Being a Citizen of the World- The Tale of Living in Two Countries

Travel as we know it can be a pain, but once you get used to the security checks, bland airplane food and constant pressure of arriving on time, it can become part of your routine. Eventually manage to get through check- in, baggage drop-o , security and make it onto the airplane within a mere…

Jasmin Rafferty Avatar

Travel as we know it can be a pain, but once you get used to the security checks, bland airplane food and constant pressure of arriving on time, it can become part of your routine. Eventually manage to get through check- in, baggage drop-o , security and make it onto the airplane within a mere 1.5 hours. After all, practice makes perfect!

As a double nationality University student I currently live in two countries (and probably will for a while). Holidays and summers are spent in Portugal whilst the rest are spent here in Lund. This means airplanes are sort of my third home. For me there’s something comforting about boarding an airplane, looking out the tiny airplane window and seeing the white u y cotton candy looking clouds just floating around. It makes me feel like I can go anywhere and do anything I want to. In my opinion in the long run the positives of living in two places actually outweigh the negatives, but don’t get me wrong no matter how many times you do it, it doesn’t make it any easier. If you ever live in two places you will eventually realize that life is quite amazing! I get to have friends all over the world (thanks to having studied the IB program in high school), have people that make saying goodbye so hard and hello to so sweet, I get to experience two cultures, get out of my comfort zone to have new experiences and live in a holiday destination for 4 months a year! The downsides are that it definitely doesn’t get easier leaving home and not seeing your friends and family for months and months. You constantly have a feeling of not really fully belonging anywhere and never really being able to establish yourself in one place because you never actually stay there long enough. Logistically its half the wardrobe here and there, a constant battle against the sporadic uctuation of airplane ticket prices and annoying baggage limitations; I always nd myself squeezing in that last sweater in an already bulging luggage.

At the end of the day I am so grateful to be a citizen of the world and be able to speak Portuguese, English, Swedish fluently. And if anything I believe the world is going in a more globalized direction where ethnicity and borders are blurred and what matters is each person’s individuality. That being said my advice to you is this: take risks, go study or work in another country, learn a new language push your barriers because its only when you do these things that you truly learn. And one more thing, aisle seats are always the way to go, always chose the aisle seat, life hacks!

 

About Nådiga Lundtan

Founded in 1948 and has since been an important part of student life in the economics program at Lund University. Nådiga Lundtan covers a wide range of topics related to economics, society, and politics, as well as careers, entrepreneurship, and innovation. It is a platform for students to share their ideas and opinions on economics and related fields.

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