What Living Abroad — and Returning Home — Taught Me About Ambition, Freedom, Family, and What Truly Matters
For a long time, I believed success existed somewhere else.
Somewhere beyond the place where I was born.
I imagined it in countries with stronger economies, safer streets, better infrastructure, breathtaking landscapes, and greater purchasing power.
I dreamed of building a life abroad—not simply because I wanted to travel, but because I believed that was where life would finally make sense.
And in many ways, moving abroad gave me exactly what I was looking for.
It gave me freedom.
Adventure.
Growth.
Perspective.
It gave me experiences that shaped the woman I am today.
But after nearly eight years living outside Brazil, I came to understand something I never expected.
Success isn’t only about where you live.
Sometimes, the greatest lesson isn’t learned when you leave.
It’s learned when you come home.
Before Moving Abroad, Success Felt Easy to Define
When I was younger, success looked measurable.
A stable career.
A good income.
A respected profession.
A clear life plan.
Living in a country everyone admired.
It was the kind of success people could easily recognize.
The kind that looked impressive from the outside.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with ambition.
Dreaming bigger changed my life.
Wanting more opportunities pushed me beyond my comfort zone.
Without that desire, I would never have left home.
But life has a way of expanding our definitions.
Especially when we experience different cultures, different people, and different ways of living.
Living Abroad Changed Me in Ways I Never Expected
People often talk about the exciting parts of moving abroad.
Learning another language.
Traveling.
Meeting people from around the world.
Discovering beautiful places.
Those experiences are real.
And they are unforgettable.
But the deepest transformation happens in the ordinary moments.
It’s learning how to build a life from nothing.
Finding an apartment.
Opening a bank account.
Understanding immigration paperwork.
Working long hours.
Managing every expense.
Creating routines without family nearby.
Making difficult decisions completely on your own.
At first, those challenges feel overwhelming.
Eventually, they become normal.
Little by little, independence stops being a goal and becomes your daily reality.
You discover strengths you never knew you had.
You become adaptable.
Resourceful.
Financially responsible.
Emotionally resilient.
You stop waiting for someone else to solve your problems.
You become capable of solving them yourself.
That confidence is one of the greatest gifts living abroad can offer.
But Independence Also Has a Cost
There is another side of living abroad that people rarely show.
When something goes wrong, there isn’t a familiar face waiting for you.
When you get sick, you’re often alone.
When life becomes emotionally overwhelming, your family is only a phone call away—but never physically close.
You celebrate birthdays through video calls.
You miss weddings.
You miss Sunday lunches.
You miss ordinary conversations that once felt insignificant.
You slowly become your own support system.
And while that teaches incredible resilience, it can also make you emotionally rigid.
You become so used to handling everything alone that asking for help starts to feel unfamiliar.
Strength becomes your survival strategy.
But constant strength can also become emotional exhaustion.
Success Slowly Became Something Different
At some point, I stopped asking,
“What looks successful?”
And started asking,
“What kind of life actually feels meaningful?”
That question changed everything.
Success stopped being about appearances.
It became about alignment.
About waking up without constantly feeling rushed.
About having time to enjoy life instead of simply organizing it.
About creating something meaningful instead of chasing endless milestones.
Freedom became part of success.
Not just financial freedom.
But emotional freedom.
Creative freedom.
The freedom to choose a slower pace.
The freedom to build a life intentionally.
Travel Changed My Priorities
One of the greatest gifts of traveling is perspective.
When you experience different cultures, you realize there isn’t only one right way to live.
Some societies value productivity above everything.
Others prioritize family.
Some celebrate ambition.
Others protect balance.
You begin questioning assumptions you once accepted without thinking.
You stop asking,
“Which country is better?”
And start asking,
“Which life feels more authentic to me?”
That distinction matters.
Because the best country in the world may not be the best place for your heart.
Coming Home Changed Me More Than Leaving
After almost eight years abroad, returning to Brazil wasn’t a defeat.
It wasn’t giving up.
It wasn’t failure.
It was another chapter of growth.
Coming home gave me something distance never could.
Perspective.
For the first time, I understood the value of things I had once overlooked.
Being close to my parents.
Having dinner with family without needing an international flight.
