In case you missed it, this is Part 2 of a series of why people are leaving (as they run the f*** away from) the US.  Part I is here.

Reason 2: Adventure

When I say “adventure” you might picture backpackers. Or maybe the young, single crowd, no-responsibilities type.  No.  At least, that’s not how I label me and my wife.

How about sleepwalkers?  That’s how I label us.  I and my wife are classic sleepwalkers through life.  Or at least we’re prone to be if we’re not careful about it.  And I believe if you’re reading this blog, you might be too.

Who’s a Life Sleepwalker?

Like I just said above, we are.  We all are.  Is it human nature?  We get more settled, more stuff, more routine.  Cruise control sets in and we sleepwalk through life.

A few weeks ago, a new friend, Vernon wrote in to me.  He asked about our reasons for travel.  I mentioned we once lived in Korea (mid 90′s) but then moved to the States.  He asked “Why did you leave the States after having spent time in Korea?”  I’m guessing Vernon half-expected we left because we were frustrated with the US.

Nope, not frustrated, except with ourselves.  We longed for adventure.  My then girlfriend and I came from Korea and decided to live together and find work in beautiful New Hampshire.  After a few years, we got married.  Then we got a house.  Then we had a baby.  Slowly, over about 10 years, we went from Korea to absolutely rooted.  We were lulled to sweet slumber.

Bored or Sleepwalking?

Are you bored or sleepwalking?  There’s a difference.

Bored is when you’re lacking stimulation.  You need a hobby or passion.  Note: careful not to confuse boredom with procrastination.  That’s self-inflicted resistance against what’s important and is only posing as boredom.  (When I blow 2 hours on Digg, I realize I’m procrastinating)

Sleepwalking is when you’re lacking uncertainty or adventure.  You need to take a step (or tw0) out of your comfort zone.
Sleepwalkers aren’t just in their comfort zone, they’re spinning around in there like a toy top.

When life seems like it’s moving “fast enough for us,” — then you might be sleepwalking.

When you feel busy, yet your to-do list is all urgent but not important — then you might be sleepwalking.

If in 5 years you won’t remember what you did today, last week or last year — you’re probably sleepwalking.

Trust me – the months/years will drop away like you wouldn’t believe.  Do something that spooks you awake.

Problems to Fix: Boredom and “Sleepwalking”

Bored?  Swallow the frog!

If only bored, fine, seek out a hobby.  Or tackle your to-do list with fervour. See “Swallow the frog”

Sleepwalking?  Three Questions

If you suspect you’re sleepwalking, ask yourself these 3 questions:

1. Is my life “comfortable” but not giving me comfort or peace of mind?

• If you answer ‘yes’ – you just might be sleepwalking

2. Do I find that the days (weeks, months) seem to be the same?

• If so, you may be sleepwalking (or actually sleeping in a coma)

3. Do you have a vision of how life will be better in 5 years from now?

• If not sleepwalking, life can be better when taking aim at something.

Like I said above, we had it all: the house, the careers, a solid network of great friends, and the infant (and even a cat).  We were so “set” we felt we were almost sleepwalking.  That thought made us miserable (okay, maybe that’s dramatic, but you get the idea).

How did we fix it? We spun the globe, picked 3 cities.  Three cities we hadn’t seen before but were curious about:  Auckland, Barcelona and Prague.  I sent out CVs to recruiters in each.  We sold the house, quit our jobs and put all our crap in storage.
In 3 months, we were living in Prague.

Would we do it again?  We did.  Fast forward 4 years.  We find ourselves owning another house (our flat in downtown Prague) and we popped another child.  (What can we say?  Our house-warming parties are super fertile!)

Then, come summer 2010  - we’re here in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Adventure is the primary reason my wife and I had left the U.S. for Prague in 2006, and we are NOT your stereotypical backpackers.  In short, adventure drives people of all ages, all kinds, and all sizes, to make what seems to others some rash decisions.  And when you’re sick of the status quo, you do whatever needs to be done.

