How I Made the Decision to Move Out of the U.S.
How I left my life and moved abroad
When you dream of living outside the U.S., there are hundreds of things you can carefully prepare for. What you can’t know are the numerous factors you haven’t considered, like navigating an emergency room or avoiding a trip to the police station. Both of these things happened in my first month abroad.
Countless issues have to be considered before an international move, like the cost of living, safety, health care, finances, and visa requirements. The first step is the desire to go.
For years, I was looking for something. I had a good life, but there was something missing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. If I did enough research, read enough books, and listened to enough podcasts, I knew the answer would surface.
At my age, what the hell was I looking for?
Through my searching, I asked myself this question:
“In the past, what has brought you joy?”
There are obvious answers, like spending time with family and friends, creating something from nothing, or learning new things; all of these are true.
The answer I kept returning to was travel: the newness of everything, the challenge, and the desire for something different than what I was doing day-to-day.
In my twenties, straight out of college, I moved to Germany, where my sister was living at the time. Navigating a new world of “How do I pay my electric bill?” to “Where can I buy furniture?” while not knowing the language was tough.
Every day was a new challenge to solve, like living inside a crossword puzzle. I stayed for six years. Apparently, I like puzzles.
I’m no longer in my twenties, but I still long for the same puzzles I used to solve when navigating life in a foreign land.
While we can never return to our youth, we can try to rebuild it in a fashion that fits with our older, wiser selves.
Living internationally is a different mindset and one that won’t work for everyone.
Moving out of your home country requires acute planning, such as where to end up, what to take, what to leave behind, and how to support yourself.
Depending on your lifestyle and where you decide to go, traveling abroad can be expensive or a great way to save money. That all depends on you.
In 2020, I had narrowed down my search of destinations and all was going according to plan until something called COVID happened. Reset.
While I continued to prepare for an eventual move, a fortuitous thing happened. My oldest friend, Becca, decided to go with me. I was prepared to go by myself but having a buddy along would be so much better. Like sisters, we love each other, have petty fights, and protect one another fiercely.
While I’m a natural traveler, born a military brat, for Becca, this move brought a different level of bravery. It may not have been her pipe dream, but she had her own reasons for resetting her life.
You think you can’t do it. You can’t leave your friends and family, you can’t quit your job. Would your new home have organic peanut butter? Would you miss your favorite coffee shop? Would your friends move on without you?
When friends tell me I’m brave for moving to another country, it’s not bravery. It’s more of a what-if.
Are you in your twenties, just starting out your life? Or a millennial caught in a trajectory of career momentum? Are you stuck in mid-life or approaching retirement and wondering how to navigate this next chapter? Maybe you are just longing for something new?
Moving abroad is a risk. It takes guts, chutzpah, and foolishness. It may not be for you. But if you take the chance then you won’t always wonder what-if, what might have been.
Originally published at https://kickasswomentravel.com on August 25, 2021.
