Travel vs. Living in a Foreign Country

By Doris Gallan –

Traveling and living in a foreign country are about as different as smelling fresh-baked bread and actually savoring a warm slice with melted butter. Both are pleasures to be enjoyed in their own right with advantages and drawbacks to each.

A visit to any country—no matter its duration—gives you just the aroma of a culture with its people, language, and memorable vistas. This romantic view isn’t a bad thing, in fact, it’s what keeps us traveling.

The good stuff

When you live in a country, on the other hand, you develop a keen sense of observation and you notice subtle differences the casual visitor isn’t likely to pick up on. Full immersion gives you the ability to learn the language more quickly and to study the local way of doing things: doing business, behaving socially, cooking and eating for example.

Of course, you also get to see the downside of society including crime, poverty, and the minutia of everyday life the locals struggle with. This is especially true if you understand the language and can discuss current events with the residents as well as read and watch the media.

Travelers wanting a bit of this expat experience need to look a little further afield to taste the real life of the country they’re visiting. That means getting away from the all-inclusive resorts, the tour-bus restaurants, the amusement parks, beach towns, and other tourist-centered enclaves where the nearest thing to a crisis is when the McDonald’s runs out of ketchup.

A Good Start

If you’re considering a particular location as a potential home, travel there and do what expats do every day: go to the food markets, the grocery store, the local park or any place regular people congregate. You never know what you’ll find: funny looking ice cream treats and dolls named after you.

You’ll also get a flavor for the real life of the country you’re visiting. You’ll meet genuine locals: not staff paid to be nice to you and to compliment you on your horrid mangling of their idiom. Learn to say (and properly pronounce) “hello” in their language and see their faces light up! You’ll have taken the first step to making the country your potential new home.

Doris Gallan writes the weekly Baby Boomers Traveling blog and provides daily travel tips. She is also the author of The Boomers’ Guide to Going Abroad to Travel | Live | Give | Learn available through BookLocker, Amazon.com, and Barnes & Noble.com.

Copyright Doris Gallan 2011