Age you first went abroad

[MrMan]

I got a job teaching in South Korea when I was 22-years-old. That's not much older than my son. My mom told me later she was a bit nervous about that. Now I can relate a little bit.

How old were you when you first went abroad?

[Pixel--Dude]

I got a job teaching in South Korea when I was 22-years-old. That's not much older than my son. My mom told me later she was a bit nervous about that. Now I can relate a little bit.

How old were you when you first went abroad?

I've had several holidays to Spain throughout my childhood. But I couldn't honestly say how old I was though. The last family holiday we had was to florida when I was 16 years old. Aside from the flight, it was an awesome holiday.

What is South Korea like as a country? What did you think of the culture there?

If you could live in any country in the world, where would you choose?

[MrMan]

I got a job teaching in South Korea when I was 22-years-old. That's not much older than my son. My mom told me later she was a bit nervous about that. Now I can relate a little bit.

How old were you when you first went abroad?

I've had several holidays to Spain throughout my childhood. But I couldn't honestly say how old I was though. The last family holiday we had was to florida when I was 16 years old. Aside from the flight, it was an awesome holiday.

What is South Korea like as a country? What did you think of the culture there?

If you could live in any country in the world, where would you choose?

If money were no object, I'd probably have a house in Indonesia or two and stay there up to 179 days a year. I think I have to pay taxes at 180, and then fly back to the US for part of the year, and travel elsewhere at other times.

[Lucas88]

I got a job teaching in South Korea when I was 22-years-old. That's not much older than my son. My mom told me later she was a bit nervous about that. Now I can relate a little bit.

How old were you when you first went abroad?

Like Pixel--Dude, I also went to Spain a lot when I was a young kid although I don't remember the exact age either. I had relatives who lived in Jávea in the province of Alicante and my family and I used to spend the summer there. From a young age I developed a strong affinity for Spain and its culture. I already perceived that it was much nicer and more vibrant than the culture of the UK and knew in my own heart that I should have been born there. Even as a kid I appreciated Spain's superior climate and scenery, found its language delightful to listen to (in contrast I always found English somewhat ugly and discordant), and recognized the beauty of the girls with their tanned olive skin and their fiery temperament and Mediterranean passion.

The first time I went abroad independently was when I was 18 and I enrolled in an immersive language school in Valencia. I was obsessively studying Spanish and had already reached level C1 due to my tendency to study for many hours each day and wanted to take my Spanish even higher. I did a homestay program and completely immersed myself in the culture. That stay in Spain was the first major milestone of my personal development. For the first time ever I experienced life in a normal country and could actually function socially. I became a fervent Hispanophile to the point of absolute fanaticism and my hatred for the UK which was already present just shot through the roof. My eyes were opened. I knew the truth.

Shortly thereafter I also developed an interest in Asian culture and began learning Japanese. I did a similar kind of summer immersion program in Gifu and then I lived for a while in Kobe in the early 2010s. For me living in Asia was the more adventurous HA option. However, I would soon fall out with Japanese culture in light of my lack of spiritual compatibility with it and decided to leave for good.

After leaving Japan I went back to Spain and met my first Latin American girlfriend there. I returned to my first love that was Hispanic culture and totally repented for my infidelity with Japan. I would spend the next few years living primarily in Spain. I even had a few stints in Latin America.

To answer @Pixel--Dude's bonus question, if money were no object and I could live wherever I wanted, I think that I'd probably divide my time between Spain and Latin America. I'm still not sure which Latin American country I'd choose as a secondary residence. Maybe Mexico (Baja California) or Chile (at the latitude of Concepción), primarily for climatic reasons. Ideally I'd spend autumn and winter in Spain and then spend spring and summer either in Ensenada, MX or Concepción, CH in order to avoid the extreme heat of summer in Spain. In July and August I can't stand the 30º plus temperatures and the hot sweaty nights. I'd rather live somewhere with a cooler climate similar to San Diego or San Francisco.