Grew up in California, after college moved to DC. 2 years into that, I decided the path I was on wasn't for me, and moved to South America to study Spanish for

Grew up in California, after college moved to DC. 2 years into that, I decided the path I was on wasn't for me, and moved to South America to study Spanish for a few months. Ended up loving it in Buenos Aires, and lived there for about 9 months. I interviewed at startups there, but the pay was so low relative to other countries, that I couldn't stomach it, and ended up finding a job in Amsterdam. Was there for 4.5 years, and really loved it. My girlfriend at the time really wanted to live in London, so we moved, and I ended up getting a job at a SV-based BigCo. When we split, after 4 years, I figured it was time to try the US again. So almost a decade in total! Hard to say if it's "valuable" as honestly it just felt like life. I have dual citizenship though (US / Euro), so moving around was much easier than for some. I am really glad I took advantage, and do believe it opens you up in a unique way. You learn how to get along with people from all over, get good at identifying accents (like making friends just because you can tell that person is from Manchester, and not just English), and hopefully pick up a language or two. My Spanish is thankfully still pretty good, but my Dutch is awful. I'm in NYC now, and while I am enjoying it, I can definitely see myself moving again. Maybe Australia, or somewhere else in Europe? Gets harder with kids I'm sure, but I know people from oil households who moved around a lot (Nigeria, Bahrain, Norway) and are still normal, well-adjusted adults. Itchy feet? Who knows. But a big benefit of working in tech is that the job doesn't really change, regardless of where you are. It's much harder for friends of mine who are lawyers, or even doctors (building a practice is very local), to consider moving internationally.