Want to do a final test?  ”Pinch yourself.”

That’s how we wake ourselves when sleeping, right?  Then “pinch yourself” awake from sleepwalking by stepping well outside your comfort zone.  Take a Leap of Faith and Scare Yourself Silly.

Some Ideas How to Pinch Yourself Awake:

• At work, organize and present a topic completely unrelated to work. (think Toastmasters)
• Try a new sport – take up running, skateboarding, swimming.  Less experience, the better
• Get a major adrenaline rush – do a bungee jump, skydive, tell a Baptist to go to hell (testing if you’re still with me)
• Contribute to the community – volunteer as a pollster, in a food kitchen, read books at a daycare
• Take up an instrument – you’re not getting any younger….go ahead, dust off the guitar
• Move abroad.  (oh, you knew I had to add this one, right?)

Hope this has been helpful.  If you have any comments or thoughts for me – leave a comment below.  I look forward to hearing from you.

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Christine Gilbert of Almostfearless.com published a guide book and I got the privilege to review it. Consider yourself lucky, too, since by getting to hear about it from me, you can make a more informed decision to buy it.

Too little time to read all below?  Read my 20 word review:

“The Visa Book” is a great reference for the traveler on the go.  Simple, single-purpose structure.  Comprehensive coverage.  Worth the $10.

A Full Review of “The Visa Book”

Here is Christine’s skinny on her newest book:

And My Feedback:

• pages are well laid out; 1 page = 1 country/territory
• a single-purpose, no frills structure
• little of Christine’s fun personality – the “Visa Book” is all business
• can’t imagine a place in the world that’s not covered here
• greatest value: for tourists en-route wanting to quickly compare, offline

Who the Visa Book is Not For

I believe the newbie American tourist traveling to their first country in their life would simply google for needed information on the US State Department.

That said, most anyone would at least verify what “The Visa Book” says, but Christine makes that ultra easy with direct links to do so.

Also, the book isn’t for people looking to answer “How do I work in XYZ country?”  This is for tourist visas, not work permits or residency visas.

Where the Visa Book Shines

Where this book really shines is as a quick, comparative reference that’s already handily on the traveler’s laptop, smartphone or any e-reader for PDFs.

For travellers already on the go, perhaps in between destinations, this book provides fast “how about XYZ country?” answers.  It’s a sweet no-frills reference book that way.

I randomly picked a few countries for the tourist visa information.  I picked Canada, Chile and Croatia.  Sure enough, Christine lays out the essential information, then provides easy links to verify it.

Not only could I read up on these 3 countries on their respective, dedicated full info page, but in an earlier section “The Quick Country-by-Country Guide”, I see and compare my trifecta and all other countries together.  It’s beautiful.

All told, this guide is handy.  At $10, it’s also cheaply priced.  Granted, there’s not a lot of information per country, but that’s not its purpose. This guide answers only a few questions (for every country in the world):

1. Do I need a visa?
2. How many days am I allowed to stay?
3. Any cost to visiting?

Yeah, the guide is well, well worth it.  Even if you don’t travel, if you want a fast PDF-portal to every country’s visa information, pick this guide up at Christine’s site. (book will be released April 5th 2011, but sign up for an alert)

Note: Christine offers other bloggers an “affiliate” commission for reviewing and linking to this book.  However, I turned it down, since she so clearly deserves the entire but meagre $10 sale.

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I wrote to 18 people whom I consider expert expats.

Some make a living by travelling, others traveled to go make a living.

I asked them all 1 question:

Here are their replies:

1.  “Beware of moving overseas! It’s tough, confusing, disorienting… and ultimately, extremely rewarding.  When you move back home, if you ever do, you’ll be a different person than you were when you first left.”

-Chris Guillebeau, The Art of Non-Conformity

2. “Don’t think that living overseas will eliminate all your problems in one go. It may distract you for a while but you’ll likely find that once you’ve been overseas for a while, old habits and patterns begin to re-emerge and you’ll find yourself with all the same problems, just in a different place.  Living overseas is fantastic but it’s not a panacea.”

