As the time to move abroad draws close, there are a few things that you need to spend extra time on to make sure everything goes according to plan.
As part of a nomads' Facebook group, I see many people asking how to go overseas. Some want to know how to get started, but recently, others have wanted to know the final details. As our move draws closer, I’ve become better able to answer these questions. We’re now in the process of finalizing everything, from moving weekend to the first three months overseas.
Finalizing our move plan
With six weeks left, it’s now time to make sure we have an exact plan. This plan includes when we will be moving out of our home, moving into my parents' place, giving my car away, giving the dog and cat to their new homes, and storing/selling all of our stuff.
Moving for us is more intensive than someone that lives with their parents. It’s important that we don’t forget any of these details as we won’t be able to fix them from Ireland. As an addition to this list, we also have to change all bills and addresses to a family member’s home since we won’t have a permanent residence in the USA.
Making a task list of all of these things has helped us to be sure we’re on track and won’t be rushing.
Confirming the travel itinerary
After finalizing our moving plan, the next step as soon to be digital nomads is to confirm our travel plans. It’s important to know who will be taking us to the airport for the last time, what flight we will take as well as if everything is set up for our transfers, luggage and arrival.
To ensure all of our plans are ready, we need to check over two flights, a set of friends and two rentals. We also need to look at how we will get from one place to the other after we are no longer in Atlanta. Writing your plan out hour-by-hour for the whole “travel” segment of your trip is a great way to make sure you aren’t forgetting something. Even better is to put it into a calendar (like Google Calendar) to make sure you have it with you when you leave.
Final decision on accommodation
After confirming how we will get out of the house and into another country, it’s time to look into our first home abroad. When we first planned the move, we were going to stay in places through Trusted Housesitters. However, as we got further along and found the website to be flooded and knew we needed to change our plans.
When you move you can’t plan your new place that early. In Atlanta, you can generally start looking six weeks to a month out, much before that and they won’t know. It works the same in other countries for the most part. You should look into your options more than the exact place. Will you be using a gamble like housesitting, or something more stable like Airbnb or a roomshare site? If you find an Airbnb that you like, that’s an option that you can book as far ahead as you want.
Accepting
In the end, the biggest thing you need to do before the move is accept that you’re moving. It might sound strange but it’s true. When you are preparing to move, there is a high chance that you don't quite understand what that means. It’s something we’re understanding more and the day gets closer.
Be excited and relish the remaining days you have in your home city. Make sure to do all the things in your town you’ve always wanted to. If your trip is like ours, it will be years before you have the chance to again. If you need to, make a moving bucket list of each thing in your town you want to do before you leave.
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