*No spell-check, just a quick flush of thoughts* Today a friend asked me what did the experience of working abroad gave me. I replied something on the spot but have a feeling that the answer was a bit hurried and inaccurate. Here is my attempt to fix it. As I am thinking, I am finding myself wondering what are the countries that I have actually worked in. I need to list them first to get some clarity for myself. Here they are: - London: 3months, cashier at an airport caffee - Zurich: 6month, research at uni - Bukarest and Instanbul: 9 months, management consultant, flying in for Mon-Fri, weekends in Prague - Amsterdam: 3 years, software engineer As I look at this list, can I extract some general experiences or learnings? The first thing I notice is that it feels as if I am less disturbed by flaws in Czech culture and society. It seems to me that *each* country has their own flaws, and so the Czechs are no exception. Perhaps, it even feels to me I witness in myself a bit of open-mindedness and empathy towards what is *different*. Another thing I notice is something perhaps more personnal. I arrived to London with no prior work arrangement and was hunting for a job by literally going from shop to shop in the airport with a pocket full of my CVs. In Zurich, similarly, I wanted to stay there after Erasmus period was over and so I managed to arrange a 6-month work stipendium with the local professor, which was unheard of back then. When I was leaving Amsterdam for Prague, I managed to arrange the first remote position within the company (this was before covid). It seems to me that living abroad somehow triggered or reinforced in me such creative endeavours, which might possibly be harder to replicate here in the local emvironment. The third thing: no regrets. I remember when I was younger that I wanted to travel the world and see it all and what not. Now, having travelled a few countries and having lived longer in a few of them, such temptations feel gone and I am now more thinking of which place within Czech republic to settle in–maybe some place with a good mix of the nature and the social.