10 things expats wish they had known before they left their homes behind by Rachel Premack on May 1, 2018, 11:46 AM Advertisement
 - Expat life can seem like a dream — but people who have done it know it has its own challenges.
- Travel fiends who want to take it to the next level might consider a one-way ticket to an interesting locale to live and work.
- We spoke with a handful of seasoned expatriates, who gave their best advice for working and living abroad — and for coming back home again.
I had no idea how to give someone a credit card. The process is admittedly obvious: take the card out of your wallet and, with your hand, give it to a cashier's hand. But I was living in South Korea, where many of my habits needed to be revised — how I rolled up my jeans, not getting leftovers from a restaurant, saying thank you if someone complimented me on being pale or having a small face. I had seen salespeople giving their customers receipts and cards with two hands or a hand on the arm, bows aplenty. It seemed appropriate to mirror their actions and finish it with a small bow for good measure. So, that's what I did. Cashiers did the same back to me. I felt like I made a minor inroad into integrating. Joyously, I shared this success with my Korean friends. And I was roundly made fun of. My close friend was between visible horror and amusement, covering her hands with her face out of second-hand humiliation. "That's too much! Don't do that!" Thus I stopped bowing at the pimply 16 year old at 7/11 who scanned my coffee. It's not glamourous, rewarding or even very interesting, but that's a lot of what living abroad is —looking stupid, trying to look less stupid, terrible loneliness, fleeting successes, and insights that seemed difficult to wrest. Living in Korea for nearly a year and a half wasn't as gleeful as what my Instagram feed suggested, but what I learned was valuable. I chatted with American and British expatriates who have found new homes in places like Indonesia, France, Thailand and other incredible spots. Here's what they wish they knew before they jetted off from their birthplaces for a life of equal parts embarrassment and adventure. SEE ALSO: How to find a job and a home outside of the US DON'T MISS: 4 things you should know before you work abroad You will feel lonely  I was admittedly miserable for my first month in Korea, largely because I didn't have any friends and had no idea how to make them. It was like freshman year of college except without the dorm, classes and clubs full of potential besties who speak English. What France-based writer Bryan Pirolli told me resonated with my own experience. "Just by going abroad, you're kinda desperate to interact with people," Pirolli told Business Insider. "You end up talking to people from different walks of life, different religions, different races." I started asking my coworkers to get dinner, went to expat events, and got creative with how I met folks. I never accrued the vibrant social life I built up in college, but the expat and native friends I made in Korea added utterly new perspectives to my life.
Don't stress when things go wrong. In fact, you should expect things to go wrong.  Shannon O'Donnell, travel blogger and former National Geographic Traveler of the Year, spent a recent afternoon visiting stationary store after stationary store in Barcelona looking for wrapping paper — no luck. "I went to every stationary shop but I didn't know where to buy wrapping paper," she told me over the phone. The native Floridian moved to Spain several months ago, her latest home since leaving the US in 2008. For a friend's baby shower, she had to wrap the little one's gift in tissue paper. There are going to be a lot of little inconveniences every day, and they'll add up. My friend from Colorado who has lived in Seoul for nearly ten years always referred to "a thousand little paper cuts" that build up when you're abroad. Try to keep a cheery attitude, or at least don't go crazy.
If the first country doesn't feel right, you can always go elsewhere.  If the country you pick for your first home abroad doesn't feel right, don't think you have to move back home. Try another city, country or region. O'Donnell first moved to Thailand. It took her a few years to accept that it wasn't the best fit for her. "It's not like college — it's harder to integrate into a community," O'Donnell told Business Insider. "It was only after a couple years of living in Thailand when I realized that I would never fully integrate into Thai community." She's since moved to Spain. O'Donnell, who studied Spanish, has been more comfortable there.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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