The grass is always greener on the other side is one cliché that rings true time and time again. Each person tends to think he/she has the hardest life while everyone else is simply having a great time.
Americans often look to Europe and think the lifestyle there is nothing but carefree and joyous. Sadness, heath-ache, and sickness as well as happiness, romance, and good health exist everywhere. No country is immune to the good or bad.
So, why do we fall in love with foreign cities?
The food, people, accents, and all the other components of the culture wrap us up in the excitement of something new. As we go blindly through the new territory we live la vie en rose and begin to romanticize everything we see.
Recently I was fortunate enough to travel to Montpellier, Brussels, and Amsterdam and during my trip I fell under the spell of Brussels. Every street. Every bar. Every chocolate shop. All was bliss.
As my blog title suggests, I was living “la vie en rose” or, for those unfamiliar with the French language, I was living “life in pink” or “life in rosy hues.” Walking through the streets of Brussels, I was falling in love and could not see all the negativities around me.
My experience in Belgium was nothing but positive. As someone learning French I was able to grasp a better sense of the culture of the city, however a few days in one of the capitals of Europe is not enough to truly understand the depth of this great city.
Tourists are all guilty of this. We do not pay attention to the reality of the city we are in. Since, as tourists, we do not look past the surface value we fall in love with the idea of a city rather than the city itself.
If you choose to work/study abroad, you have the opportunity to go beyond the honeymoon phase and discover how a new destination/country actually is. As time goes on you begin to notice the flaws, but, like relationships, you will soon realize if you and your host city were meant to be if those once quirky differences are what make you fall deeper in love.
As I spend more time in France, I realize the rich history and fall deeper in adoration with the complexities of the languages. The ways of the French people still elude me, yet they have held my attention since day one.
Traveling is something we all must do at some point in our lives, but something we all must avoid is becoming nothing more than a tourist.
Keep traveling, keep falling in love, but start to dig a little deeper. Find out where the locals hang out. Go to the local coffee shop rather than the nearest Starbucks.
As you look beyond the surface, I promise you will something much richer and more beautiful than you thought existed.
