What studying abroad at 25 feels like (when you missed it at 20)

I was always eager for college—I love learning—but what excited me most was the chance to study abroad. I dreamed of picking up a fresh baked croissant on my way to school in Paris or sipping an espresso before studying for an exam in Florence. How wonderful to pursue my degree while fulfilling a lifelong dream of truly living in another country, not just taking a week-long vacation.

Then Covid hit. College came and went, and so did my chance to study abroad. I got my degree before my school even reintroduced their study abroad program.

Fortunately, I got a job right out of college. It was ideal and honestly most people’s dream scenario. While I found fulfillment in my work, the persistent pull to experience life abroad never left me.

My early twenties were spent exactly how I could have wished—an exciting job, moments and opportunities that could only happen in NYC, meeting life long friends that I now consider family. I was exactly where I was meant to be for that time in my life. But with each passing year and every day that I cemented myself further in the city, the idea of moving abroad progressively became scarier. I had an apartment, a job, my best friends all in NYC, was it worth uprooting everything just to satisfy my curiosity?

To me, it was. By October 2024, I had decided I would take the leap exactly one year later.

The visa situation was the tricky part. You can’t just decide to move one day, get an apartment and you’re all set! After searching for a job sponsorship and coming up short, I reluctantly opened myself to the idea of going back to school, even if it felt like it was going against everything I was looking for: I wanted to make money in a new city, not spend more of it and have nothing incoming. Alas, the process comes with plenty of surprises I’ve come to figure out.

I discovered Italianforawhile, an opportunity to learn Italian while living in my city of choice. It was perfect. I had always wanted to speak another language and this was my chance to finally make it happen.

After a quick call with the team, I enrolled and sent in my job resignation. October 2025 came, and now I start my days making coffee in a Mokapot and watching the sunrise over my adorable street in Florence, Italy. I walk to class every day and learn something new, finally flexing a muscle that feels long since neglected.

What makes this experience feel different for me than what I may have imagined five years ago is that I’m no longer 20, looking to have this Lizzie McGuire moment abroad. I’m old (or at least it feels like it, lol) and I have no interest in clubbing, or wearing outfits that don’t align with the weather just because it’s cute—I got that out of my system going to the bars in a mini skirt every winter in New York. As a 25 year-old studying abroad, I’m now seeking a stable change (if you could ever consider moving your entire life across the ocean stable). I like discovering new places around the city and learning about the culture, all the while trying to maintain some normalcy to my old life in New York, like continuing to try new recipes in my new kitchen or remembering to dedicate a few hours a week to writing.

I definitely struggle with the fact that I thought I had everything figured out before I moved, and now, every day, I do something I’m absolutely terrible at (spoiler alert, Italian is HARD). But isn’t that what I’m supposed to be doing at 25? Spending it feeling uncomfortable and growing from that.

I think about how much more patience, how much more respect and love I have for myself now than compared to five years ago. Taking that into this experience makes it all the more enriching. It's like when your parents took you to museums as a child. Back then, you didn’t fully appreciate the experience. But as you grow older, you wish you had visited with the knowledge you now have, so you could truly understand what you didn’t fully grasp in the moment. That’s how studying abroad at 25 feels compared to 20. It’s fear, resolution and a whole new world of opportunities to reinvent yourself.