If I had only a single opportunity to thank my parents for one thing they have done for me, it would be for giving me the chance to study abroad. Studying abroad is quite possibly the best thing that college offers. You are a 19- to 22- year- old spending four months in a foreign city with endless amounts of possibilities. There are not many things that get better than that. Every year, thousands of kids take the leap across the pond and come back with stars in their eyes and memories to fill hundreds of books. Academics are quickly replaced with time spent on airplanes and trains while your wallet gets thinner than a pancake. The only form of homesickness is for things like free water and ice… until the bartender serves you up a healthier- than usual glass of wine. Where the nights turn into sunrises and disbelief wavers through your thoughts for months, here are 10 reasons studying abroad will change your life.

1. Friends For Life

You’ve watched the sun rise over a sleepy European city together, sprinted through train stations to make the last departure and whole heartedly attempted (and failed) to make the cab driver understand where you are trying to go. There are truly no other friends like your study abroad friends. Tossed together like a salad on your first week, you all experience culture shock to the max and from then on out, game over. You become attached at the hip while you watch the months turn into weeks and the weeks into days until you are all left at the airport looking at each other and only knowing all the amazing things you have left behind. Not to mention all the locals you meet or other people traveling through; they make the best stories and you will find your world getting smaller each minute. The friends you meet abroad become like a whole new family and you will thank them for the rest of your life for all the memories you shared with them.

2. The Freaking Amazing Food

That you tend to indulge in far too much, but hey, you’re only abroad once right? From the amazing pastries to the sandwiches with only two ingredients that you can confidently pronounce, the food abroad will blow your mind. Turning down eating out becomes nearly impossible- and you’ll want to give up your future plans to become a foodie Instagrammer. The two main food groups in Europe are cheese and bread, so be prepared to force yourself to walk home every night to kill off the food babies.

3. Coming to Know and Love a Culture Different than Your Own

Falling head over heels in love with whatever city you choose to venture to is inevitable. From the coffee shop around the corner to your favorite bar across town, you come to know and love the city like it was the place you grew up in. Then you quickly observe how different the culture is than your own, and guess what — you like it better. Americans are always in such a hurry to get places: meals are cut short, people are knocked down on the street, and you do not want to be around a grown woman when she is power shopping. The culture you will find abroad is much more relaxing and go with the flow, something you will come to know and love.

4. Open-Minded and Carefree Become Your New Middle Names

You are living constantly between a language barrier and cultural difference, so not everything will always go your way or as you planned out in your head. Even if you were a go-with-the-flow person before, studying abroad will make you even want to admit you were wrong in an argument with your siblings by the time you get home. From finding out the restaurant you wanted to eat at was actually a sketchy cafe to never making it to the bar you so desperately wanted to visit, you will learn to go with what the group wants… and you’ll thank yourself for it later. Some of the best memories are made from spontaneous decisions, and when you’re jumping from country to country, you won’t have enough time in the day to recount the stories of all the crazy things you experienced.

5. Becoming a “Local” In a New Country

Give it three weeks and you will find yourself rolling your eyes at the lost American tourists on the subway. This is your new home and you treat it like you were born and raised there. Once the new language kicks into your vocabulary, you can tell your Mom that you have found love abroad and won’t be coming home anytime soon.

6. Independence

You thought you had independence when you entered college as a freshman, but trust me… you haven’t seen anything yet. You are in a foreign country with a bunch of people you met hours ago; your head might explode with all the possibilities of what to do. Your Mom is no longer just a phone call away, but rather an eight-hour conversation away with the time difference, meaning asking for permission is nearly non-existent. Want to go skydiving in the Swiss Alps? Want to go to that music festival you’ve been dreaming about for months? Do it! Just show Mom the pictures of you with a huge smile across your face later.

7. The Travel Bug

It doesn’t even have to bite you; you automatically develop it just by walking down a small street in London. The travel bug will grab ahold of you and never let you go. Budapest, Istanbul, Barcelona, Prague, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Amsterdam, you name it, the map is your coloring book and it’s up to you where to shade in. There aren’t many times in your life when you are on another continent to just explore and experience. You will fill those short few months with memories from all over the map, and even more in the city you called home.

8. Memories For A Lifetime

The memories you make abroad are the things you will be retelling your children and grandchildren for years on end. The night you stumbled upon Notre Dame completely lit up in its glory at 2 a.m. or the day you traveled far too long to see Stonehenge only to be completely enamored by it. Come the end of your semester, you won’t believe all the amazing things that happened or the impact it had on your life. Your time abroad will be testing, remarkable and completely change your outlook on life. Cheesy, I know, but there is no truly explaining it until you’ve experienced it yourself.

So thank you Mom and Dad, for the greatest few months of my life.