You can get a serious case of FOMO when you see all your friends or acquaintances go abroad and post the perfect snaps, Instagram story, or photos. They look like they’re having a perfect time, eating the best food, and exploring the city like a pro.

I’m here to tell you what it’s really like to go abroad.

While I may not have the most experience, it is experience nonetheless. Of course, going to a place that predominantly speaks English isn’t as difficult, but it still has its challenges.

I spent almost a month in England on my own, and it was an experience, to say the least. I spent the first week constantly getting lost, missing the train, missing the bus, getting on a train going the opposite direction, you name it. I even got lost walking to my destinations. Now that’s something you won’t see your friends post or talk about! But, it did teach me a lot about the realities of traveling, and now I am a pro at navigating the public transportation system in London.

Fast forward a few months, I found myself going abroad to Madrid for a travel journalism internship. I was beyond excited to go thinking there was nothing that could go wrong. I was only in Madrid for two and a half weeks, but it felt like an eternity.

We were based in a part of Madrid that was very residential and not many people spoke English. Although I took 3 years of high school Spanish, sadly, it didn’t seem to help much. Now, not only was I getting lost, I was getting lost and unable to communicate with anyone to ask for directions. To make matters worse, their public transportation was not the easiest to navigate, and I found myself ubering to most places, unable to navigate the subway in a timely manner. But, that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy my time and experience there.

I had an incredible opportunity to intern for a company and was able to get my articles published. It taught me how to interact with people in a different way (which involved a lot of hand gestures, pointing and half English/half poorly spoken Spanish sentences).

Just because there are difficulties, it doesn’t make the experience any less enjoyable, it just makes it realistic. Take the leap, you will thank yourself for taking a chance and learning in a new country.