Welcome, fellow expat-to-be! And congratulations on your upcoming move! Sometimes its hard to know where to begin, so this post will quickly cover some important aspects of preparing to move abroad.
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Preparing to Move Abroad
First of all, welcome to my blog! My name is Nat, and I’m an expat of five years who is currently living in China. I moved abroad at age 21, just after finishing college for “a working gap year”…but it became so much more! 🙂
I’ve realized that during my time abroad, I’ve had a lot of trouble finding resources online written for expats BY expats. So, I started this blog for all of us!
All that to say: I’m really glad you’re here! Now let’s jump right into how you can be preparing to move abroad.
Preparing Logistically for the Move
I go over each of the items in depth in this post, but below is just a quick checklist of some of the things you should prepare before moving abroad. They are:
- Make sure you have the correct visa for your moving purposes (student or work);
- Make sure your study/work situation is legitimate – beware of scams!
- Pack needed documents; leave unneeded documents with someone you trust if possible;
- Get a medical check and update vaccines;
- Appoint emergency contacts (or even a Power of Attorney, if necessary);
- Sort out your banking/credit card accounts for the move;
- Figure out what to do with your phone number;
- Buy important items from home (medicine, etc)
- RESEARCH the country you’re moving to!
As I said earlier, if you want to read ALL of the details about each item on this list, they’re in this post called “What to Do Before Moving Abroad: The Ultimate Checklist”.
Preparing Emotionally For The Move
Even if you’re a fairly independent person who doesn’t seem all that attached to home, you may be surprised at how much you’ll miss it at times!
In this post, I discuss what’s called “Expat Grief”, and how to deal with it. I don’t share this information to scare anyone off!! I share it because it’s better to know and be prepared beforehand than to get hit HARD.
Make sure that you dedicate time to say “goodbye for now” to those people and places you’ll miss most. Unfortunately, life can be unpredictable. So it’s important to make sure we leave things on a good note.
Most importantly: make a plan BEFORE you move about who you can reach out to when you have a particularly rough day or set of circumstances.
It’s not a matter of “if” it gets hard being away; it’s usually a matter of “when”. So be prepared to have someone (whether a friend or therapist!) to talk with about everything going on.
Packing for the Move
I have fully detailed post which has a packing list in it here!
However, a quick list of things to pack would include:
- Climate-appropriate clothes;
- Cough/cold/pain/allergy medicine from home (sometimes foreign pain meds won’t work for your body);
- Required documents and copies (passport, visa, driver’s license, etc)
- Specialty items (example: I need curly hair cream, and since most people in China have straight hair, I have to stock up whenever I visit home!)
- A few items from your home (I brought a favorite mug, a family photo, and gifts I’d gotten from friends);
- Undergarments — especially for ladies, sometimes it can be REALLY hard to get the kind of undies/bras you prefer if your expat country has a different taste for those kinds of things!
- Home items that you CAN’T buy in your expat country! (most items you will be able to buy, such as bedding, home decor, kitchen items, etc. But try to do some research on things that are hard to get there);
Honestly, my biggest tip for packing is RESEARCH. You don’t want to waste packing space on things that you can buy in your expat country!!
On the other side of that coin, you don’t want to show up missing an item that you assumed you could buy, which ends up being SUPER expensive or even totally unavailable in your expat country.
My tip for this is to get on social media, find some influencers or travel bloggers who live specifically in the country you’re moving to, and try to get a grasp of what they have access to in that country.
Or you can even message them or leave comments with your questions! Who knows, maybe they’ll answer! (I always do, teehee!)
What I wish I’d Known Before Moving Abroad
In closing, I just want to list a few things that would have helped to know before moving abroad:
- I didn’t have to pack a year’s worth of EVERYTHING. I was able to buy everything I need in my expat country.
- Take several weeks to a month prior to moving just to make time for family and friends. These last-minute lunches or days out are moments you won’t want to rush.
- I didn’t need as much as I thought I would. I overpacked a TON of stuff, but in reality, life is so much simpler than we make it (especially in America). I can survive without coffee and skin pampering every day.
- Bring things from home — not just for myself, but for the friends I’ll make. Magnets from my hometown, gifts from family and friends…my local friends here always love seeing things from my home.
- As long as you have your documents, phone, and wallet in your bag, the rest is mostly “small potatoes”. SO many things are replaceable. Don’t stress too much, just get yourself safely there!
And that’s my take on how you can best be preparing to move abroad! Is there anything you would add to this post, or anything you still have questions about? Let’s talk in the comments!
You May Also Like:
Move Abroad and THRIVE! Making Your Expat Life AMAZING!
Moving Abroad RUINED My Life! The Hidden Downsides of Being an Expat
Expat Women: Support and Love from a Sister Abroad
What To Do Before Moving Abroad: The Ultimate Checklist