-Lea Woodward, Kinetiva

3. “Get rid of your stuff. Becoming an expat is not only physical, geographical, and logistical – it’s also emotional. Your priorities change. You change inside; when you head home after a long stint abroad and “visit” your stuff, you’ll wonder what the hell made you think it was so important to hold onto.”

-Miss Expatria, a.k.a. Christine Cantera, France Travel Guide

4. “The only thing I can say is to have more cash than you think you need, because surprises will surprise you, and in general I’d just say to dive in, be prepared, and learn.”

-Henri Junttila, WakeUpCloud

5. “For people planning to live overseas long-term (i.e. more than a year)
I’d definitely recommend visiting the country first. In 1999 I moved
to the Philippines with many incorrect preconceived notions. The
culture shock was difficult because I romanticized the country. If I
were going to do it again I would definitely visit first even if it
were to scout out cities and work.”

-Ayngelina Brogan, BaconIsMagic.ca

6. “If you’re thinking about moving overseas, be prepared to be flexible about specific destinations. Personally, I had a situation where I did a lot of research on a city that I thought I would love. After a couple of days of getting there I realized it wasn’t the kind of place I wanted to spend more than a week. Luckily there was a much better option just an hour away. Friends of mine have had similar experiences with different towns or even entire countries. You can increase your chances of loving where you end up if you’re not married to one particular place.”

-Corbett Barr, Free Pursuits

7. “My advice to anyone considering living overseas is:  #1 – clearly understand your goals for moving overseas and then decide what you are willing to give up to meet your goals; and then #2 – do your homework prior to going on the important aspects of daily life such as banking, taxes, transportion, schools, etc.”

-Rick Balderrama, author of “The Expat Checklist“

8. “According to me if someone wants to live abroad then they need to be patient with the documentation procedure, to be open with different languages and culture.”

-Manjeet Malik, expat buddy from Prague and kick-ass web designer

9. “Research, research, research.”

-Alison Cornford-Matheson, CheeseWeb.eu

10. ”For couples, learn to really listen to and support each other. Each partner will be experiencing different kinds of stress: absence of social network, job pressures, integration issues, questions of self-worth, language frustration, child care, etc. Dedicate time to spend together each week exploring your new city or country, and be open to talking about your fears and frustrations.”

-Andrew Cornford-Matheson, CheeseWeb.eu

11. “Consider what you would want to get from your experience, and whether
you have a genuine interest in the country you’re considering relocating to.
People who have the best experiences as an expat are the ones that actually have
some affinity towards the country that they’re living in.”

-Sharell Cook, India Travel on About.com

12. “1. Be open  2. Don’t drink the water  3. Smile at strangers  4. Don’t say, ‘You should all speak Danish’ 5. Use a condom”

-Peter Fogtdal, Danish Accent

13. “Experience over possessions: belongings weigh you down physically and emotionally so take only what you really need to simplify things drastically.  Just do it: outstanding things (job etc.) will fall in place when you get there through your own persistence and no doubt some luck.”

-April Wendy Hollands, le Franco Phoney

14. “It’s probably going to sound obvious, but I think the best advice is to get out and experience as much as you can.  Eat foods that you never thought you would, visit temples and museums, speak with the locals, try to learn the languauge, and most importantly, push your comfort zone to the limit.  Make your own stories!”

-Newlyweds Nicole and Cameron Wears, The Traveling Canucks

15. “Don’t try to impose your cultural values on others when you live overseas.  Instead, try to understand their culture & overlay it on your perspective.”

-Maryam Montague, My Marrakesh

16. “…become an expert on their new country even before they arrive, but also make sure that all those fine details are worked out for housing, pay, visas, etc.  It goes a long way in making a smooth transition.  Just arrived?  Go out!  Be a tourist in your new country!”

