1. You can make mistakes... and laugh about them

When you first arrive in an unfamiliar country, you're bound to make mistakes. Since you're experiencing life in your host country for the first time, you need to learn social conventions and processes and mistakes are part of that learning process.

You might say something that constitutes a faux pas or take a wrong turn on your way to work. While these situations may feel frustrating at the time, they can teach you valuable lessons about the culture and landscape and make funny stories later on.

Though you should, of course, try to avoid mistakes when possible, living abroad can give you the ability to shrug and accept that mistakes happen.

2. You're capable of more than you think

When you work or intern abroad, things that you may have taken for granted become unfamiliar. Complications with hiring, taxes and benefits often arise when people work outside of their home country.

When working abroad, these annoyances become challenges. You may have to make some phone calls, research solutions and even navigate negotiations in a foreign language.

It might take a little work but when you solve a tricky work situation abroad, you can find new confidence in your ability to handle pretty much anything.

3. You can make friends more easily than you might know

Living in a new place can also help you realize that you can make friends with almost anyone. When you first arrive in your host country, everyone's a stranger. To make friends, you'll learn to go outside your comfort zone and strike up conversations with people you never would have thought to approach before.

When you work and live in a foreign country, you'll find you have more in common with people than you may think, even if you don't share a cultural background.

You might also discover that, through a little creative communication, you can connect with others even through a language barrier. Your new nonverbal communication skills will serve you well abroad and help you communicate more effectively in your own language, too.

4. Your assumptions aren't universal

Different cultures approach things differently. Conventions you take for granted in your home country may not apply in other places. Working abroad can show you that your assumptions aren't universal.

Through the humbling experience of travel, you can find new ways of thinking and being. Some of these new perspectives might even appeal to you more than the ones you started with.

5. You can understand diverse experiences

One of the best parts of travel is its ability to inspire empathy for people with different traditions and experiences.

When you work abroad, you get to spend more time experiencing the culture than you would as a tourist, giving you a deeper look into the everyday life of your host country's people. This experience squashes stereotypes and broadens your view of humanity.

When you return home, you may also find yourself experiencing increased empathy for visitors to your country, since you've been in their shoes.

Experiencing work and life somewhere different can grow your understanding of diverse experiences and teach you that people are pretty awesome, no matter where they're from.