The Moving Planner Blog

Moving Abroad

Hard to believe, but another four years have passed and it’s Olympics time again. For us viewers it seems to come around in the blink of an eye. There’ll be a few weeks’ feverish excitement as the competitions are run, the medals awarded and the hauls tallied, and then we’ll go back to our everyday lives.

How different it must be for those taking part. As a spectator, when you see the athletes competing – not just those waving from the podium as they accept their medals, but everyone who participates – you think only of that moment, their time in the sun. It is all too easy though to forget that this is the culmination of months and years of training, an unpublicized and unglamorous dedication to their sport that they must reaffirm on a daily basis.

In this sense it struck me that their Olympic effort is analogous to the issue of moving abroad.

How many times have you read an article or watched a program on TV, seen a family splashing around in their pool or kicking back on the sun-drenched terrace, and thought ‘lucky blighter, that’s the life’?

Indeed. But it didn’t happen by magic. Moving abroad takes resolve, a single-minded commitment to change your life.

Often it means leaving a job/career. Even if you have to leave your current position, taking the step to hand in your notice and leave it all behind can be surprisingly difficult.

You may have to sell a house you’ve lived in for years, to which you’ve devoted much time and energy.

If you need visas or work permits it may take a considerable amount of time-consuming – and often expensive – form-filling to get all your documents in order … time that might otherwise be spent more pleasurably in front of the TV or out with friends.

There can be miles of red tape to wade through. And often it involves dealing with an unfamiliar bureaucracy, a different legal system, and may be in a different language.

You may have to scout around trying to find a new home, applying for new jobs, sorting new schools, organizing packing and shipping of your belongings, making arrangements for the family pets.

Even the simplest move becomes a logistical headache.

Then there’s the heart wrench of saying goodbye to family and friends to consider.

And that’s just before you go.

When you arrive you’ve got the hassles of moving into your new accommodation, setting up bank accounts, registering with the local tax authorities, organizing health-care, getting your kids (if you have them) into school.

What’s more, you’re now in a foreign land, with most, if not all, your family and old friends back in your home country. So you’ve got to set about making a whole new social circle if you’re not to end up isolated. You might have to learn a new language to boot.

In other words, it ain’t easy. Moving overseas involves a considerable amount of expense, stress, time and effort to end up some place where – at least to begin with – you’re likely to feel out of your depth and wondering if you’ve made the right decision.

But such is life. Anything worthwhile takes effort. And oftentimes the more the effort, the more worthwhile it eventually proves.

Think back to those Olympic athletes, with their 5 a.m. starts and the interminable hours spent in the dark and cold training. I’ll bet every one of them – even those that end up last in their event – will tell you all the effort was worth it to have finally got there. That sense of achievement will be with them always, however successful their competition turns out to be.

After Your Move

Unpack logically working down from essential to non-essential items. Reassemble your furniture when you have time. Don’t worry about filling wardrobes immediately if you have hired/bought special wardrobe boxes. They can hang perfectly well in there until you have time to put them away properly.

• Get all of your major appliances ready for use again and hook them up.
• Unpack all electrical items as quickly as possible and check for damage – you may have a limited window for insurance claims.
• Register to vote and for any other local government purposes.
• Check your mail is being forwarded to your new address.
• Register with a doctor, dentist, veterinarian etc.
• If necessary change your driver’s license and car details etc.