You just moved to another country? Here’s what you need to do first.
Your checklist for when you land in a new country.
“Holy shit. I actually did it.” That’s probably close to what I said when I landed in Australia five years ago, having left behind a great job and a life in New York to take a chance on an international life experience and live by the beach.
While there was a lot of mental preparation that I did leading up to the move, those first few months were still a whirlwind. The purpose of this article is to provide you with a starter-level checklist of things you should do after you land in your new home.
#1. First and foremost, say “yes” to everything for at least your first year.
One of the big shocks to your system is that everything is new. This is equal parts exciting and scary. You need to make new friends, learn about this new place and figure out your new routine. Effectively, you need to build a new life. The very best thing you can do for this in your first year (or more) of living in a new place is say “yes” to everything.
- You’re tired but someone’s just invited you to a party where you can meet new people? Say yes.
- You’ve overspent a bit on your budget this week but someone just invited you to go to a music festival on the weekend? Say yes.
- You have a chance to go to a sports game or some cultural event you’ve never experienced? You get the picture… say yes.
You’re there to have the experience of a lifetime. You already pushed yourself out of your comfort zone by getting on the plane. Why stop now that you’ve landed?
#2. Move the big rocks.
These are the important life things you need to sort out as quickly as possible to set yourself up for success.
- If you don’t have one lined up already, first up on your list is finding a job. This should go without saying, but you shouldn’t burn a hole in your wallet and cripple yourself financially to live abroad. Ideally, you can get a good job that aligns to your long-term career path. Otherwise, I know plenty of people who have taken jobs as bartenders to pay the bills while they sort out a more permanent solution. Either way, you’ll need to be on top of your visa situation. I’ve got another article that is specific to Australian visas here.
- Find your people. Moving abroad can get lonely, so finding friends early is crucial to help you sustain the initial ups and downs and start to learn the cultural nuances of this new place. Saying “yes” is helpful for this.
- Find your neighborhood. When I first lived in New York, I lived uptown in an area I could afford as a broke college grad. Unfortunately, my slightly lower rent was heavily outweighed by the financial cost of cab fare downtown and the emotional cost of missing a few fun nights with friends. I rectified this mistake in Australia by living in the heart of Bondi Beach, and it has been well worth the higher rent.
If Maslow had written a hierarchy of needs pyramid for moving to a new country, you can bet those three would be at the foundation. Take care of those first and rest will come.
#3. Move (and embrace) the little rocks.
Some people may have read what I wrote above and said “yep, I expected that.” So did I. This last bit is about what I didn’t expect.
- Learn the lingo. It’s an interesting feeling when you’re having a conversation with someone and, despite that fact that you’re both speaking the same language, you have no idea what they just said. Part of that is the new accent you have to grow accustomed to, but other parts are new phrases you’ve never heard and new subtleties you need to learn. This was so challenging at times that I needed to have debrief meetings with work colleagues to understand, in plain English, what was just agreed in a client meeting. Turns out, New Yorkers are a bit more direct in their communication style than most. Who knew?!
- Life admin. Get setup with a local phone plan, register for the equivalent of a Social Security Number and setup a local bank account. Hint — if you can find a bank or FinTech that’s a bit friendlier with international banking, that will save you some headaches.
- Learn where to buy stuff. Spoiler alert, but most other countries outside of the US don’t have Whole Foods and J. Crew stores waiting for you on every corner. You’re probably going to walk around, not recognize any store names and have literally no idea which stores sell which things. It can be an annoying little learning curve, but nothing you can’t handle.
- In some cases, learn what to buy. Not only will you not know which stores sell which things, but you also won’t know the brand association with any of these places. It might seem superficial, but if your work requires you to meet with executives, then the brands of clothing you wear should probably be associated with professionalism instead of you unknowingly wearing the same brand of clothing that their 15-year old wears. I cringed at writing that because I personally don’t care very much about that stuff, but that doesn’t mean your stakeholders won’t. This is just a friendly heads up in case you need to consider that.
There you go. That’s your starter list and I hope you find it helpful. Can some of this be scary? Even annoying at times? You bet. But like everything, it often comes down to your mindset. You can be annoyed that going grocery shopping and buying clothes takes a little longer, or you can be excited to observe and embrace a new place. You can be scared that you don’t have an established friend group in this new country yet, or you can be ecstatic about the opportunity to meet new people and have new adventures.
You can make this the experience of a lifetime. Be present and embrace the uncertainty. You’ve got this.
If there’s anything I’ve forgotten about that you want some help with, leave a comment or email me at dcdiscovers@gmail.com.
