We have interviewed an expat who has left his home country in his twenties and who has been living abroad for 15 years. It is an experience that could apply to anyone, so it is worth reading about some light-hearted tips, lots of ups and downs, the beauty of getting to know many people from many cultures, as well as many beautiful places. For anyone who is willing to take the next step in his/her life, here are 14 things that nobody explains to you about moving to another country in your early twenties, but that you should know: 1. It doesn’t matter how spoiled you are, you’re going to grow up. 2. The first phase you’re going to go through is being a tourist: you’re going to take photos of everything and love it all. 3. After a while you’ll notice a change, and you’ll be depressed for a little bit. 4. Afterwards you’ll enter the hater stage: you’ll hate and criticize almost everything until you enter the stage of normalcy, and you finally adapt. 5. If you move with someone, everything will be cheaper. If you move on your own, you’ll probably meet someone faster than you expect. 6. On important dates, like holidays, you’ll have moments where you miss everything and everyone you left behind and you remember that your best friends are very far away. 7. Although you’ll have made plenty of new friends they’re never going to be like the friends you left behind. 8. You’ll learn to overcome obstacles faster than others. 9. You’re going to start to resemble your mother… more than you’d like. 10. You’ll forget how much you fought with your family and you’ll appreciate them like never before. 11. You’ll find yourself constantly comparing the country you’re in with where you come from. 12. And obviously you’ll change but you’ll still be yourself… 13. With patience, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed with opportunities and you’ll start accomplishing your dreams, little by little. 14. And although you’ll always be nostalgic, you’ll always be happy when you realize that you’ve made the best decision of your life and you still have a long way to go.