Within the course of 10 years, between the age of 20 and 30, I lived in 8 countries in 3 continents: Hungary, England, Ireland, Finland, Japan, Turkey, Morocco, and Germany. Many people ask me how and why I could live in so many countries within such a short period of time. I’ll share that with you now. Moreover, I would like to share with you the biggest takeaways of living in so many different countries.

How did it all start?

It all started in Hungary because I was born in Hungary. I cannot deny the fact that in my case I had the chance to live a lot abroad, because I happened to be born in the right environment, happened to be directed in the right direction and then I learnt to notice and exploit opportunities to be able to live abroad as many times as possible without financial support from my parents.

The adventures all started after starting my studies at the University of Debrecen. Going to university was not my choice at the first place. I didn’t have any particular interest at the age of 18. I detested studying and learning languages was the one thing that I hated the most. Nevertheless, my parents made me study all the time and made me apply for English and Finnish majors at the University of Debrecen, because they believed that this will be the best option for me. Anyways, I had no better idea than that, so I just went with the flow. I got admission and I could continue with what I hated the most: studying languages. The beginning was a pain in the ass, however as time passed, I realized that studying languages at the University of Debrecen was the best thing that could ever happen to me.

1. A gap year in England

Like I said before the first two years at the university was a pain in the ass. Studying in English was a hell of a job. I was really frustrated about having to read and write difficult texts in English. A friend of mine was already in England working as an Au-Pair. Hungary joined the EU in 2003 and a lot of Hungarian students decided to have a gap year in England working as an Au-Pair while improving their English. Due to the fact that I was struggling with English and because I just find the whole idea totally cool, I didn’t have to have a second thought to make a decision. I worked in a paper factory in my free time after classes and I made enough money to pay for traveling to England and have enough money for the first month. I spent a year there working as Au-Pair in Windsor, taking part-time jobs here and there and attending English language classes. Most importantly I wanted to learn to speak English properly. Everything else that came with it was just a bonus. Within the course of one year, I got to know so many people all around the world and I learned about a lot of different cultures.   This year was a life-changing experience for me. I wanted to know more and more people from different parts of the world, wished to know more and more about different cultures and last but not least I fell in love with learning English and I made it a life goal to learn to speak a lot of languages. From this point on, I was obsessively looking for opportunities for traveling and having to experience life abroad again and again. Last but not least, I also saved a few thousand punds which I later spent on traveling.

2. Scholarship in Finland for a semester

When I got back to uni, I finished my second year. And in my third year, I applied for a study abroad program which was fully funded by CIMO, a finish governmental scholarship. I spent this way one semester studying at the University of Jyväskylä. In Jyväskylä, I attended mostly language classes, hanged out with international students, explored finish culture and started the hardcore traveling as well at this time. This was when I started to feel that I wanted to travel to a lot of different countries. During my stay in Finland, I traveled to Russia and Sweden. And this is when I started to realize how much I love traveling and I understood it will be a passion forever.

3. Summer job in England

When I got back to Hungary, I could not even stay two weeks there. I completed two exams and then two weeks later I bought the cheapest possible ticket for England. It was a bus ticket for 30€ from Budapest to London. I spent 24 hours traveling to London. I had 200€ in my pocket and I gave myself three days to find a job and a room in Windsor. I had no intention of touching my saving. I got a job as a waitress and a room in a big house. I stayed in Windsor as much as possible until the winter semester started at the university. In three months I was enriched with a lot of new experiences through my jobs and the people I met. I also saved a few thousand euros and returned to Hungary.

4. Summer job in Ireland

It was 2008 summer. My sister was in Dublin. Whereas I took my gap year in England, she did that in Ireland. But she didn’t return to Hungary once the one year passed by. She decided to stay there a couple of years, get married and move to and settle down in Australia. So I worked in an Irish pub as a waitress and explored Dublin and its surroundings in my free time. I saved a couple of thousand euros this summer as well which was pretty useful before my next adventure.

5. Full-year-scholarship in Japan

In the first semester of the first year, I noticed a Japanese library at our university. The funny thing is that in spite of the fact that at this point I still disliked learning languages, even without having a second thought I walked into the Japanese library. A cute Japanese lady was sitting in the library and I asked what this place was all about. She showed me around in this little library and explained to me about the Japanese course which was free for students at the university. I paid special attention to a piece of paper on the news-board of the Japanese library. It was a call for a full year scholarship in Japan offered by the Japanese government. I signed up for the Japanese course and I decided that I was going to get the scholarship and I was going to study in Japan. During the fourth year, I applied for the scholarship and I got it like I wanted. I got to study for one year at the University of Hirosaki in northern part of Japan. At the university, I took Japanese language classes, classes on Japanese culture and Japanese business management.  In my free time, I explored the country, its culture, and its nature. Moreover, I had a part-time Job as well. The scholarship I received covered my living expenses. Primarily, I didn’t do it for the money, but rather the experience. I created a CV in Japanese, I managed the interview in Japanese and I got the job. I worked in a hotel as an event assistant/waitress. I was the only European working there. I was really proud of myself.

6. Erasmus in Turkey for one semester

At the English department, we had a few partner countries in the Erasmus partnership program, namely England, Germany, Spain, Romania, and Finland. I was not particularly interested in studying in any of these countries. I just wished we had a partner university in Turkey, as a loved Turkey so much, where I had been several times before. Around that time a friend of mine also wanted to do Erasmus in Turkey. But she did more than just wishing he could study in Finland, she actually arranged the partnership between her department, the Department of Economics, and the Turkish university where she wanted to be an exchange student. Anyways, I did not do more than wishing it. I was about to graduate when one of the new Erasmus partners was announced at the English department. Yes, it was a Turkish university. The second I noticed it, I run home and prepared my application. I could graduate anytime, but Turkey was now. Yes, I nailed this one too. I imagined myself studying in Turkey and my vision turned into reality. I would like to refer to the friend I just mentioned. If in your university there is no partnership program with the university where would like to be an exchange student, you can still work on creating the partnership. So don’t just wait for things happen, make them happen.

7. Nine months working in Morocco

In 2011 I already had my nine to five in Debrecen. Yes, it was the nine to five that I imagined for myself after graduation. I had a lovely workplace. I earned well, my company was in the city center and I had amazing colleagues. Both my work and I were genuinely appreciated. However, after one year I felt I needed something else. I’d been preoccupied with Arabic language and projects with Arabic countries for a long time. So I decided I was going to move to an Arabic country for a while. I contacted AIESEC at my uni, which is a huge youth organization offering internships abroad and after quitting my job I accepted an offer for an internship in a language school teaching English. During my stay in Morocco, I had several internships and jobs. At a British University, I worked shortly in the marketing department and taught English. In the last months, I switched to a language school teaching Business English.

8. The last station: Germany

Moving to Germany was an unexpected twist. I moved to Germany for a relationship. This is the story of meeting the worst person in my life who I can actually thank the most. Thanks to him I got to experience the worst period of my life. Following that, I got to reevaluate my entire life and set on a journey of reinventing myself. Part of it is this travel blog which is the love of my life.

Takeaways

Living in so many countries taught me more than anything else in this life. I would not trade it for anything. We live only once.
The most important thing that I learned is how to survive under all circumstances and how to fight for what I want in life.  … More to come.

Wanna know more? Ask me, The Globetrotting Detective!

Globetrotting travel blogger in Spain