I would say I've had the blessing and opportunity to travel a decent amount of the world, although so much more yet to be explored and experienced. With that being said, and in light of my girlfriend moving and living abroad for the first time in her life, I want to share how traveling has helped me build character and confidence in myself.
From early on as a kid I moved frequently so was exposed to a new environment every few years. Early childhood was spent all around Massachusetts, majority of my life though spent in SoCal. Got to live on my own out in Europe for a few years, and have spent shorter periods of time in Japan as well as Thailand. Nowadays I don't think twice when I get any sort of opportunity to travel and experience different places on this beautiful planet, but in hindsight, it took time for me to get comfortable with the often uncomfortable nature of traveling and living abroad.
Thus for me, traveling has been a form of hormesis, a beneficial stressor that tests my limits of comfort and helps me break past such barriers. I literally would not be the person I am if I had not decided to fly across the ocean straight out of high school and figure it out in Europe on my own. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have gotten the importance of Bitcoin had I not taken that leap of faith and seen different parts of the world with completely different cultures and environments. The hormesis of living abroad has made me much more adaptable and accepting of adversity.
My girlfriend has without a doubt been going through the initial difficulties that arise with living abroad for the first time, but such a drastic change in environment forces you to learn and adapt at a rate not possible when staying in the same place for your whole life. In that regard, a change in environment in my opinion is one of the fastest routes to personal growth and progress.
If you are somebody who has an itch to travel and live abroad but can't quite pull the trigger because of uncertainties and doubts your mind conjures up, just go for it! These days whenever my mind has doubts or uncertainties or moments of anxiousness or nervousness, I take those as signs that I'm doing the right thing, in that I'm choosing to do things that are making my mind uncomfortable which means tackling those challenges will lead to further personal growth and development. I'm kind of gradually becoming a hormesis seeking junky but better that than a heroine addict right?
Where have stackers traveled and lived abroad? Do you feel traveling and living abroad has helped build your confidence and character?