-Tina Fussell, Traveling Mama

17. “Consider how far away from ‘home’ you’d be and how expensive it would be to go back.  Most expats from close families find this aspect really difficult. I have missed every one of my cousins’ weddings because it was just too difficult to get back to England for a few days. I would strongly advise would-be expats to weigh this up in their decision.”

-Toni Hargis, Expat Mum

18. “treat your relocation like a move, not a vacation; to the more philosophic – respect the country you’re from and the country you’re moving to and you’ll feel a lot better about yourself and your choice while you’re there”

-Julia Bryan, Kolo Kolo Mlynsky

p.s.

Jeff here …I’m feeling left out, so I’ll add number 19.  :-)

19. If you’re considering it, go for it.  Call it life-changing, call it rewarding, call it something you’ll “do someday…”.  However you call it, until you do it, you call it a dream.

The best way to make any dream a reality is to work on it one small step at a time, every day.

Start taking action.  A little action, every day….and before you know it, you traveled halfway around the world.

- me, Expat Yourself

p.p.s.

If you need someone to encourage you once or twice a week, I will.
If you need someone to talk you down from that ledge of fear, I will. (ok, it was dramatic)

If you need a friend, I’m here.  Sign up for my messages above.  Let keep in touch.

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Packing for a move is a big job. It scrambles daily life, be it dressing, cooking or even walking from room to room.

Here I offer a simple strategy for how to pack for international moves.

If you’re moving across town – Easy, peezy. For every item you ask “Keep it or leave it?” …and most everything makes the cut.

Packing for an international move? Oh, now there’s a challenge.

Shipping costs are higher. Transit time can be in weeks, not days. Then there’s customs.

Yeah, packing suddenly sucks. (Well, it always sucks, but now it really sucks.)

The Problem: “My Mom Would Kill Me If I Got Rid of This!”

With international moves, you can’t just ask “Keep it or leave it.”

Two choices are not enough.

How about that 150 year old, 30″ tall hurricane lamp from my great-great…grandmother?

How about these 2 mammoth bookcases? (and what about all these books??)

For the oversized and sentimental stuff, “Keep it or Leave it” doesn’t work. Damn.

Yes, a move helps you get rid of prized possessions. But some possessions are just too valuable. That is, if you expect to keep family ties after your departure. (By the way, you did tell them you’re leaving, right?)

The Solution: A Simple Strategy

Easy 3-pronged approach: Ship, Store or Sell

SHIP: you’re shipping stuff to your future address

STORE: you decide to keep stuff, either with family, friends or in storage

SELL: you decide to part with it. It’s someone else’s stuff now.

Your Wicked-Fast Decision Guide

1. Do I use it daily or almost daily? If so, SHIP

2. Would I be heartbroken for weeks if I lost, broke or sold this? If so, STORE

3. Too heavy or used too rarely to lug with you? If so, SELL

Yeah, it’s really that simple. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how much you sell. And I can almost guarantee when you wake up the next day, you will feel physically lighter yourself.

We all see scams like “How to lose 20 pounds in 1 week,” but here you get more joy after losing 500 pounds in one garage sale.

Note: If you’re a minimalist, you’re more apt to sell. Then again, if you’re a minimalist, you’re not apt to have a whole lot of stuff to begin with, right?

Exceptions & Other Tips:

Electrical kitchen appliances

Your 4-slice toaster, the food processor and those hi-tech gadgets which are obsolete in weeks (if not already) - SELL THEM. Oh yes, sell them quick while someone’s willing to pay for them. Would you want to return today to the 22″ flat-panel LCD TV that you paid thousands of $$ in 2006? (disclaimer: I know so little about TV, that may be a stupid example)

Furniture

An exception. By the Wicked-Fast Guide above, you would either ship or sell furniture.

However, even half-decent furniture can be a sizeable investment (not milk crate and timber bookshelves like you had in university). Replacing it after a couple years would be expensive, so you can’t sell it. Shipping it would be idiotic, even if your company paid for it. So you store it.

How? Wrap in plastic and store in a humidity controlled environment.

