11 years and counting. Born in Germany, I've been to the US, UK, Spain (and short 3 months in Mexico), now again in the UK. It has absolutely been valuable, though I feel the question does not really apply to me as I always felt I had to go abroad. Everything has good and bad parts, but the one thing I can say for sure is that I am much more "alive". The thought that I might have stayed in my home town (Hamburg, which is one of the nicest cities in Germany) for my whole life truly horrifies me.
However, now with wife & kids priorities change significantly. We are planning (though it is not sure we will do it due to wife's job) to bring our kids to Germany while they're in school and then retire in Spain once they have grown up. Let's see if that works out ;)
However, now with wife & kids priorities change significantly. We are planning (though it is not sure we will do it due to wife's job) to bring our kids to Germany while they're in school and then retire in Spain once they have grown up. Let's see if that works out ;)