For me, the value came from learning the customs of the others. Challenging what I took as obvious opened my eyes to the lines along which societies can vary.

For me, the value came from learning the customs of the others. Challenging what I took as obvious opened my eyes to the lines along which societies can vary. One example was to see different ways universities operate in respect to undergraduate students, for example the amount of socializing they are, incidentally or on purpose, forced into. The differences in prestige boils down not to the level of teaching, but to opportunities students are given, becoming a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Living in another country means that sooner or later one will crash into beaurocracy and the health system, which works differently everywhere, giving appreciation to things that one might have hated before. And finally, there's the pure "feel" of the place. Admittedly, it's possible to live in places with different "feels" without going abroad, and get most of the variation, but it's even more pronounced when the demographics, general approach to the world, weather or legislation are different. In the very least, moving around helped me understand what is important to lead a happy life. Totally valuable.