–Or ‘store’ in someone else’s house, while they make good use of it.

Note: If you store items with family or friends, make it clear that you’d like the item back when (if) you return. Could be 6 months, 6 years or never, but it’s your wish today. This just saves the awkward “Oh, I thought you gave it to us.” talk

Books

Another special exception. By the Wicked-Fast Guide above, you would sell books. Ouch.

If you’ve got a sizeable library, I’d recommend bringing fewer than 5%, unless you really need several for your work.

If fewer than 100 books, limit yourself to 10%.

Do not bring books with the mindset “Oh, I’ll have extra time to read those ones I never got to.” No, you won’t. And when you do have extra time, you won’t pick up those books.

Art

If you have frames on the wall and they’re not holding band posters, you probably want to store them. Make sure they’re protected, both from humidity damage and breakage.

Here’s a short video I made of how we protected multiple pieces while in storage. And if the video seems a low-rate production, well, hey that’s because it is.

Some Personal Mistakes

If you’ve gotten this far, let me share some of our bigger “poor judgement calls” with this ship, store or sell strategy.

DO NOT STORE BOOKS IN CARDBOARD BOXES, else you find yourself laying the least-moldy ones out in the sun, hoping for the best. See?:

Some of our library, sunning itself

So, if you’re going to store books for years, store them in plastic totes like these (Amazon link).

Another: A huge box of photos that we’ve been meaning to put in albums (for years). We should have stored it, but no, we shipped it. Upon our return 4 years later, we find ourselves reshipping the very. same. huge. box of photos. We did made one album there, …which used maybe 5% of the photos.

And another: We also shipped 3 boxes of scrap-booking stuff we’d been meaning to use “some rainy day.”
Trust me, when living abroad, monsoons can come and scrap-booking will never seem the coolest thing you could do.

In case I have to spell out my preference – use the strategy in reverse order:

Think first: Can I sell it?
If not, can I store it?
Okay, damn…I have to ship it.

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I want Expat Yourself to be more than information. It needs to provide value, to you, the expat or expat to-be.

So, one idea I had to give added value is expat-related discounts, incentives, more external help, etc…
To get this means talking to companies to create some advantages for ExpatYourself visitors. Of course, nothing comes for free, so my offered end of the deal is a nice big post about that company.

Here is the first one: Solucion Relocation Services.

What do they do? Relocation services.
For an expat, that means “everything you need, but don’t know how to do for yourself.”
Having someone who’s “local” help with relocation can be incredibly time-saving.

For example, Solucion starts helping you before you arrive and welcomes you when you get there. They offer help with legal, housing, moving, even setting up schooling for your little ones.

To Spain only?
They aren’t limited to Spain – they actually have offices all over the world.

How are they priced? They target executives and families
Targeting executives tells you they may be on the high end of some budgets. I can tell you that they are worth it. That assurance might not help, but 10% off should help.

Yes, Solucion is willing to knock 10% off any and all of their services for you. When you write to Solucion, tell them you’re an ExpatYourself “client” and you will receive a 10% discount.

How’s that? I’m fairly excited about it and I hope you are too.

And in case you’re wondering, no, I don’t get any payment or reward for posting this.

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To Wait or Not to Wait - that is our question

Every night, the wife and I read a couple bedtime stories to our young kids. One of my daughter’s favorites is Dr Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

We both recommend it highly. If you don’t have it – get it now..

The story speaks to “you,” a young boy. He learns all about life’s potential greatness as well as its dangers and difficulties.

I read it again recently and one part keeps popping in my head. The story warns the boy about getting lost in life’s “rat race.” Not taking action, but instead just …waiting.

Dr. Seuss’ words about waiting

The Waiting Place…
…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a sting of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

Clearly to Dr. Seuss, waiting is not a good thing. (& I agree)

Enter Franz Kafka. As a writer, he’s one of the all-time greats. As a boy born in Prague in a German Jewish family, Kafka struggled with identity. A minority of a minority. He didn’t accept it well. It was tough times for Franz and his writing shows it. His dark writing style was usually about “senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity.” (sources)

What’s Kafka say about waiting?

