If you’re lucky enough to have close relatives living overseas, you understand that this lifestyle is extremely beneficial but can also have some downsides. I have family living in both Italy and France, which is amazing, but very little family who actually live within driving distance. It sometimes feels lonely in my home country.

Thanksgivings are always quiet and Christmas is only vivacious if we have family visiting or actually take a plane trip ourselves. Unfortunately, overseas traveling is not simple. Plane tickets are expensive, and it’s sometimes hard to abandon responsibilities at home long enough to make the trip fully worth it. This leaves room for very little quality time with foreign family members and lots of room for sad end-of-vacation goodbyes and year-round FaceTime calls.

When you do get a chance to travel for a visit, though, everything becomes worth it. Thanks to my bloodline, I’ve been traveling to Europe since before I could talk. I’ve seen breathtaking cities like Paris, Rome and Venice multiple times, and have spent summers swimming in the warm sea, all without feeling like a tourist. These trips obviously include enjoying food as unique as its culture. Domino’s never tastes the same after having prosciutto e rucola pizza in Naples or a fresh Parisian baguette. Exposure to different cultures completely opens your mind.

While the time you spend with your foreign family members is obviously very fun, it’s more than that; it’s an irreplaceable learning experience. Even if you don’t fluently speak the language they’re speaking, it’s impossible not to pick up a few words or phrases when you hear them talking. You can even slowly start learning their language’s structure just by eavesdropping. Having the exposure to their different way of life is priceless. You gain so much perspective by understanding the different way they do things; just a trip to their local grocery store or a walk in their neighborhood can change your worldly outlook. Noticing the culture shock they experience when they visit your home country can also change your views about daily life. These are things you can’t grasp by sitting in a classroom.

Every drop-off trip to the airport and every departure at the end of an amazing trip is always the worst, but I still would never trade the relationship I have with my family overseas for anything less extraordinary. The memories, experiences, and life lessons gained from this lifestyle is worth more than any overpriced tourist bus ride or hotel.