people you’re going to experience or meet, take up new hobbies and go out more often rather than staying at home alone all day. Remind yourself why you moved abroad in the first place. Just know it is no shame to miss home, and there is definitely no shame if you feel like it’s too much and going home is the only way to overcome this.

Read more on how to overcome homesickness while living abroad

Disconnection with your friends back home

You know how “BFF” was such a big and important thing when you were younger and in school, but then you graduate and you don’t even talk to half of your so-called BFF? It works the same when you move overseas, your lifestyles are different, time is different, and the language you speak might be different. Suddenly there’s nothing much for you and your friends back home to talk about, and you start to lose the connection you had before.

This is the challenge of living abroad which doesn’t necessarily happen to everyone and depends on the length of time you’re abroad. It usually happens slowly, and definitely not with all the friends back home. For me, I have one particular friend that I stay in touch with the whole time, as if I had never left. But the rest just phase out, we’re still friends and meet up when I’m back; but you can tell it’s just not the same.

And this doesn’t have to be a bad thing, everyone in life experiences different stages and meets different people. You have to move on with your own life eventually, this is an opportunity for you to expand your network and make new friends. And to make it cringe like the quote says

“People who are meant to be in your life will always come back”.

Miss the warmth of family

When you move abroad alone, you’re basically on your own. Your family is back home and can’t always be there when you need them, they’re just a phone call away but it just feels different than seeing them in person. Especially during the holidays, when everyone but you, is spending time with their families. This is the challenge of living abroad that will always linger around but will get easier in time.

To overcome this challenge of living abroad, you can make friends and create your own little family overseas. You’d be surprised how much warmth those people can give you when you’re feeling a bit lonely 🙂 I’ve spent more holidays with my friends than family since I moved overseas, and I always feel loved. Family doesn’t have to be from the same bloodline, they should be who you feel the most comfortable with!

Leave everything behind

This is a combination of all the difficulties living in a foreign country mentioned above. It is very hard to leave things behind, and it’s harder as you age. But going overseas means you’d have to let certain things go, and understand that there is only so much you can do for the people, issues, and problems back home. 

And there’s no need to feel guilty about it, at some point in life people have to make the decision for themselves and not for everyone else in the world. Put yourself first, and remember the reasons you choose to move overseas. Try your best to do what you can from overseas, and leave it to the people back home for the rest 🙂

Adapt to a new environment

The difficulty of living in a foreign country varies. Some people find it easy to overcome this, like me. I didn’t have much problem adapting to all the countries I’ve lived in. But some people, find this the hardest when they first move overseas. Either way, no matter how good you are at adapting to a new environment, there are always some little things you might find a bit strange and need time to get used to; whether it is the culture, food or ways of life, etc.

The key to overcoming this challenge of living overseas is to have an open mind. Try out everything, learn new cultures, and new food, and make friends with the locals. It is not to force yourself into their ways of life, it is to give you a chance to understand the country better! 

You’re in a new country, experiencing as many new things as possible. Do the things you wouldn’t normally do when you’re back home. The best part about living overseas is that you get to somehow start from scratch and become a different person!

Language Barrier (Different accents included)

Depending on which country you go to, it can be a completely different language or the same language with different accents or different dialects. Especially when you first move, a lot of misunderstandings and confusion can be caused by that, it can be funny, frustrating, or inconvenient. 

When I first went to live in Alabama, USA, I was struggling to understand some words they were saying, as it was my first time in the southern part of the state. And some people have thicker southern accents than others. I remember not understanding much of what my history teacher back in high school was saying, so I had to ask my friend constantly for the notes. And then I moved to Wales in the UK, which was another challenging accent as well. 

This is one of the challenges of living overseas that can get better with time, but you do need to make some efforts as well. Talk to as many locals as possible, ask if you don’t understand, and have as many conversations as possible. Download an app to help improve the language. Step out of your comfort zone, you can’t expect to learn a new language by avoiding it!

Overwhelmed with unfamiliar things

Change is hard for everyone to instantly accept and/or adapt to. Whether it’s a change of workplace, school, or in this case a different country. And everyone manages it differently, at some point, this difficulty of living in a foreign country will creep up on you. When there’s too much change at the same time, people get overwhelmed and that’s totally understandable. 

