Thinking of Moving Abroad Mid-Pandemic?
I took the leap and it was the best thing I could have done.
Every morning was the same. I stumbled out of bed after hitting snooze endlessly, put on pants (on a good day), made my way to the coffee machine, and started working. I say “started working” but a more accurate description would probably be “stared at my screen while listening to the noises of my mind and my body both trying their utmost to get me to focus on anything that wasn’t work.”
I had just entered my sixth month of working a full-time job in a company based in sunny Barcelona, Spain. Not just any job; a nice job with tons of responsibility and authority in a company that I have a good relationship with. There was just a tiny error in the plan: I was not in sunny Barcelona. I was in the not-so-sunny-and-its-pretty-much-always-raining Netherlands.
When I started the job in September, the situation wasn’t exactly a great basis for building a new life abroad. Cases were spiking everywhere, new lockdowns were lurking around the corner like sharks circling around an unfortunate surfer and pretty much everyone around me was unsolicitously advising me to stay put and ride out the storm first. I agreed — what was I going to do in a place where things were shutting down, going into winter in a place where I barely knew anyone?
I stayed put for six months. In those six months, many days were the same. There are only a couple of days that I remember — that’s never a good sign. After staying inside my comfortable bubble, deluded by the idea that that was somehow better than the alternative, I finally decided to take the leap last month and moved to Spain.
It was the best thing I could have done and I’m extremely happy I made the move. If you’re considering moving abroad during these crazy times; this is your virtual sign. There were five basic reasons that made me go ‘Fuck it!’:
#1. The Thing with a Global Pandemic Is That It’s Global
Every country is dealing with it in one way or another. In the Netherlands, everything was closed and there was a 9 pm curfew. In Barcelona, restaurants were open until 5 pm. Coming here felt like heaven. Having a glass of wine on a terrace in the sun? Oh, the sweet simple pleasures.
Unless you’re running off into outer space with a tall handsome alien you’re not going to escape the pandemic by moving away. There are three possible outlooks:
- Things are better in your destination (Great!)
- Things are the same in your destination (Neutral!)
- Things are worse in your destination (Temporary and therefore manageable!)
All of the above won’t be the end of the world and if risking the worst-case scenario brings you the opportunity to get out of your rut, it’s worth it.
#2. Life Is Too Short to Wait for New Adventure
Life isn’t a Nicolas Sparks movie and you won’t get that awesome new adventure unless you proactively seek it out.
I did wait for six months and while I still stand behind that decision, I’m really happy I did go for it afterward and didn’t put it off any longer. In the end, the situation will never be perfect so you might as well just make the best of it while you have the opportunity.
#3. Stop Letting External Forces Rule Your Life
This isn’t as black and white as it sounds because we’re still living in a world where there are governments that you kind of need to listen to. While traveling is advised against, I used common sense and figured that moving to a different country shouldn’t be dealt with the same as backpacking across Asia.
Stephen Covey once described his theory of acting in your circle of influence in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
In his book, he explains that your Circle of Influence contains all the worrying things in your life that you can do something about. Examples are your relationship, your job, your friendships or your lifestyle. All the things that you can’t do anything about yourself are outside of your influence and fall under your Circle of Concern. You may be worried about global crises — i.e. global warming, the pandemic, political games — but there’s really not much you can do about it. If you can realize that you can’t personally affect a situation, there’s really no point in wasting your precious time and energy on those types of things.
Wasting time in your circle of concern rather than your circle of influence unnecessarily drains you from the energy that you could spend in more enjoyable and productive ways like, you know, telling a great joke or high-fiving your colleague.
You can’t change the pandemic. What you can change is the way you handle the pandemic. Try to avoid falling into a victim attitude and take the reins over where you’re headed.
#4. Break Out of the Comfortable Bubble
Whereas I felt extremely restless during the first two months of postponing the move; after that, I felt that nervosity and sense of urgency slipping away and getting replaced by a sense of tranquility. I’m not sure if I was letting go of the resistance or if I was getting more numb to the whole situation, but with every day that passed by that I was in my comfortable quarantine bubble, I wasn’t making any progress towards my goal.
Comfort is the enemy of progress. Being comfortable takes away your desire to improve your situation, while the only place where we can actually improve is outside of that comfort zone.
As Bill Eckstrom once said in a TedX Talk:
“What makes you comfortable can ruin you. What makes you uncomfortable is the only way to grow.”
How to Know If You Should Wait or Go
For me, I weighed out my options in two ways; one for the head, and one for the heart.
Decision-making with your head
Write out a list of all pros and cons of both of the situations you could be in (i.e. staying where you are vs moving away). Weigh them against each other and see what comes out.
Decision-making with your heart
This is my preferred method and it has never failed me. Deep down you already know what you want. Two simple ways to uncover what you already know are as follows:
1.Visualize & meditate.
Sit down in a quiet place and start visualizing yourself in your new environment. See the apartment you’re living in, the people you’re hanging out with, the buildings you cross on your morning walk, and the coffee you sip in the park.
How does the entire image make you feel? Your body will tell you exactly what you want to know. Does your heart start beating faster? Do you get nervous at the thought of this dream actually manifesting into reality? Does that thought make you excited? Do you automatically start smiling? If the answer to the above questions is yes — you know what to do.
2. Toss a coin.
This method is great to catch your instant reaction. You have two possible outcomes: stay or move. Assign heads and tails to these options and toss the coin. When it lands, notice whether you are disappointed or relieved. You’ll know in an instant.
Final Thoughts
Personally, moving to Spain has been extremely beneficial for my mental health, the novelty in my life, and just overall wellbeing so based on that I would advise you to go. But your life isn’t my life, and my situation isn’t your situation. It all depends on where you want to go, the risk you’re willing to take and the opportunity cost of going versus not going.
In my case, the weather was getting better, the restaurants were opening up, the Netherlands would remain on lockdown, all the tapas and sangria were begging me to move to Spain and I was feeling more disconnected from my job by the day. I simply couldn’t think of a reason that outweighed these factors. Lack of reason for one option often correlates to a good reason to pursue the alternative.
Whatever you do, choose. Remember that if you don’t choose, you’re also making a choice. Don’t let it slip to a backburner as you fall into comfort. Above all, do what makes you happiest — it always works out the best.
