Living abroad is not something I decided to do at a very young age. It is something that crept up on me. By my mid twenties, I had developed a strong desire to experience the wider world. What I had read and heard, as well as my intuition told me that simply travelling through countries as a tourist would not give me the depth of experience I wanted.

At the age of twenty-seven, and newly married, I embarked for the first time on the adventure of living abroad. A brief stay in England, and a subsequent few months in Ireland convinced me that living in an English-speaking country was not what I was looking for. I love learning foreign languages, and experiencing a life and culture that is very different to my own.

I found the time that my husband, Ian, and I spent in Portugal, Spain, and France fascinating. Arriving in Portugal, it was love at first sight for both of us. The climate was sunny and clear, the landscape beautiful and the people welcoming. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact mixture of elements that makes Portugal so special, but Ian and I have every intention of living there again in the future.

We lived for a year in Portugal, during which time we leased and ran a cocktail bar. That was fun but a lot of hard work and not something we wanted to do long-term.

We found that opportunities to pursue our chosen careers, Ian’s in finance, and mine in communications were too limited.

We decided to return to Australia and get serious about the future.

Back in Australia though, we quickly realized that we had come to love the excitement and adventure of living abroad. We were feeling bored and stifled, and started looking for opportunities to head back overseas.

Asia was a part of the world that held great interest for both of us, and of which we had experienced very little at that point. Another consideration was the fact that there are many work opportunities throughout the area. We decided to find teaching jobs in South Korea, and armed with a phrasebook and high hopes, we embarked on our latest adventure.

Arriving in an Asian country was much more of a culture shock than Europe had been. Korea felt so utterly foreign and impossibly crowded. Everywhere we looked were these clusters of enormous, identical apartment buildings.

Eventually, the strangeness of everything began to wear off. We both found work we enjoyed. Ian worked in corporate training, and I discovered that I loved teaching children.

However, despite many things we liked about living in Korea, there were also things we really didn’t like. Crowding, pollution, and dealing with ridiculous amounts of red tape concerning visas were the biggest problems. We also found that the employers we worked for did not treat foreign employees very well.

We were ready to leave Korea, but not ready to leave Asia, so it was back to the Internet to research our next destination. After considering various factors, we decided on Taiwan.

Coming to Taiwan we had no clear idea of whether we would stay three months, a year or longer, but at the present moment we have been here six years.

One thing that I love about Taiwan is the meandering, ramshackle feel, with houses and factories scattered amidst winding streets and ornate temples. In every corner of every city, you can find bustling night markets offering a vast array of interesting, and often strong-smelling snacks.

I also love the people. Taiwanese people are friendly and relaxed, and actually remind me in many ways of Australians. We have been made to feel welcome and comfortable since we arrived. We have had very good experiences with employers, government officials, and the many lovely locals who have become our friends.

Living abroad opens up a whole new world. As a life choice, I think it’s exciting, enlightening, scary at times, and hard to beat!

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