Watching my dog run toward familiar faces.
Building something meaningful where my roots began.
Sharing ordinary moments with people who already know my story.
These things don’t usually appear on lists of success.
But they became some of the richest parts of my life.
Distance taught me to appreciate what proximity had hidden.
Home Isn’t Always About Geography
Living abroad made me realize something unexpected.
Home isn’t simply where you were born.
Nor is it automatically where life seems easier.
Home is where your soul feels safe enough to soften.
Where you don’t always have to be strong.
Where love exists without needing to be scheduled months in advance.
Where your victories are celebrated in person.
Where someone notices when you’re tired before you say a word.
For some people, that place is another country.
For others, it’s the place they once couldn’t wait to leave.
Neither story is wrong.
There Is No Universal Definition of Success
One lesson I carry with me is this:
There is no single version of a successful life.
Some people move abroad and build extraordinary futures there.
They find belonging.
Purpose.
Community.
Love.
They never want to leave.
Others eventually realize that the life they were chasing wasn’t necessarily the life they wanted.
Sometimes they discover that what they missed wasn’t their country.
It was their people.
Their culture.
Their language.
Their roots.
Neither choice is better.
Every story is shaped by different families, financial realities, personalities, opportunities, and dreams.
We should be careful not to measure our lives using someone else’s definition of success.
Money Matters—But It Isn’t Everything
Living abroad completely transformed my relationship with money.
It taught me discipline.
Responsibility.
Planning.
Financial independence.
Those lessons will stay with me forever.
Money creates opportunities.
Security matters.
A stable economy matters.
Safety matters.
Nature matters.
Career opportunities matter.
None of these things are unimportant.
But eventually I realized something deeper.
Money can improve your quality of life.
It cannot replace genuine connection.
It cannot replace belonging.
It cannot replace emotional support.
It cannot hug you after a difficult week.
It cannot sit beside you during family dinner.
It cannot become your roots.
Distance Reveals What Truly Matters
Sometimes we only recognize the value of something after we’ve lived without it.
Distance has a strange way of making ordinary things extraordinary.
The smell of your family’s cooking.
Hearing your native language everywhere.
Knowing exactly where to buy your favorite bread.
Celebrating birthdays without calculating time zones.
Watching your parents grow older.
Laughing with childhood friends.
The ordinary becomes precious.
And suddenly success begins looking much quieter than before.
My Definition of Success Today
Today, success looks different.
It looks like waking up with peace.
Building meaningful work.
Creating something that reflects my values.
Having financial independence while protecting my emotional well-being.
Being close to the people I love.
Making time for conversations that matter.
Traveling because I want to—not because I’m searching for something missing inside me.
Success now feels less like proving.
And more like belonging.
Less like performance.
More like presence.
Less like accumulating.
More like appreciating.
If You’re Dreaming of Living Abroad
Go.
Travel.
Study.
Work.
Explore.
Challenge yourself.
Discover new cultures.
Learn new languages.
Become uncomfortable.
Grow.
Living abroad teaches lessons that no classroom ever could.
But don’t believe that staying abroad forever is the only happy ending.
And don’t believe that returning home means you failed.
Sometimes leaving teaches you independence.
Sometimes returning teaches you gratitude.
Both journeys are valuable.
Both require courage.
Both can transform your life.
Final Thoughts
Moving abroad changed my definition of success.
But coming home completed it.
Today, I don’t measure success only by where I live, how much I earn, or how impressive my life appears from the outside.
I measure it by something much quieter.
Do I feel connected?
Do I have peace?
Am I building something meaningful?
Am I surrounded by people I love?
Am I living according to my own values instead of someone else’s expectations?
Because success is deeply personal.
For some people, it means building a life across the ocean.
For others, it means returning to the place that quietly shaped them from the beginning.
Neither path is more admirable.
Neither path is more courageous.
The real success is having the freedom to choose the life that feels true to you.
Sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is leave everything we know.
And sometimes, after seeing the world, the bravest thing we can do is come home—with new eyes, a grateful heart, and a deeper understanding of what has been valuable all along.
Perhaps that is the greatest gift of living abroad.
Not that it changes where you live.
But that it changes how you see life itself.
— Living Moments ✨
