I know of many people who want to study abroad but they are held back because it seems really expensive. I was one of those people. I consider myself to be pretty money conscious, so the thought of going abroad for six months of my life put me in a financial panic. Now that I am actually abroad, I still freak out about money almost every other day, but when it comes down to it, I always come back to the same thought, “You really can’t put a price on the experience of studying abroad.”

You become uber self-aware. This is something that I don’t think you can do unless you completely leave everyone and everything that you know behind for a while. When the only thing familiar in a new place is yourself, you get a chance to really get to know who you are. It can be scary and it can be really strange, but at the end of the day, you come out with a sense of what you want to be and where you want to go.

Your self-confidence gets a boost. This one can be a rollercoaster though. Being in such an unfamiliar place can make you feel small for a time. It can feel like you don’t know at all what’s going on. But when you conquer those fears and start to get a grasp of your surroundings, you will feel as if you can do anything. Facing your own fears gives you a sense of power and leads you to be more confident in yourself and your abilities.

You become travel savvy. In the States, we just hop in our cars and drive to wherever we need to be. But this traps us in our own little worlds and never teaches us to figure things out for ourselves. Being in a new place, without that car, makes you rely on public transportation, your own brain, and your own two feet. Being abroad will teach you how to make arrangements for yourself and you learn a heck of a lot about booking flights, hostels, and trains.

You gain a new view on the world. Because, well, you’re in a different part of the world. But, in all seriousness, when you immerse yourself in a new culture, you find out that there are so many different ways that people view the world. Values that I have don’t make sense to some people and vice versa. Most of the time, it comes down to the fact that we’ve just had different upbringings in different social environments. Even if you’ll never align in values completely, it’s life-changing to have a new view and appreciation for other people’s thoughts.

You make about 500 new friends. I think this one depends on personality a bit, but you really will get to meet people from all over the world. Again, this is just an awesome way to see how people have been brought up and what kinds of things are important in different countries. Yet at the same time, there is this bond that unites us all as humans and specifically, as students. So, sometimes it’s cool to see how similar we are too.

You get to try awesome new foods. So maybe they’re not all awesome. Sometimes, you might find yourself missing some classic American comfort food. But, in general, you will get to discover a lot of new cuisine, and you may come back with some new favorite foods!

You get awesome Instagram photos. So this is kind of a joke. You definitely should be going abroad for more reasons than to brag about it on social media. But, pictures are priceless and they are a great way to remember the experiences that you had and the memories that you made.

There’s no amount of money that you can pay to experience the things that I have loved the most about my study abroad experience, because they are personal and transformational things. They’re the things that you don’t realize are happening until you sit back and reflect on your life. That’s why you just simply can’t put a price tag on a study abroad experience. It’s more than the finances and stress of figuring out the little details. You’ll come back a more confident, experienced, and real version of yourself.