Travelling and living abroad can look similar from the outside. Both involve new countries, unfamiliar cultures and plenty of time spent trying to understand how things work. But they are very different experiences.
Travelling often encourages people to see as much as possible. Living somewhere teaches them to slow down. Once someone has spent months or years abroad, their approach to travel often begins to change too. The attraction of ticking off every landmark becomes smaller, while ordinary experiences become much more interesting.
The classic travel itinerary is packed. Three cities. Seven attractions. Two day trips. One week.
Living abroad quickly teaches you that experiencing a place isn't the same as seeing everything in it. Instead of trying to cover an entire destination, slower travellers may choose one neighbourhood or town and spend more time there.There is less pressure to maximise every day. And ironically, slowing down often creates more memorable experiences.
When you live somewhere rather than visit it, the things that make a place memorable aren't always major attractions.
It's knowing where people actually eat. Understanding when the town gets busy. Finding the beach locals visit after work. Recognising the person working at the café. Learning which supermarket has what you need.
These experiences rarely appear on a bucket list, but they reveal much more about what living somewhere actually feels like.
This is something Nora Ebaid explores through her travel, surfing and personal storytelling, where the everyday moments surrounding a destination are often just as important as the destination itself.
One of the easiest ways to experience a destination beyond tourism is through something you already love doing.
Surfing, running, cycling, diving, climbing and photography can immediately connect travellers with communities they might otherwise never encounter. Surfing is particularly interesting because travelling for waves often takes people beyond traditional tourist routes.
Batu Karas in West Java, Indonesia, is a good example. The small surf town attracts travellers who may arrive for the waves but stay longer because of the slower pace and community surrounding them.
Anyone planning a surf trip there can find practical information on the best time to surf in Batu Karas and what to expect from the Batu Karas wave before deciding when to visit.
It is a different way of choosing a destination: not simply asking what there is to see, but what there is to experience.
Living abroad involves a surprising amount of figuring things out. Different systems, different social rules, different languages. Different ways of doing things you previously assumed were universal.
After enough time navigating unfamiliar situations, not knowing exactly what's going to happen becomes less intimidating.
That can completely change travel. Missing a bus isn't the end of the world. Plans can change. You don't need every restaurant booked before arriving. Sometimes uncertainty is where the interesting part starts.
Ask someone about their favourite travel memories and they may initially name destinations. Ask them to tell the actual stories and people usually appear very quickly.
The person they met at a hostel, the family who invited them to dinner, the friends they made surfing. The stranger who helped when everything went wrong.
Living abroad makes these relationships even more significant because people become part of how you understand a place.
Sometimes returning to a destination isn't really about the destination at all. It's about who's still there.
Travel tends to focus on the main event: the surf session, the hike, the famous restaurant or the landmark. But living somewhere reveals how much life happens between those moments.
A short film called Between the Waves captures exactly that idea, documenting the ordinary life that happens around surfing rather than focusing exclusively on the waves themselves.
Coffee. Friends. Waiting. Driving around. Sunset. Conversations. The little rituals that slowly make a destination feel familiar.
For slow travellers, those in-between moments can eventually become the most memorable part of the trip.
Living abroad also creates opportunities to try things that may never have been part of your life at home.
The challenge is accepting that you'll probably be terrible at some of them initially.
Surfing is an obvious example: learning requires falling, missing waves, looking ridiculous and continuing anyway.
The short surf film Queen of Kooks takes a playful look at exactly this side of surfing: being bad at something you genuinely love and continuing to show up regardless.
It's an attitude that works surprisingly well for travel too. You don't need to understand everything immediately. Sometimes participating badly is considerably more interesting than observing perfectly.
Countries aren't checklists. You don't fail at visiting somewhere because you didn't see its most famous attraction. You don't need photographic evidence from every viewpoint. And you certainly don't need to visit fifteen places in seven days simply because an itinerary online told you to.
Sometimes spending a week surfing, eating at the same few restaurants and becoming familiar with one tiny corner of a country can be far more rewarding.
Living abroad teaches you that experiencing a place takes time. Travel may not always offer that luxury. But even when the trip is short, travelling with that mindset can completely change it.
