Life as an expat seems strange to some people and I often am asked about this. What would make someone leave his country, but not permanently leave it? Why would you settle in one country when you know you’re going to move on anyway?

All the questions are well-intentioned but you can sense the confusion in people’s minds when they talk about these things. My personal favourite question is,”Why are you leaving? Aren’t you happy here?”

If you’re asking that question, you’re missing the point.

It’s not that I’m not happy (although that could be the case at times), it’s that there is so much more to experience, see and do.

Here are my five reasons why it’s good to be an expat. I realise that not everyone will agree with me and I’m fine with that – it’s all about what’s important to you and your life after all.

1. You get to explore the country you live in for the first time.
   When you’re a grown adult.
   Without preconceived notions of what’s around the corner. This is something that most people marvel at. They’ve been living here for ages and aren’t aware of some of the most beautiful events, breath-taking sights and mouth-watering restaurants that the place has to offer. For them, certain neighbourhoods will forever remind them of school trips, of their first love or even of high crime rates that have long since disappeared. For me, the map is a blank sheet of paper I need to fill in.
2. You can – and do – call many places home. It’s not about where you are tax-domiciled or registered to vote. It’s about how you feel.

   

   I have this quite often. I call Malta home because I grew up there. I can drive to almost everywhere on the island without a map, I know how things work, I know where everything is. It is home.

   

   I call Prague home as I’ve lived here for almost two years. I feel comfortable walking around the city, I know (almost) how things work and I’m enjoying exploring the various nooks and crannies of this bohemian city. It is home.

   

   I call Brussels home as I lived there for six years. I know the surreal place well and have fond memories of excellent restaurants, well-equipped bars and annual activities. Whenever I go back, it all seems so familiar, even if things do change from time to time. It is home too.

3. You gain a new appreciation for travelling and exploring.
   I have yet to meet an expat who didn’t like to travel. Once you realise that every corner can contain an as-yet undiscovered secret, it becomes a part of your everyday life.

   

   What is the meaning of that mural painted on the 5th floor of that apartment block?
   Why is no one else looking up to feast their eyes on such a magnificent sight?
   Why did they put a lamp-post right where I can walk into it? This becomes part of your life and when you travel you start to see things beyond the standard tourist guide-book.

4. You realise that some things are the same everywhere. How many times have you read your national news and moaned about how corrupt the politicians are?
   Or how inefficient your government is?
   Or how ridiculous/pointless/stupid/embarrassing your celebrities are?
   It’s the same everywhere. Most countries hide it well from others but the same problems you have at home are the ones everywhere else. It’s not about the system/society/country, it’s about people. And people can be idiots whatever their passport says.
5. You gain a better understanding of your own home country. This came as a shock to me. It was way back in 1998 and I was home for the first time since leaving to work in England. I was walking along the sea front across the harbour from the capital city of Valletta, Malta, when it suddenly occurred to me that I had never really noticed the outline of the fortified city before. I must have walked up and down that shore thousands of times but since it was always there, I never noticed it. It was no longer part of my background anymore so I grew to appreciate it. Every time I’m back, I make it a point to visit new places and explore the country in a way I never did when I lived there.

I suppose I could summarise all this simply with a single phrase – You enjoy life.
I almost added ‘more’ to that sentence but that would be unfair. The people who chose to remain at home aren’t unhappier because they’re not doing what I do. If that’s what makes them tick, then they should be happy and that’s ultimately what’s important.

For me, though, and for countless others like me, we wouldn’t be happy unless everything around us was changing too.

And we wouldn’t have it any other way, would we?