I moved from Texas to Europe 11 years ago. Here are my 5 biggest pros and cons of living abroad.

• Leah Young moved from Texas to Spain in 2015 to become a teaching assistant.
• What was meant to be a one-year stay has turned into a permanent life in Europe.
• Young, who now lives in France, said living abroad has come with its ups and downs.

“It hits really hard, especially during that first week away,” she said. “Almost as soon as you arrive, when you get to your hotel or Airbnb, you realize, ‘Oh my gosh, I am completely isolated here.’ It’s pretty freaky.”

For Young, spontaneous hangouts or nights out with loved ones have been replaced by phone calls, video chats, and messages. While she still visits them in the US when she can, the trips never seem long enough.

“That is something you can’t really change,” she said. “In an ideal world, they would be coming with me, but they can’t. You can only see them so many times a year.”

The distance is particularly hard during the holidays and challenging periods in life. It’s made Young even more appreciative of the time they do have together.

“For me, it has been kind of a blessing in disguise,” she said. “I started having much more frequent phone calls with my best friend. With my mom, we call almost every single day, and I don’t know if that would be happening if we lived in the same place.”