Before we moved abroad as a newly married couple, many of our friends and family expected us to do the “normal” thing married couples do; get a job, buy a house, have kids… settle down. We aren’t saying that doing those things is bad or even boring, we have many friends and family members who are wonderfully happy and starting families of their own. However, for us, one of the things that attracted both of us to each other was a shared love of travel. Every chance we got, we would take road trips and doing this brought us closer together. Once we both graduated from college we knew we wanted to take a huge chance and move abroad, much to everyone’s surprise. We think that traveling while you are young is a great opportunity to gain a better perspective and really challenge yourself to grow and learn new things.
Packing all of your things and setting out for such an adventure was an interesting process. We both sat down and sorted through our entire life’s possessions and ended up donating most of our things as we prioritized what we felt was most important. This is much easier to do when you are young and don’t have as many things and priorities. Doing this also taught us to have less emotional attachments to objects as we packed our lives into four meager suitcases.
Moving your entire life into the unknown can be stressful, however. We found out how each other handles these stresses and have grown to better understand what we both need from one another. Ryan deals with his frustrations by talking about them and putting them out in the open, while I need to relax and have time to think about them. Traveling as a young married couple has put us into situations we have never experienced before in our relationship and so we have learned to be more supportive and caring of the other’s needs. This has brought us even closer together and has strengthened our marriage.
Becoming an expat while you are young gives you a whole new perspective on different cultures and the lives of people around the world. You will meet new people and see how they live. You will trust strangers and show more compassion. You will have new experiences and encourage others to do the same. You will learn to appreciate what you have and be thankful each day.
If you are young, I urge you to travel. Follow your dreams and fall in love with the unknown and the unfamiliar. You may end up finding yourself and choosing to never come back.
Hedgers Abroad 
Oh No!
Does this mean you’re never coming back?
What about the dogs and cats? Yiiiiikes!
Chris
We made this post to inspire our readers to take the road less traveled. The last statement was an encouragement for those considering traveling abroad and regardless of whether you go back home or choose to stay an expat, traveling will forever change you. As to our future plans, we are simply enjoying this adventure one day at a time.
So proud of you both for following your dreams. Hopefully we will be able to come see you while you’re abroad. And…BTW….you better come back!!! 🙂
We hope that you can make a trip to see us! Jeff would be in spicy food heaven!!
I’ve told you before, but it’s worth saying again. ..I’m very proud of the two of you. Not only for embarking on your adventure, but for loving and supporting each other as you do. Glad to see the courage and love you both exhibit. Every parent wants their kids to exceed them and I think this adventure exceeds the adventures Ryan and I shared. Still missing you though:)
We miss you all as well. Thank you so much for all your amazing support and encouragement, it is really appreciated.
I know I keep saying it, but it is SO fun to read your blog, and see such similarities in our lives (and even differences too!) We also feel as if Korea has brought us closer together as a newly married couple. I started our blog as a way to connect with our firends and family back home, but the more I write the more I am discovering how much I love blogging! I am even working on turning my blog into a picture/journal hardcover book from snap fish. It is so fun to follow you guys and maybe our paths will cross in Korea some day!! 🙂
I know what you mean about blogging! We promised our family and friends before moving that we would keep them updated regularly and share with them our new lives here. However, after finding more blogs with people of the same interests and connecting with them, I am starting to really get into writing. We have even started to vlog more and we really enjoy that as well! Let us know if you ever make a trip up to Seoul!