Quit your job and live abroad in 2019: 10 places so cheap you might not need to work
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So you want lớn live abroad and travel the world?
Well, are you a backpacker, or an expat? Or maybe lượt thích me, you’ve been a bit of both.
We all like to travel in different ways and to change it up sometimes, but thinking about my summer plans got me thinking; vì I prefer travelling as a backpacker or an expat? Let the battle commence!
The best things about backpacking
Backpacking is traditionally seen as nomadic. Recently there’s been a big “quit your job, pack your bag and do a round the world trip” movement. It’s a great adventure, & it’s now easier than ever with so many resources out there about how to do it. But whether you go for one long trip, or take shorter backpacking stints lượt thích me, it’s a completely different way of travelling than living abroad & so it has very different benefits!
The freedom of backpacking
Backpacking is the freest I have ever felt. When you’re backpacking you don’t usually have any other cares in the world. Backpacking gives you the freedom to go where you want when you want. There doesn’t have lớn be any planning involved if you don’t want there to lớn be và each day you wake up khổng lồ is your own to bởi vì what you’d like. Unless you’ve decided to lớn be a digital nomad và working on the road, which is kind of different again, then each day you wake up you’re không lấy phí to vì as you please.
Make more friends backpacking
Backpacking solo didn’t used to lớn be much of a thing, or maybe it just wasn’t talked about, but now you can find all sorts of solo travel guides specifically for backpackers. If you’ve ever been backpacking you know you can make your friends on the road. Backpacking is lượt thích joining this amazing club where you all have this shared community feeling và you make friends everywhere, in buses, train stations, dorms, restaurants, everywhere.
In your normal life if you started chatting to lớn the person next lớn you on the bus into town you wouldn’t be drinking with them that night and spending almost every hour of the next 2 weeks with them. That would be weird. But when you’re backpacking making friends can be that easy.
Visit more destinations
When you backpack you can see a lot. Whether you travel fast or slow, you’re usually jumping from place to lớn place without any backtracking so you can see multiple countries & places in each country if you choose to. There are no restrictions, other than your own money & time. There’s no going trang chủ at the end of the weekend, or only fitting one or two places into your annual leave trip.
Budget backpacking
Backpacking can be a really cost-effective way to travel, depending on where you go of course. If you live the hostel life & take public transport everywhere then it can even be cheaper than staying at home since you have less ongoing expenses. Backpacking saves you money on all those return flights you normally have khổng lồ book, và you can see much more of a country in one go.
The downsides of backpacking
Backpacking can be tiring
On the other hand, backpacking has its drawbacks. Being constantly on the move can be tiring & some days you just get over travelling. You don’t want to lớn go và see another bloody waterfall or stay in another dodgy bunk bed in a room full of other people. On those days if your budget allows it you can treat yourself, or you can stay a bit longer where you are, but the time on the road & lack of solid foundations can wear you down.
A lot of travellers I know are turning to slow travel lớn help this. Instead of trying lớn tick so many places off the các mục they are sticking lớn fewer places for longer in each one. This means more time on the road which you might not be able lớn do, and seeing less in that time which defeats one of the great benefits of backpacking!
Only skimming the surface of places & cultures
All this movement makes it harder to lớn delve deeper into the culture of a place you’re visiting. You don’t spend long enough there to lớn learn the language và customs, although you might pick some up. You don’t have a regular bar or coffe and you don’t get lớn know the place like a local, even if you try to lớn have the best local experience you can. You might fall in love with one place while you’re there, but soon enough you’ll be on your way again, your spot replaced by other backpackers coming through.
The same conversations over và over
Of course, it’s not a reason to lớn not go travelling, but constantly meeting new people and having the same conversations can get old.
“Yes I’m from New Zealand, no I haven’t lived there in awhile, no I’m not working, I studied law at university, I’m moving to Scotland, I’ve been travelling for 2 months, I’m travelling for however many more, yes I’ve been lớn the the last place you were in and I missed that thing you’e telling me is the best thing about it.”
When I was travelling with a German friend in Canada we would each take a turn answering all the questions which worked brilliantly, until the other person was asked a direct question và had to lớn speak, revealing a different accent và a whole new phối of the same questions!
Saying goodbye all the time
Just because it’s easy to lớn make friends backpacking doesn’t mean it’s easy lớn keep them. While some of the people you meet backpacking will be friends for life, unfortunately, a lot of the time you’ll never see them again. I lượt thích to try và take exception to this as much as possible, & I’ve seen many friends in different places later on, but it’s up to lớn you khổng lồ make it happen and sadly more often than not it doesn’t. When you backpack you have to get used to lớn the goodbyes.
This is where expat life và living abroad comes in. As an expat you basically get lớn reverse all the downsides of being a backpacker.
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The best things about living abroad
What does living abroad mean? Living abroad means you have decided khổng lồ move lớn one place, at least for a little while! It may mean you over up living in multiple countries, or maybe just one. Being an expat means you can get lớn know a place a lot more, khổng lồ the point it can become a home. Spending longer in a place means more to lớn time explore, find out its quirks và more about the culture. This is where you discover things that a backpacker would never have the chance to.
