Living Between Cultures 

April 1, 2026

My Experience Growing Up in Morocco, France and the United States

By Violette Gyss

If I’m being honest, no country feels 100% like me. I feel like I’m just a mix of all three. Ideally, I would take the best parts of each country and create my own… but yeah, that’s not really possible, sadly.

I definitely wouldn’t move back to France long-term. I could stay in the U.S. for now, but not forever. I think I would eventually move back to Europe. Spain actually sounds like the perfect middle ground since people are friendly, open, always in a good mood (kind of like Miami), but also warm like Morocco, and it’s still Europe. Plus, the food… I’m not leaving Europe forever just because of that.

In terms of lifestyle, France, especially Paris, is definitely the most stressful. Everything feels more complicated, expensive, and just… heavy. Morocco is the complete opposite. It’s super relaxed, people are chill, and life just feels easier.

 Travel Advice: Learn From Others’ Mistakes, Please

For Morocco, one mistake I see all the time is that people only go to Marrakech. Yes, it’s beautiful, but Morocco is SO much more than that. There’s Essaouira, Rabat, Tangier, beaches in the south… like, please explore a little more.

For France, do NOT come in August. I repeat, do NOT come in August. Everything is closed. Everyone is on vacation. You will be walking around wondering why nothing is open. Just avoid it.

For Miami, one thing you need to know: it can literally start raining out of nowhere and then be sunny five minutes later, like nothing happened. So yeah, always carry something unless you want to be completely soaked for no reason.

 What Living in Three Countries Did to Me

Living in three different countries definitely changed me a lot. I feel like I have a little bit of each culture in me now.

From France, I got the “I know what I want” personality and being direct. From Morocco, I became more open and understanding of different lifestyles and people. And from Miami, I learned to be more expressive (even though at first I was like… why is everyone saying “I love you” so fast ).

I also learned how to adapt. And honestly, being surrounded by hardworking people in the U.S. really pushed me to take my goals more seriously.

If I had to take one lesson from all of this, it’s that living in different countries changes your mindset completely. It opens you up, makes you understand people better and just makes you grow.

And I genuinely think that if you ever get the chance to live somewhere else, just do it. Even if it’s uncomfortable at first. It’s worth it.