What’s stopping you from making a move that you know will radically change your life for the better? According to a survey of our readers that we’ve undertaken, the number one issue holding back would-be expatriates is fear of the physical move overseas. It seems that the thought of all that stress is stopping some people from fulfilling their dreams.
At Shelter Offshore we have decided to tackle the problem head on, after all, we genuinely feel that those who want to move but who are too afraid to go are limiting their lives and wasting their chances for genuine happiness and personal fulfilment.
If you’re in a similar position – i.e., you would really like to start a new life overseas and fulfil your dreams of travel and exploration, you’d like to embrace new opportunities and go in search of better weather and a better quality of life – read on and discover the 7 top ways to take the stress out of moving abroad. The relocation does not have to be a nightmare and your transition can be a smooth as well as an exciting one…
1) Plan well - this comes under the ‘durrrr’ category of most obvious statements really! But unless you’re a natural list writer and plan maker, you will be incredibly surprised how careful forward planning can actually remove swathes of stress from your life. If you plan exceptionally well you are a million times less likely to have to deal with any nasty surprises or last minute shocks.
Planning can of course be considered by some as very dull – and it does take the spontaneity out of the move a little - but the point of this article is all about removing excess and unnecessary stress: so, start writing lists!
You need to plan for a) leaving your old life and b) entering your new one…so thought needs to go into untangling yourself from the likes of utility bills, employment and rental contracts in your old nation, and at the same time it needs to go into residency visas, travel tickets and accommodation and employment in your new nation.
You can begin by ‘just’ working on your lists and getting a good overview of what needs to be done. If at this point you feel daunted by what needs to go into a smooth transition, don’t be…because as the old adage goes, ‘how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.’ You will tick off elements involved in organising the move one step at a time, you do not need to do everything on your list at the same time, and by having a list you are less likely to forget to do anything and feel at all time pressured into getting things achieved quickly.
Plan well and your move will be really easy.
2) Have money in the bank - if you can save a sum and put it by to grease the wheels of your relocation you will find the move even easier. Moving can be costly depending on whether you’re shipping goods and even the family pet, but if you have some ‘spare’ cash and you can throw it around to make your move easier, it will be cash well spent!
Just having enough in the bank so that for the first weeks in your new nation you can eat out at every mealtime will take pressure and stress off you. You won’t have to get that cooker connected, the gas turned on and achieve a supermarket shop. Use money to make your life easier – you can’t take any of it with you when you die, so why not use some of the cash that you’ve saved to make the move period easier!
I am not suggesting you blow the budget and move abroad and stay in a plush hotel for a month, but I am saying if you have money in the bank you will have fewer worries when you’re knee deep in packing crates and all you want is something to eat and a nice cold beer!
3) Have somewhere to stay for a month - why get into the whole ‘I have to buy a property before I can move abroad’ frame of mind. Where on earth is it written that you have to own a home in a given nation before you can live there? If you try and search for, negotiate for and buy a home in a foreign country when you’re not even living there yet you will push yourself to the brink of insanity and probably end up having bought a pup anyway.
And why worry too much about having the perfect rental home to move in to either? Get yourself set up in an apart hotel or a short term or holiday let for at least a month and allow yourself relocation breathing space. Use that time to find your feet and a rental property. Rent for at least 6 months and only then should you even begin to contemplate buying in to your new nation.
If you rush this process you will make mistakes and create stress.
4) Have a transferrable outlet for stress - I have a mountain bike that goes with me everywhere and it is my stress release mechanism. For others it’s a yoga mat, an iPod full of their favourite tunes, walking boots or a mask and snorkel. Find an outlet for your stress that you can transport with you – and use it. Even if you have no time in your day to think straight, stop and go and de-stress. You will get everything back in perspective that way, you will sleep better, you will stop stress getting a hold and you will achieve far more.
5) Lose your time pressure mechanism - many of us have fallen into the trap where every part of our day is compartmentalised and allocated. We do not have a spare minute to sit in a traffic jam, to queue at the bank or to wait in line for our lunch therefore we become stressed when the path before us is littered with obstacles and restrictions.
When you move abroad it is the perfect opportunity to ditch this negative and harmful mentality because you can bet your bottom dollar you will have to wait in line time after time after time to get all elements of your new life sorted. You will have to wait for days at the bank to set up a new account, leave and return with some random piece of paper you didn’t even know you needed. You will have to go from office to office across town for your residential status to be registered properly. You will be in the wrong queue at the supermarket, will not have weighed your veg and you’ll have to start all over again. You will be robbed of time – so forget thinking of it in this way and know that you have all the time in the world now that you’re living abroad and living the dream, so chill out and consistently thank your lucky stars for the opportunity you have been given!
6) Be open and ready for new experiences - successful expats see challenges as opportunities and have an open mind ready to try new experiences. You need to embody this personality type to really remove the last ounces of stress from the relocation process. Don’t rally and fight against the bureaucracy you will come up against, don’t challenge and try to change that which you don’t like. Be accepting and thoughtful, steady and calm. Weigh up the situations you find yourself in and do not panic. There is no need to panic!
Armed with your lists, with some cash in the bank, with somewhere to lay your head for a few nights and with the dream putting the fire in your belly to start a new life you have everything you need to succeed. So, relax into your new life and open yourself up to everything that your new life will throw at you. Most of it will be amazing and wonderful but yes, sometimes you will have a shock or face an unexpected annoyance, roll with the small punches, dust yourself off and look around at all you have achieved – be proud and you will feel so much better.
7) Lean on any support available - finally, use any and all forms of support available to you both before you go and after you have moved. We all need friends and guidance, we all need some people to take the strain, so don’t be too stubborn, take help if you need it! This can be in the form of going on expat forums and asking for advice, joining up with a social group once you have made the move so you can start making friends. It can mean leaning on your family, friends and partner a little more and even calling in someone to help around the house with chores or DIY jobs you’d normally take on yourself
Don’t take too much on yourself all by yourself – if there is help available, take it.
As you can hopefully see, moving abroad doesn’t have to be an obstacle strewn nightmare. You can carefully plan and prepare for the move to remove a lot of stress – and you can adopt a healthier mindset to really shake off the final worries so that instead of seeing your new life abroad as an unachievable but highly desirable dream, you can turn it into your incredibly wonderful reality.
David Calver Says:
Fri, January 06, 2012 at 08:40 PM
No.2…that’s what I’m waiting for? Enough money is probably crucial I’d say, what would happen if you run out halfway through your move? No.3 would be exercise for me.
No.6 though is why I would be moving!
Great article, thanks!