Deeper connections with friends
The connections you make with people are different when you move abroad. There is more time to lớn get khổng lồ know people & build lasting relationships. It can sometimes be more difficult but if you know how to make friends when you move abroad then you’ll find the friends you vì make can really make it feel like home.
Living abroad means you have the opportunity to meet more people who will become lifelong friends. Hopefully you’re able lớn make friends with locals rather than just other expats or transient friendships with people passing through, and then if you leave you’ll have friends to visit later, plus you’ll really get to know a place!
Not spending all of your money
Living abroad means you don’t have to lớn quit your job & then spend all your money on travelling. It gives you the chance khổng lồ find work overseas and địa chỉ cửa hàng to your work experience. Even if it’s not doing exactly what you’d lượt thích to be doing, working abroad can help you decide what you want to vì or lead lớn different opportunities later.
If you’re moving abroad you can leave trang chủ with less money than you’d need for extended travelling, but make sure you learn from the experience of others how not to move abroad! Living abroad does mean work, but there are so many opportunities khổng lồ work differently than you’d have to at home. I teach english in Spain for 12 hours a week and have enough lớn live on, something that would be impossible in New Zealand or Australia! It gives me the freedom lớn pursue other interests (like this blog!) and travel.
Stability and adventures
Living abroad teaches you about choosing the adventure. When we travel we go out of our way to see things & explore in a way we never would at home. When we live abroad we usually we explore our new homes & surroundings like someone who is travelling, but with more time, & we constantly seek new adventures. It’s something we should vị more when we’re at home, và living abroad shows us how to bởi it.
Living abroad gives you stability, but the opportunity to lớn have new adventures at the same time. You can go off travelling & return again to lớn the familiar, but it’s still different than home. You get the best of both worlds!
Understanding the culture of your new country
If you choose lớn live abroad in a place where your native language isn’t the first language then you have the time to lớn try and learn it. You can get lớn know the little quirks about your new country và even things particular to lớn your new city. It’s always different living somewhere than travelling there, & living abroad means you get khổng lồ find that out! I learnt so much living in Spain that I never knew when I just travelled there.
Living abroad is a challenge, but that makes it rewarding
Some people think that living abroad is scarier than backpacking, but I think you shouldn’t be afraid of living abroad or any kind of travelling! Living abroad means having to set up a whole new life somewhere, whereas backpacking means you can be on the move và it doesn’t matter if you don’t make friends và socialise in one place, there’s always another coming up soon.
There are some things I wish I’d known before I moved abroad. When you live abroad you have to lớn face challenges lượt thích trying to lớn make a new social group, bureaucracy in setting up your life with visas, bank accounts and accommodation, & often a language barrier that can wear you down some days. You wouldn’t be alone in wondering if you made a mistake in moving abroad at some point, but I would never say you should only travel to avoid these challenges because facing those is what makes living abroad so rewarding. When you go away from your new trang chủ and feel lượt thích you’re returning trang chủ when you go back there, you’re on your way.
The downsides of living abroad
Less freedom
On the other hand, living abroad can mean less freedom. You are usually still tied khổng lồ some kind of work, so you’re not shunning the cubicle life for absolute freedom lượt thích a backpacker is. You still need khổng lồ work lớn live và that means fittting travel around work. That’s why choosing which country khổng lồ live abroad in is important because if you want lớn travel a lot you should try and move somewhere that it’s easy to bởi vì so!
Missing family & friends
You might miss your friends & family when you’re backpacking, but chances are you’re headed back there at some point và you’ll see them all again. Living abroad, especially if it’s on the other side of the world, means you miss out on a lot to do with your family & friends. Weddings, birthdays, new babies, most of it you won’t be there for & it genuinely sucks.
You can’t see as much as when you’re backpacking
I lived in the United Kingdom for two years & I took countless weekend trips, but when I wasn’t working for a few months I was able lớn see the most in a short amount of time. I also spent less money since I didn’t have rent to lớn pay at trang chủ and travelled cheaply!
Constantly travelling on weekends can have it’s drawbacks when you’re trying to integrate into a new place. You miss out on what’s happening in your new city & opportunities to make friends, but you also want khổng lồ see what you can when you can!
So, backpacker or expat?
Overall I think the best option for me is a mix of backpacking & living abroad. Travelling before & after living abroad is a great way lớn get this mix. I love taking long trips to see a lot of one area, but then I like to settle & feel like I have a trang chủ and a base somewhere, và get to know another culture on a deeper level. If living abroad turns into becoming an expat who never goes home, then taking time off for some extended backpacking adventures will soon fix the itchy feet!
What vì chưng you think? Would you rather be a backpacker or an expat?
Want khổng lồ make the move abroad but not sure how? kiểm tra out How lớn Choose a Country khổng lồ Move To và Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Living Abroad!Sonja x
