How It Works: The Myth of Reinvention Abroad—and the Truth About What Actually Changes
Yoga, cycling, food, daily rituals—none of this changed. The environment did.
When you decide to move abroad, it’s next to impossible to not fall victim to we’re gonna.
We’re gonna eat a big meal everyday during the middle of the day, then…
We’re gonna siesta.
We’re gonna stay out till one in the morning every night and sleep in the next day.
That’s because—at least for me—you can’t avoid being influenced by the romanticization of places like Spain. Even when you know yourself as well as the place you’re going and exactly why you want to go there, it’s tough to resist the add-ons.
Then, you get to the place and a few things happen:
You realize that not everyone there eats a big meal at midday, siestas, stays out late. People eat when they're hungry and sleep when they're tired unless work or life gets in the way.
You realize your routines and ways of doing things aren’t “American” or “wannabe Spanish.” They’re human. They’re yours.
You rediscover yourself during the settling-in process, which—in part—means rediscovering the things that make you excited to wake up each morning and do life.
If you have your shit in order, there’s no honeymoon period. There’s just a few months of finding your legs and—as it turns out—reestablishing your routines and ways of doing things in a place that elevates them. The place doesn’t change who you are so much as it reshapes what you already do.
And yes—some of this was driven by anxiety. Looking back, I think I gave in to we’re gonna because it felt like a shortcut to belonging. Maybe if I do as Spaniards supposedly do, they’ll accept me.
But that’s dumb in retrospect, because there is no singular Spanish lifestyle. And as long as you’re not a jerk—as long as you show up as a curious immigrant instead of an entitled expat—people here meet you as people.
Which brings us to the real point:
Your interests don’t change abroad.
They morph. They intensify.
They take shape in the environment that better supports them.
Here’s what that looks like in real daily life—not the we’re gonna Instagram fantasy.