Many people move to Mauritius thinking they are simply changing scenery. Sun, spices, curry, a slower pace of life. Often, the decision is driven by exhaustion: a job that has lost its meaning, a lifestyle that feels increasingly disconnected, and the sense of repeating the same patterns without moving forward. But relocation rarely stops at a change of address. Moving abroad, particularly to a place like Mauritius, often becomes a deeper turning point. Beyond the practical steps and administrative formalities, it triggers a shift in perspective. The move acts as a reset, forcing individuals to reassess their priorities, question long-held assumptions, and adapt to an entirely new environment. In that process, many begin to see more clearly what matters to them, how they want to live, and what they are no longer willing to compromise.
The turning point: When leaving no longer means running away
No, you didn't drop everything overnight on a whim. Even if that version sounds better. The reality is usually more subtle. You felt slightly out of place. Not unhappy. But not truly alive either.
So one day, you typed “move to Mauritius” into a search engine. Just to see. Then you found forums, testimonials, and videos. Maybe even Expat.com. And there, one word kept coming up: meaning.
Strange, isn't it? You didn't pack that word in your suitcase at the start. And yet, it is often the first thing that travels with you, even before you book the flight.
The leap into the unknown and into yourself
It always begins at an airport. A goodbye. A mix of excitement and anxiety. Then the delicious vertigo of the unknown. You finally set foot somewhere else. But above all, somewhere else within yourself.
Very quickly, your bearings disappear—the language, the schedules, the sounds, the rhythm. You are no longer in your comfort zone. And that is when the mental noise fades, giving way to intuition.
When everything around you changes, you can no longer run on autopilot. You have to decide. Choose. Reinvent yourself. Sometimes, it even redefines who you are.
“I was a marketing director in a large company, with a good salary, a nice office… and a stomach ulcer at 35. I dropped everything and moved to Mauritius. People around me thought I was crazy. I discovered yoga and meditation, but above all, I rediscovered silence. And in that silence, I understood that I never wanted to live against myself again. Today, I'm a business coach. I earn less, but I live better,” says Kenza, an expat in Mauritius.
It is a strange paradox. Sometimes you have to move away to come closer. Go far away to reconnect with what is essential. Moving abroad is not just about leaving a country; it is about freeing yourself from a framework. From that version of yourself that was assigned to you without really asking for your opinion: the good student, the efficient employee, the model parent, and the model citizen.
And suddenly, thousands of kilometers away, you finally have the right to ask the real questions:
- “Do I do this job out of passion or out of habit?”
- “Does this life nourish me or drain me?”
- “Do I really need all this to be happy?”
In this fresh space, without the constant gaze of those around you, without the expectations of your home society, something loosens. Your inner voice, which you had turned down for years, starts speaking again. And, almost miraculously, you begin to listen to it.
A new relationship with time, with others and with yourself
You notice it quickly: your relationship with time changes. And it rubs off on you. You eat more slowly. You work differently. You take breaks, not just coffee breaks, but pauses to look, to breathe, to observe.
Encounters take on a different flavor too. Less rushed. Less superficial. There is an unspoken sense of solidarity among expatriates. People share more easily. They open up faster. And through that connection with others, you rediscover yourself.
Antoine and Amandine tell their story: “We had started a company in Paris. It was a constant race. When we moved to Mauritius, we just wanted to breathe for a bit. In the end, it became a turning point. We learned to work differently, to rethink our days. And it transformed our relationship, too. We stopped being teammates, ticking boxes, and became lovers again.”
Another version of yourself
You were warned that you would change. Not overnight. Not necessarily for better or worse. But you will change. Because here, no one knows you. You can go back to yoga, try watercolors, or start writing a novel. You can finally dare without having to justify yourself.
“In Switzerland, I was the serious finance guy. Here, I'm the one learning to surf and helping out at a local association. It's like I reconnected with a version of myself I had forgotten,” Yann tells us.
This freedom to redefine yourself is one of the most beautiful gifts of living abroad. Your past no longer defines you. You are free to explore. To experiment. To make mistakes. And to start again.
Western society has a talent for filling our days but not our lives. Meetings, deadlines, phone alerts, polite formulas, boxes to tick. And what if all of that was leading nowhere?
Relocating shakes all of it up. Suddenly, everything that used to define you becomes secondary. And that is when real priorities emerge—what you want to pass on to your children. The place you give to slowness. To nature. To the unexpected. To relationships. To your own breathing, quite simply.
“I realized I was always doing something, without ever just being. Here, I'm learning to enjoy a coffee without thinking about what comes next. It sounds simple, but it's huge,” says Caroline.
The search for meaning is not a slogan
The search for meaning is often a thirst for coherence—a deep desire to live in alignment. And everyone experiences it differently. For some, it means a new career. For others, a new passion. Leaving often means facing what no longer works for us and permitting ourselves to invent something else.
Of course, everything is not perfect. There are struggles, moments of loneliness, and low points. But what you gain goes far beyond postcard images. You gain clarity about what you want, what you no longer want, and what you will or will not tolerate. You gain confidence because you dared. Because you adapted. Because you built connections, even far from home. And you gain a new ability to listen to yourself, to make choices that resonate with who you are. And that, no one can take away from you.
“I felt completely burnt out. I used to work for a big company in Belgium: slides, calls, Slack, KPIs, burnout at 30 and a half. I had ticked all the boxes: permanent contract, great flat, automatic coffee machine. But every Sunday night, my stomach would knot. One day, at the airport on my way to a well-deserved holiday in Bali, I saw an advert that said: ‘Change your life, change your latitude.' I took it as a sign. I knew I couldn't go on like that. I took a sabbatical and, three months later, landed in Mauritius with my partner. The original idea was to disconnect. And incidentally, to find my brain again. I'd lost it somewhere between Monday morning meetings and budget tracking spreadsheets. At first, the change of scenery did me good. I rediscovered what it feels like to live in the present. Very quickly, the urge to create came back. I can't sit idle. But I absolutely didn't want to fall back into the old pattern. So I decided to set up my own communication agency in Mauritius, with a radically different philosophy: trust-based relationships, creativity, and flexible hours. I found what had really driven me in communication in the first place: storytelling and human connection. Except this time, I set the tone. I choose my clients. I turn down projects that don't align with my standards. It's an immense luxury. My circle in France took a while to understand. To them, I was ‘on holiday' with a laptop. I don't think anyone realized I had built a real business. Today, I have clients in Mauritius, Réunion, France, and even Quebec. I work from my living room, which opens onto my garden. I feel aligned. Moving to Mauritius didn't change me—it revealed me. And above all, it taught me to trust myself. Will I ever go back? Go back where? I'm already home.”
People talk to you about moving abroad. But this journey is above all a meeting with yourself. You took a plane, crossed time zones, and shifted emotional zones. And along the way, you found yourself again. Sometimes on the edge of tears. Sometimes on the edge of wonder.
And what if that was the real purpose of leaving? Not to run away from your former life, but to give yourself the chance to become the explorer of your own life once more.
