[Vepkhvi]

3-9 months seems long for the average American in terms of travel, but it really isn't long enough to gain a social foothold and enough understanding in the local language to feel a certain connectedness to the place. I absolutely think any travel abroad does broaden one's horizons, but perhaps not to the extent that it's touted in pop culture. I served in the US Peace Corps for two years, and the experience utterly shattered the person I was before, and re-formed me into someone far more understanding, compassionate, empathetic, etc. But that type of experience is highly focused with a great emphasis on cultural integration and language-learning.

[g_sch]

I definitely agree that 3-9 months (especially at the low end of that range) isn't enough to feel sufficiently rooted somewhere, but one quick thing I would add is that I did all of this while speaking German fluently already, so my time in Germany at least was not consumed by trying to surmount any language barrier. I'm just someone who makes friends through my existing friends (instead of strangers), so starting from zero isn't something I do well.