It might be things like food isn’t as good as back home, stars aren’t as beautiful, people speak different languages, or the weather is different, etc. Any little change can pile up, in the end, to make you feel overwhelmed. To avoid this as much as possible is to try and manage those little things one at a time, accept what you can’t change, and focus on what you might be able to. 

Me, coming from Taiwan, food is a huge part of my life. But since I moved across the other side of the world, it’s been hard to get authentic Taiwanese food or it’s just too expensive. So I started to learn how to cook it myself, while the food is not perfect, it gives me a sense of comfort! 

Also, I was a city girl growing up, so it wasn’t easy adapting to a more remote countryside lifestyle; but then now I fell in love with hiking, connecting with nature, and admiring the greatness of mother nature!

All that said, the key to overcoming this challenge of living overseas is to focus on the positives, and turn the negatives into something you’re comfortable with. And stop comparing your hometown to the country you’re moving to; it won’t do you any good!

The legal side of the stuff

It’s hard enough as it is understanding the laws, how tax or insurance works in your home country, let alone moving to a different country with maybe a different language. This is one of the difficulties of living in a foreign country that can really get annoying and frustrating. And sometimes you’ll just have to learn it the hard way, from the mistakes you make.

Another common issue you’d run into would be visas, understanding how it works, the validity and travel conditions, etc.. But with the advancement of technology now, you can find some communities, and Facebook groups for internationals like you to share different knowledge, visa tips, and all that. Contacting immigration or an agent could also be a way to sort out your confusion.

Always ask if you don’t understand, there’s no dumb question especially when it comes to your rights, whether it is your personal right, employees’ rights, etc. Make sure you’re getting paid fairly, and have proper leave days.

Talks from other people

At Some point in life you’ll experience people talking about you behind your back, or just directly judging you in the face. You might hear things like “why are you leaving your family behind”, “You must be so well off to be able to move overseas” or many many other comments about your choice to live abroad. And these comments can come from your family, your friends, or even some strangers you just met.

There’s really no way to stop people from talking behind you, or making comments about your choices in life; there’s not much way to stop this challenge of living overseas. But if you know moving overseas is what you want, you just need to follow your heart and ignore what others are saying. Don’t let it get to your head, even if it really is a bad choice, it is your bad choice to make, not other people’s.

Key to overcoming these difficulties of living in a foreign country

• Remember why you decided to move overseas

Whether it’s for work, study, or a better lifestyle, there are many reasons for a person to move overseas. Remember why you make the decision to leave the comfort of your home, and every time you’re feeling a bit down, think of that!

• Make new friends, and blend in the new environment

Friends are very important especially when you move to a new environment, they are the people that can show you around, and accompany you when you’re down. 

• Understand that every emotion you’re feeling is valid, and not a sign of weakness

No matter what you’re feeling, instead of trying to ignore it and hope it’ll get better, try to talk to other people about it. Face the emotion, it’s normal to feel sad, lonely, and down, and it definitely doesn’t mean you’re weak or living overseas is not suitable for you.

• Focus on the positives of the new country

There are good things and bad things anywhere you go, and focusing on the positives in the new country you moved to will help you like the country better, and adapt faster. It works really well for me when I start realizing the beauty of the country, I start to fall in love with where I am and actually enjoy it a lot better!

• Go out more often

Try to socialize as much as possible, go out, make new friends and blend in with the culture. Don’t be too shy or afraid of making mistakes in speaking a different language, there’s no better way to learn than speaking every day!

• Try not to compare your life back home and overseas

It’s human instinct to compare everything, and at times it is ok to do so. But in this situation, the more you compare the more you’re going to miss home. And you’ll spiral into a nonstop comparison loop. Do yourself a favor, start your life from scratch in the new country, and have an open mind 🙂

• Never be afraid to ask

If you don’t know the laws, regulations, or language well. NEVER be afraid to ask, it’s better to understand before you make a huge mistake. Of course, sometimes you just gotta learn from your mistakes. 

Let me know below what helps or what are some difficulties of living in a foreign country for you!