Moving and living in different countries is a completely different experience compared to visiting a destination, and has both ups and downs. So far I’ve lived in three different countries (at the time of writing). These are England, Canada and Austria. In this post, I will tell you some of my thoughts and the things you should consider, including the good and the bad, of moving and living in different countries based on my experience.
What to consider before moving abroad
Work and money
How will you support yourself when you move abroad? Will you have a job, or do you have enough savings or passive income to support yourself and possibly your family? Thinking about your income should be one of the most important aspects to consider before you move.
When I moved to Toronto I had a job offer before I arrived which made it easier. The job didn’t work out so I then ended up leaving this and working freelance. Luckily there was work available that matched my skill set. My next international move was to Vienna, where I worked part-time for the school my girlfriend worked at. This again made the move easier. Having a job or confirmed work when moving to a new country will relieve some of the financial pressure.
As well as working for a company, you could try freelancing online. Jobs such as programming, graphic design, writing and various other work is always in demand. Consider reading: Jobs That Help You Travel And See More Of The World for some ideas on jobs you can do if you move abroad.
Visas
When moving abroad always make sure you legally can, and whether you need a residency visa, work permit, or something else to allow you to stay. In some countries, there are schemes where you can live and work in a country for 1-2 years to experience that country. This sometimes applies only to younger people though.
Here is an example for Canada: International Experience Canada
Here is an example for Australia: Working Holiday visa – Australia
Language
What language does the country you are moving to have? Can they also speak your language?
When moving you may find that you can do the basics, but if you are getting mail such as bills, and also having to go into government offices for paperwork, sometimes it can get a bit tricky. Before moving to another country try and find guides online which explain all the legal/registration things that you will need to do once you arrive. You may also have to sign contracts which can be long and you don’t really want to be signing things that you can’t read and understand. There are translation services available and one service I use a lot is translate.google.com which is good, but probably not perfect. You could also consider hiring someone to help with translations but that can get a bit expensive.
For my experience in Austria, me and my girlfriend found that a lot of government offices don’t always speak great English and legal paperwork is in German. Luckily we had help from the staff at the school when we moved, otherwise this would have been a lot more tricky.
Friends and family
Moving abroad can be difficult if you are leaving all your friends and family behind. You may get homesick and feel lonely. Meeting new friends in a new destination can take a time depending on what job you get and whether you get involved in the expat community or social events.
For me, I always miss my friends and family, living in Austria doesn’t make it hard to head back and visit them. However living further, such as in Asia, the Americas or Australia would make it more difficult.
Holiday allowance/Annual Leave
What kind of holiday allowance would you get when working in another country?
If you are hoping to travel or visit friends and family back home, then you’re probably going to want as much time as possible to head back. You may need to head back for weddings, funerals and other such occasions. Even if you don’t intend to head back to your home country that much, you may also want to travel, and if you get low holiday allowance then you may never have enough time off to do that. To get a rough idea of annual leave/holiday allowance in various countries look on en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minimum_annual_leave. Also look on official websites before moving to a country though.
For me, I had lots of annual leave when I have lived in Europe, but when I lived in Canada I only got 10 days, which to see friends and family back home, as well as being able to travel just wasn’t enough. This was actually partly why I couldn’t stay in that job for long.
Travel opportunities
When living in another country, it may potentially provide more or fewer travel opportunities. For example, if you move to Europe, then it’s extremely easy to travel around and see other places in Europe. In Toronto, I found it a lot harder as there were less affordable options.
Location and cost to get home
Another thing to consider before moving abroad is how easy and affordable it is to get home. The further away then more expensive it will be, and as a result, you may find it harder to visit your home country as often, especially if you are on a low income or have a low annual leave/holiday allowance.
Consider using a site such as www.google.at/flights to search for flight times and get an idea of the cost.
Religious and cultural rules
It’s worth knowing some of the religious practices in the country you are going to before you move. For example in some societies if you are unmarried but living with a partner that may cause problems, and if you are engaging in homosexual practices then that be illegal. If you know there is an aspect of your lifestyle that may not be acceptable, then always check official sources before you plan to move abroad.
Cost to move
Moving abroad can be extremely expensive, especially if you plan to transport your possessions abroad. The easiest way to move abroad is by getting a job that is sponsoring you. Some companies such as international schools even pay for flights and to ship some of your possessions abroad. However, that won’t apply to everyone.
Deposits and agency fees
Another big cost when moving abroad is having a deposit for accommodation. This can sometimes be extremely expensive. For me moving to Toronto was fairly easy as I didn’t have an agency fee, and we just had to pay first and last months rent on moving in. Whilst in Austria most places charge a huge agency fee, as well as a large deposit. This can add thousands to your initial moving in cost.
Furniture and luggage
In some places, such as the UK, you can move into apartments that come fully furnished, such as a bed, tables, washing machine etc, but in many other places around the world you would rent an empty apartment and have to bring everything yourself. If you are moving into an empty place in another country, then you could consider shipping your furniture across or buying furniture.
In many cities, there are websites where you can buy second-hand furniture, such as gumtree.com in the UK, Craigslist.ca in Canada, and willhaben.at in Austria.
For shipping large amounts of items
For shipping abroad, we used upakweship.com when moving from Canada to Austria, and were happy with the service. It still isn’t cheap but it was one of the more affordable options and they provided good customer service. Another thing to note is that there can often be hidden costs when shipping abroad, that you only find out about when you go to pick up your items. This was the case when we moved from UK to Canada. We used shipit.co.uk for that service who we don’t recommend!