Living abroad helps you discover new personal goals by breaking old routines and showing you different ways to live. Once the familiar props of home fall away, you notice what you really want from your days.
That shift can make people question plans they once felt certain about. At Runaway Squirrels, we hear it from readers who left for work and came back with completely different plans.
To help you explore your own priorities before making a move, this guide explains how life abroad can change what you chase. It also covers how to set goals that stick and what Australia and New Zealand each pull out of you.
Let’s get into it.
Living Abroad Strips Away the Routines That Hide Your Goals
Most people only notice how much their routine influenced their goals and daily choices once that routine is gone. After all, your commute, weekend habits, and usual friends influence what you aim for, year after year.
Moving to another country is one way to step outside that familiar routine. According to the United Nations, roughly 281 million people were living outside their country of birth in 2020, which gave many of them a chance to experience life outside their familiar routines.
The three shifts below reveal what you may not notice back home.
Leaving Your Comfort Zone for Life in a Foreign Country
Stepping outside your comfort zone somewhere new starts small. Even ordering at a shop counter can feel challenging when you rehearse the whole sentence in your head first. Those little moments build over time, and your sense of what you can handle grows with them.
Once ordering lunch feels easy, you start asking what else you could take on (a welcome change).
Work Abroad: What It Teaches You About Your Career Path
Taking a job overseas teaches you that your job title may carry less weight in a new country, while your skills can still apply across different roles. You may also find that workplace expectations differ between countries. For example, a role with fewer hours may make you value personal time over chasing the next promotion.
We’ve heard from readers who accepted lower-paying jobs in Spain. After a year abroad, some realised they preferred having more time outside work to earning a higher salary back home.
How an Overseas Experience Shifts Your Priorities
An overseas experience affects your priorities by surrounding you with people whose culture treats time, money, and family differently. You borrow the parts that fit and leave the rest behind. A semester abroad, for example, can make someone value a strong local community over living in a larger city.
Extended travel has a similar effect, though it gives you a lighter taste of each culture (often takes over several months).
Why Does Moving Overseas Spark Personal Growth So Quickly?
Moving overseas sparks personal growth quickly because unfamiliar surroundings force you to rethink habits, work, and relationships at the same time. You can’t run on autopilot when even simple daily tasks require a different approach.
This means you make dozens of small decisions each week that you used to make once a decade. Every one of them tells you something about what you value, and that feedback becomes clearer than it ever did at home.
In practice, the first few months can involve a lot of adjustment as you settle into daily life overseas and rebuild your work-life balance. Our readers who’ve spent time abroad twice say the second move feels calmer, because you already know which kinds of discomfort pass.
Beyond that, your old friends stop being the default mirror for your choices. Culture and a new expat community fill some of the social gap left by old friends, and the people around you show you a different idea of quality of life (a new perspective).
Setting Goals That Fit Your New Expat Lifestyle
Once you have a clearer idea of your priorities, setting personal goals gets easier. Plus, your new lifestyle can make those goals easier to follow. If you’ve ever let a gym membership die in February, you may find goal-setting abroad a little kinder.
For remote workers, this can be easier to put into practice. Location independence lets you pick where you live and work before you pick what you chase. With that freedom, digital nomads tend to set an hours rule before an income one, while a digital nomad visa buys you time rather than structure.
So, where do you start? These four areas can give you some ideas:
- Language Goals: Daily practice beats weekly lessons when every shop counter doubles as a classroom. Start small, like ordering lunch without switching to English.
- Money Targets: Because the cost of living shifts the moment you land, rebuild your savings plan around local prices instead of the ones you left.
- Outdoor Goals: Pick the sport your neighbours already play, since the weather and the local clubs make it easier to stay involved.
- Friendship Goals: Aim to make two solid friendships each season. It gives you a simple social goal and helps you build a support circle in your new country.
Pro Tip: Tie every goal to something close to your daily routine. After all, a goal is easier to follow when it fits into your daily life, rather than needing a plane trip to make it happen.
Popular Destinations: How Australia and New Zealand Influence Different Goals
Australia may lead you towards career and income goals, while New Zealand may draw you towards more time outdoors and a slower pace of life. The same career move can feel completely different in Sydney than it does in Wellington. So, compare what daily life looks like in each place before you decide where to move.
Compare the two side by side before you apply for a work visa, especially if you’ve only visited on short trips.
| Your goal | Australia | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Career growth | More job opportunities in Sydney and Melbourne | Smaller market, quicker route to senior roles |
| Outdoors | Beaches and surf near most cities | Mountains, lakes and short drives to trails |
| Daily pace | Busier, pricier, more options | Quieter, cheaper outside Auckland |
Think about what you want over the next few years, such as a higher-paying job, shorter working hours, or more time outdoors. Then, check the visa rules to see which option fits your plans.
Start Planning Your Own Move Overseas
Living abroad gives you space to think about what you want from life. Away from your usual routine, you may notice that your old plans no longer fit, or that goals you once pushed aside now feel worth following.
To help you choose goals that suit your new life, this guide covered career changes, daily habits, and personal priorities. We also looked at what different destinations can offer. Goals need a season or two to settle.
Runaway Squirrels shares destination guides and honest stories to help you take the next step. When you’re ready to plan your move, contact our team for guidance with choosing a destination, preparing for the move, and settling into life abroad.