Right now I am writing to you from the German city of Munich. As I told you in a previous post, I got the Global Training scholarship and I've been here since November 2019. It's almost 9 months now and I'm more or less settled, but beginnings are always hard and I'm here to tell you my story about living abroad.

I had never had the opportunity to be independent before. The most I had ever been away from home was when I went on holidays, camps or during my trip to Ecuador which lasted about 20 days. In this post I will tell you about my experience in general but later I will publish a post with all the details about moving to Munich.

I finished my university studies and I felt that I had missed the fact of going on Erasmus and I had always heard that having international experience on your CV is highly valued because that in turn, in a certain indirect way, can imply many things: foreign languages, autonomy, adaptability, open-mindedness, responsibility, confidence...

That's why I started to look for ways to work abroad for a while and I considered many options. First, I thought about doing a master's degree that interested me in Barcelona, as I really like the city, but I decided to postpone the master's degree until I was sure I wanted to do it. Then I changed my mind and thought about going to Australia to improve my English. As I got a C1 in the language, I changed my mind (besides, the price of moving to Australia was quite high, but I still don't rule it out for the future).

Finally, I managed to get the scholarship I told you about and my destination was Munich.

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Preparations for moving abroad

In my case, I only had two weeks to get used to the idea and prepare everything.

• "Ana, the job is yours and they need you to go as soon as possible".

So I bought the one-way flight to fly to Munich two weeks later and started telling everyone about it, very excitedly. It was very strange, because I felt I didn't have the fear or nerves I thought I would have. The fear and nerves came before I accepted the proposal. Long conversations with my close circle, pondering whether I should accept or not. Once I had accepted, I just got everything ready. It's as if my brain didn't let me feel any of that, perhaps to help me concentrate better.

After packing my bags and backpack and saying goodbye to everyone, I set off for the German city. As it was winter, my suitcases were packed with boots, jumpers and more warm clothes, but months later I discovered a website with which it is cheaper to bring or send clothes to Spain. The name of the website is Genei and is a shipping comparator with agencies to try to send packages at the best price nationally and internationally.

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First days: The downturn

I had already been warned. They told me that there would come a time when I would assimilate it and I would feel down. And it did. When you move to a new city, you probably don't know anyone there and you feel lonely. You have to find your own way from the very first moment you move and the stress begins. When you most need to have your loved ones close to you and it turns out that they are not there.

The day I arrived I was greeted by the woman who was going to be my flatmate for the next few months. Two days later she had to leave for a month and that's when the real feeling of loneliness hit me. I called a friend on Skype and that's when I started crying for the first time.

However, she encouraged me to make contacts through Facebook. Leaving embarrassment behind, I started joining Facebook groups like "Spanish people in Munich" and found a post that talked about joining a WhatsApp group where plans were made to meet and get to know more newcomers.

Through LinkedIn I also found the previous intern who was in my company. I was very lucky, because she introduced me to her friends, a great group, and they have ended up being my friends too. And so, by meeting people from different groups, you build up your network little by little and the loneliness disappears (even a little bit) and living abroad becomes easier.

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10 more benefits of an experience abroad

As I have already mentioned, it is very well regarded at the curricular level. But that's not all, I see many other advantages to this experience of living abroad:

• You increase your adaptability by stepping out of your comfort zone
• You create a network of contacts and friends from different parts of the world
• You generate economic and emotional independence
• You learn to better manage and control your finances
• Improve your problem-solving skills
• You travel around the country and the surrounding countries, getting to know other cultures
• Open your mind and change the way you look at the world
• You get to know yourself better
• You strengthen your self-confidence because you discover that you can do it
• In short, you learn how to pull your own weigth, you have no choice!

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Create a routine

New country, new routine. For the first few weeks, you will probably spend most of your time doing paperwork, but then creating a routine will help you take care of your mental health.

Don't lock yourself at home, keep a sleep and meal schedule and proactively engage in activities. When I created a new routine when I moved to Munich, I started to sleep better and reduce my anxiety. Of course, one of the keys is keeping in touch with your loved ones (Skype, Duo, Zoom...) despite the distance, and even setting a day and time to call them.

During my first days there, which I repeat is totally normal to feel overwhelmed, a friend gave me three simple keys to survive the first few days. I share them with you in case they can help you too:

1. Make video calls rather than normal phone calls (seeing a face, as well as listening, is much more reassuring than just hearing a voice).
2. Watch a film or series while sipping a warm drink.
3. Take a hot shower and go to bed early.

Obviously, different things work for different people, but these tips did help me.

Finally, regarding my routine, my activities were as follows: I signed up for an intensive German course (it was crazy, in a month and a half I got my A1, but I had no life either, so I don't know if I recommend it at all), I joined the gym and I got my library card. Later on, between working and starting to make more plans, I managed to feel more at home.

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A few more tips on moving to a foreign country

Of course, you will need insurance, so bear this in mind. If you're going to work it might be covered by your contract, but it's too important not to think about it before you move. Unfortunately, I had to use it to go to the doctor on three occasions (when I'm in Vitoria nothing ever happens to me, but when I travel...).

One thing I started to do from day one was to write down the things that happened to me in a diary. At the beginning I wrote every day, now I write once a month and if I remember. I recommend you do it, at least at the beginning, because after reading it for a while you laugh and you see that everything wasn't as terrible as it seemed at the beginning.

If you don't know the country, a very useful thing to do is to join FB groups where people of the same nationality as you talk about what it's like to live in that foreign country. Otherwise, once you are there you will start to learn how to live on your own, because you will have no choice: You will learn to cook recipes you didn't know before, you'll invent new tricks for saving moneyyou will increase your knowledge of the washing machine, etc.

In short, living on your own, even for a short period of time, will help you to get to know yourself better, and also you can decorate the house as you wish! Do you have any advice for someone moving to a foreign country to live on their own? Leave a comment here!