You Stop Trying to See Everything
The classic travel itinerary is packed. Three cities. Seven attractions. Two day trips. One week.
Living abroad quickly teaches you that experiencing a place isn't the same as seeing everything in it. Instead of trying to cover an entire destination, slower travellers may choose one neighbourhood or town and spend more time there.There is less pressure to maximise every day. And ironically, slowing down often creates more memorable experiences.
Everyday Life Becomes Part of the Destination
When you live somewhere rather than visit it, the things that make a place memorable aren't always major attractions.
It's knowing where people actually eat. Understanding when the town gets busy. Finding the beach locals visit after work. Recognising the person working at the café. Learning which supermarket has what you need.
These experiences rarely appear on a bucket list, but they reveal much more about what living somewhere actually feels like.
This is something Nora Ebaid explores through her travel, surfing and personal storytelling, where the everyday moments surrounding a destination are often just as important as the destination itself.
Hobbies Can Completely Change How You Experience a Place
One of the easiest ways to experience a destination beyond tourism is through something you already love doing.
Surfing, running, cycling, diving, climbing and photography can immediately connect travellers with communities they might otherwise never encounter. Surfing is particularly interesting because travelling for waves often takes people beyond traditional tourist routes.
Batu Karas in West Java, Indonesia, is a good example. The small surf town attracts travellers who may arrive for the waves but stay longer because of the slower pace and community surrounding them.
Anyone planning a surf trip there can find practical information on the best time to surf in Batu Karas and what to expect from the Batu Karas wave before deciding when to visit.
It is a different way of choosing a destination: not simply asking what there is to see, but what there is to experience.
You Become More Comfortable With Uncertainty
Living abroad involves a surprising amount of figuring things out. Different systems, different social rules, different languages. Different ways of doing things you previously assumed were universal.
After enough time navigating unfamiliar situations, not knowing exactly what's going to happen becomes less intimidating.
That can completely change travel. Missing a bus isn't the end of the world. Plans can change. You don't need every restaurant booked before arriving. Sometimes uncertainty is where the interesting part starts.
You Start Valuing People as Much as Places
Ask someone about their favourite travel memories and they may initially name destinations. Ask them to tell the actual stories and people usually appear very quickly.
The person they met at a hostel, the family who invited them to dinner, the friends they made surfing. The stranger who helped when everything went wrong.
Living abroad makes these relationships even more significant because people become part of how you understand a place.
Sometimes returning to a destination isn't really about the destination at all. It's about who's still there.
You Realise the Best Moments Often Happen Between the Plans
Travel tends to focus on the main event: the surf session, the hike, the famous restaurant or the landmark. But living somewhere reveals how much life happens between those moments.
A short film called Between the Waves captures exactly that idea, documenting the ordinary life that happens around surfing rather than focusing exclusively on the waves themselves.
Coffee. Friends. Waiting. Driving around. Sunset. Conversations. The little rituals that slowly make a destination feel familiar.
For slow travellers, those in-between moments can eventually become the most memorable part of the trip.
Trying Something Badly Can Be Better Than Watching From the Sidelines
Living abroad also creates opportunities to try things that may never have been part of your life at home.
The challenge is accepting that you'll probably be terrible at some of them initially.
Surfing is an obvious example: learning requires falling, missing waves, looking ridiculous and continuing anyway.
The short surf film Queen of Kooks takes a playful look at exactly this side of surfing: being bad at something you genuinely love and continuing to show up regardless.
It's an attitude that works surprisingly well for travel too. You don't need to understand everything immediately. Sometimes participating badly is considerably more interesting than observing perfectly.
You Learn That You Don't Have to “Do” a Country
Countries aren't checklists. You don't fail at visiting somewhere because you didn't see its most famous attraction. You don't need photographic evidence from every viewpoint. And you certainly don't need to visit fifteen places in seven days simply because an itinerary online told you to.
Sometimes spending a week surfing, eating at the same few restaurants and becoming familiar with one tiny corner of a country can be far more rewarding.
Living abroad teaches you that experiencing a place takes time. Travel may not always offer that luxury. But even when the trip is short, travelling with that mindset can completely change it.
See less. Notice more. And leave enough empty space in the itinerary for a place to surprise you! (Photo credit: Francisco Mamani)
