Everyone will tell you that studying abroad changes your life and that it is probably one of the best things anyone can ever do. Coming back from the best experience of your life is a mix of good and bad because you obviously missed your friends, family and Mexican food, but you don't want it to be over for good. Once the initial excitement of being back in America dies down, you realize how many more things you miss from your adventure and you will probably miss forever (until the next time you journey abroad).
Here's the list of the main things you miss from your abroad experience.
1. Your local bar.
While abroad, everyone finds their favorite place to go every week where they meet the cutest girls and guys, they know what drinks they like and they know the bartender's name. Going back to your local university bar just isn't the same as that amazing dive bar you used to frequent or the insane underground club that played the most epic music abroad.
2. Traveling on the weekends.
There is nothing like exploring a new country or city every weekend. You come back with endless stories and adventures and realize that binge-watching Netflix all Sunday long has slightly lost its appeal when you consider the way you spent your weekends abroad.
3. The food.
Eating French food in America has nothing on eating croissants in Paris or pasta and pizza from anywhere besides Italy and drinking sangria anywhere besides Spain. You've been ruined by your experience and there's just no going back.
4. The cheap wine.
In America, the cheapest wine you'll get comes in a box and possibly has arsenic poisoning in it. But abroad, the cheap wines from the local cities, like the house wines in Italy, French wines in France and Spanish wines in Spain are amazing (and even come in real bottles!). Four dollars will get you a long way in terms of wine abroad.
5. Your friends.
The friends you make abroad are amazing because they come from all different cities, schools and even countries, and they all experienced something incredible right along with you. It's pretty depressing when you realize you may never see some of those people again after all the memories you made with them and all the months you spent getting close to them.
6. The music.
After being abroad, you will always have a few songs that instantly take you back to nights in the clubs or metro rides through the city or plane rides to another country. Every time that song comes on you'll tell everyone around you "this was the song of abroad!" And they just won't be able to hear it the way that you do.
7. The coffee.
I don't know what it is about coffee, but they sure have it down to a system. Even the 75-cent coffee from the vending machines was better than a lot of the coffee I've had in America.
8. Hungover sightseeing.
So yeah it may have sucked at the time, but you mastered it and it's a skill that should be worthy of putting on your resume. If you've never almost thrown up in a museum bathroom or at a historical landmark, you did abroad wrong. Those are the stories you'll tell your kids one day.
9. Shopping.
You know you're in shopping heaven when the local chains are drastically better than anything you've experienced at home. They have some of the most amazing stores and malls where you were able to buy clothes that no one from home will ever be able to replicate.
10. Public transportation.
Why America has yet to master this as well as the other countries is a mystery to me. Being able to navigate an entire city by train or bus was an awesome feeling. Who needs a car when you can take a train to every neighborhood in the city, and even outside the city (or into another country depending on where you are)?
