I'm a born and raised New Yorker with Slavic roots, but living abroad has been a dream of mine ever since — when I studied abroad in Prague. After I returned to the US, I earned a master's degree to teach English as a second language, preparing to make my dream a reality. Then I fell in love with my best friend from high school, who had never left Long Island, and everything changed.
Our nearly year relationship was fantastic and filled with many wonderful memories including a few trips to Europe. Each time we came back to the US, I'd raise the question of moving abroad together. But my then-husband wasn't a big fan of the idea based on his resistance to change. As we got older, it became clear that our values and what we wanted out of a future together was vastly different.
Eventually, we decided to divorce in January , a painful but necessary decision that allowed us to create our ideal lives apart. I felt like I had a second chance to live out my dreams, and later that year I permanently moved to Serbia.
Though I don't want to stay here anymore, I'm grateful for the experiences. Initially, in March , I booked a one-way ticket to Prague only to have it canceled when the coronavirus pandemic completely shut down access to countries in the EU.
I was devastated when my trip was canceled, but Serbia — a nearby country in the Balkans — was still allowing foreign travelers to visit. I'd never been to Serbia before, and was pretty ignorant of the history and culture. I didn't speak Serbian at all, and only knew that a "really bad war" had happened there during the s. I also knew they had a lot of great basketball and tennis players.
