5 Reasons to Move Overseas
Have you thought about moving overseas for a few years? Switch up life for a bit? I'm a little biased but after 7 years of living abroad, I think everyone should live overseas at some point.
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Growing up, I was obsessed with the thought of traveling and living abroad. My two best friends both took international trips with their parents and I used to daydream about what those exotic places looked like.
My first solo international trip was to Angola in January 2009 for business and I remember thinking I would love to do a rotational job from here (work 6 weeks, go home for 2). Little did I know 5 years later, I would be moving there!
I'm not by any means saying expat life is easy but all the challenges are 100% worth it. I know there are a million reasons not to move abroad but I hope this article inspires just one of you to take the leap and move overseas!
1. Your Curiosity
“When curiosity is alive, we are attracted to many things; we discover many worlds” - Eric Booth
Are you living day-to-day wondering what it would be like to live someplace else? Growing up, I was so curious about other countries. I had never been outside of the USA but I just knew in my heart the world had so much to offer and I couldn’t wait to experience it one day.
I’ve talked about this one before. But genuine curiosity is needed/required if you’re going to move overseas. If you aren’t curious about life in Mexico/France/India/Japan, then why the heck are you moving there?
But if you have ever been curious, then there is no better time than now (well, maybe after Covid) to move to a new country and explore it!
2. Regret Sucks
This is a biggie. We don’t really like to acknowledge regret, but it’s still there. Don’t let your dream or desire of moving abroad turn into a regret you have later in life. You don’t want to wonder how life would be different if you had listened to your gut and moved overseas. And we need constant change otherwise life becomes stagnant and boring. Change signifies growth.
You will be moving someplace completely foreign to you. You won’t know anybody or understand their customs or language. But that’s what makes it so beautiful. You’re taking a chance on yourself. That you will be able to learn and assimilate in a new place. And there’s nothing to regret about that.
This is where some people say, “Yeah, but I have children”. I get it. No, I don’t have kids so I don’t fully understand but do you know how many expats I’ve met overseas that had kids? So many! More expats had kids than didn’t! So I do know it is entirely do-able to take children overseas. Harder? Yes. More complicated? Yes. Will you need to figure out extra things such as schooling? Yes. But is it any of that worse than regretting you never took a chance and moved overseas? Probably not.
3. The Food
Okay, I needed to throw a light hearted one on the list after “regret”! Umm, this is a pretty obvious one. But if you enjoy trying new foods then living overseas is right up your alley.
I’ve become aware of so many new foods and food customs through living abroad. Honestly, I had no idea what people in Angola or anywhere in Africa for that matter ate. Not only did I get to know the food in Angola, but other Affrican countries I traveled to as well like Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, etc. Before travelling there, I didn’t know Namibia had such a large german influence. Or that the meat in South Africa was delicious. Or that “funge” (a paste of cassava, similar to mashed potato consistency) was the biggest thing in Angola.
The foods in Argentina were so good I wrote a whole blog post about them! Before Andrew and I left Argentina, we were so sick of Argentine foods because we ate them non-stop for the last 3 weeks! We knew it would be a long time until we returned so we wanted to get our fill of empanadas, chimichurri sauce, alfajores, dulce de leche, provoleta etc.
Indulging in all the traditional food in a new country is one of the best parts of living abroad as an expat!
4. It’s Not Permanent
So many people think once they move overseas, that’s it. They're there forever. But that’s not the case at all.
We’ve had the opportunity to live in Angola for 3.5 years and Argentina for 3 years. With every move, I wondered if I would be happy in my new country and how long we would “have” to be there. But each time, life worked itself out. I enjoyed living in Angola and Argentina and leaving both countries was difficult. Now I can’t imagine life if I had stayed in Houston all those years.
So, if it’s not a permanent move, and you’ve thought about it, why not just go for it? If it turns out you don’t like your new location or it’s not a match for you then just move!
I once heard, “You’re not a tree, you can move” and I’ve repeated it to myself so many times over the years. It’s a quote that rings true for me. I’ve taken moving into my own hands many times. Could moving be difficult or cost you money? Yes. But the reality is - you can move.
The real question is - are you willing to go through the uncomfortable part to get to the other side?
When we lived in Argentina, we hated our first apartment. Well, we liked the apartment and we thought we liked the location. But after a few weeks living there we quickly realized how thin the windows were and how noisy the neighborhood was. After several months of misery we finally decided we had enough and we would move.
Did we have to pay thousands of dollars to get out of our lease early and hire movers? Yes. Did we have to tour apartments with Spanish-speaking realtors and have to figure out how to communicate? Yes. Was the entire process difficult and frustrating to go through? For sure! But victory was on the other side and we were so happy in our new neighborhood.
Remember, if you’re not enjoying something you can always stop. And if you don’t like where you’re living you can move.
5. A New Perspective
Living in a different culture will give you a new perspective on life. I’ll even argue a better, more holistic view of life. There are so many things you’ll not only learn about yourself but about the world around you.
You will become more empathetic for those that have a different life from yours or that look different from you. This is because you will live in a new culture where they do things completely different from you. But yet the people are just like you - they want love, connectedness and peaceful life. Each culture attains those ideals differently and you’ll see that up close and personal when you’re living overseas.
It’ll show you that your way of doing things or your culture isn’t the only way.
Because the people will look different from you, oftentimes you will be the odd man out. In both Angola and Argentina I stuck out like a sore thumb. Usually the first thing people asked me in Angola was if I was from Portugal. And in Argentina they’d ask if I was Brazilian. The feeling of being “in the minority” or not looking like I “belonged” for 7 years also gave me a new perspective.
And a new perspective or filter to see things and situations through is such a beautiful thing. We could all use an extra way of seeing life, especially in today’s world.
It’s likely this new perspective will also help you realize how amazing your own life is. I know this sounds so cliche - but if you have all day access to utilities, internet and a vehicle then you’re doing better than 90% of the world's population. We hear that a lot but living someplace and witnessing that for yourself on a daily basis is powerful.
I think 2020 taught each of us many lessons through the year that we needed to learn. One of the lessons I learned was to be sure you’re carving out the life you want for yourself.
Don’t just go with the wind. Make deliberate decisions, manifest and work for the life you dream about. Life is our opportunity to explore and choose what we want to spend our days doing. And that’s exactly what this post boils down to.
Have you considered moving overseas? Like really thought about it? Then why not go for it. Sure, you will have fear around such a big decision but that doesn’t make it the wrong decision.
I hope some of the reasons I’ve listed above have inspired you to seriously consider what you’ve always wanted to do. And you’re now one step closer to making the decision to move overseas.
When you move overseas, you’ll need to pack all the right things. To be sure you download my overseas packing checklist!
Ready to learn more about living abroad? Check out the blog posts below...
