Surviving Abroad : Friends Who Keep You Sane

Not only do you leave familiar surroundings behind when you relocate to a new country. but you also leave behind your people. Your loved ones, former companions, and the reassurance that someone is always there. And then all of a sudden, you're in a new city, surrounded by strangers, and you have to start over. What they don’t tell you is that sometimes, those strangers become your family.

It’s not easy making friends in your late 20s. You’re busy, tired, juggling work, bills, and life. But if you’re lucky — really lucky — you meet a few people who stick. The ones who become your safe space, your support system, your reminder that you’re not alone in this foreign place.

They’re the true heroes of our expat lives.

After a long day at work, battling a sadist manager or dealing with co-workers who leave you questioning humanity, you come home. And what saves you? That small moment when you can sit down with your people, rant about everything, and know they get it.

It’s our unofficial therapy session. We all look forward to it — finishing work, coming home, venting, laughing, and crashing into bed with some of the stress lifted off our shoulders.

That silly, chaotic, beer-fueled gathering in the living room? That’s what keeps you going.

Missing home?

Lost your job?

Not in the mood?

It doesn’t matter — it all fades, at least briefly, when you're with your people. Being Indian abroad? Let me tell you — it’s not always as straightforward as you think. You step into a new country, and suddenly, you find yourself clinging to familiar faces, familiar food, and familiar accents. You meet other Indians and think, “Great, my people are here!” But that’s when it gets interesting.

It’s honestly funny how, even among your own, you discover massive cultural gaps. You realise how diverse India is — different languages, different food, different ways of celebrating the same festival — and let’s not start on the never-ending North vs South debates or the spicy food competitions.

We argue over the silliest things — what’s the real way to cook a certain dish, how to pronounce certain words, whose hometown has the best street food. The cultural differences are real, and sometimes, they leave you more confused than comforted.

But here’s the beautiful part — despite all those silly arguments, despite the teasing and constant comparisons, when you’re far from home, these people become your anchor.

We show up for each other. We celebrate each other's festivals, we cook for one another, we check in when someone’s sick, heartbroken, homesick, or just having a bad day. That quiet care, those small gestures? They sneak up on you, and suddenly, it gets emotional.

You realise — at the end of the day, no matter how different we seem on the surface, we’re all just trying to find a little piece of home in a foreign land. And often, that piece of home is each other.

The truth is, when you first move abroad, you don’t realise how important these friendships will become. But one day, you look around your living room, and it hits you — this is your chosen family. The one you never planned for, but the one you can't imagine surviving without.