I did not expect to miss my old life. I chose to leave it. I was ready to leave it. I had thought about leaving it for years before I actually did. And still. There were nights in the first few months where I sat with the specific silence of a place that did not know me yet and felt something that I can only describe as mourning something I had outgrown. I think that is the part nobody posts about. The grief that comes with choosing better. Like your nervous system has not caught up to your decision yet and it is still looking for the version of your life that used to feel familiar. Costa Rica did not fix that. It just gave me enough space and enough quiet to sit with it until it passed. It passed. If you are in that in between place right now where you chose the thing and it does not feel triumphant yet, that is not a sign you made the wrong call. That is just what becoming looks like from the inside. #movingabroad #costarica #expatlife #startingover #personalgrowth