Kafka’s words about Waiting

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

In a Nutshell…
There you have it.
Seuss says: waiting = bad
Kafka says: waiting = good

Why do I mention this? Because it mirrors a tough decision for us these days. I said in a past post, we know our future lies between two cities: New York City, USA and Halifax, Canada.
In one city, we have a chance of a grand opportunity. An exciting chance in an exciting city. But it’s not for certain. Instead we must wait. Out of our control, we wait. Kafka says it’s all fine, …”it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
In the other city, we also have uncertainty but the choice is completely in our control. We take that choice and wake up believing whatever we want to believe.

What are your thoughts?

Anyway, this is what’s weighing heavily on our minds today and the past few weeks.

Thanks for reading,
-Jeff

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“I want to be an expat” – a dream of over 700 million people.

A survey, which took 3 years to complete, was finally released. The survey asked “Would you like to start a new life abroad?”.
Across 130 countries, 16% of the people answered “Yes.”

What countries were most popular?
Mostly developed western countries, plus Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Where does everyone want to go?
If everyone had their wish, the United States would swell by 165 million people (growing it by 50%)
Canada would bring in 45 million people (a whopping 150% boost!)
France, Thailand and Britain each would grow also by another 40+ million people.

What’s the biggest motivator for all these people?
Jobs. For many folks, the big deciding factor whether to stay or go was employment. Do you want to work abroad?
Last year, HSBC released a report about expats which reported that half of surveyed expats are in their residence country and plan to stay because of a better contract than they could get back home. Another tidbit: more than half had lived outside their home country for longer than 5 years.

Both the HSBC report and the very recent Gallup survey show a growing trend: people are seeking to become expats.

credit: Source article

“I want to be an expat” said by 700 million people. That’s a lot of people. It’s a big dream. Start now, while you’re ahead of the pack.

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I’m not just adventurous in real life (yeah, right), I’m adventurous in website administration.

My dream of helping people live overseas suddenly found a glass ceiling – enough time to answer e-mails.
So, one idea I came up with is to create a forum where people could ask questions (and I still answer them), but future people could see the same questions (& answers!).

A central place for questions. Easy access to (everyone’s) answers. It’s a win-win idea.

I present the world’s newest Expat’s Questions and Answers forum: www.expatyourself.com/forum

You may think it’s light on the questions so far…you’re right. You need to ask them first.

Please post your questions there and I will be very diligent about answering them.

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You know you want to be an expat, but you don’t know where?
Make it easy on yourself — pick one of the Top 10, according to a massive survey of expats themselves.

• 1. Canada
  2. Australia
  3. Thailand
  4. Singapore
  5. Bahrain
  6. South Africa
  7. France
  8. USA
  9. Spain
  10. Hong Kong

Oh, and if you’re wondering who was LAST: the UK. Why? Too expensive, arduous commutes, huge unemployment, etc.

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Check, cheque, Czech

Moving anywhere, whether across the street or across the ocean, requires considerable planning. The below checklist was written by Kathy Dorf of Clements International as a helpful international moving checklist for moving overseas.

Investigate Your New Country’s Rules

Regulations and laws vary widely among different countries, so it is important to research these before moving abroad. Contact the appropriate embassy or consulate for information relevant to expatriates relocating to the country, including:

Visas and permits

Vaccines for family members

Restrictions or taxes on shipped household items

Taxes involved in shipping your car

Vaccines and quarantines for pets insurance

File Applications for Passports, Visas and Permits

Do this early, as this process takes time to complete. It is also wise to renew early if any of these documents is set to expire in the near future.

Gather Important Documents

Be sure to request official copies of important personal documents and allow at least several weeks to receive them. Suggested items include:

Birth and Marriage Certificates

Naturalization, Green Card, Proof of Citizenship, etc.

Social Security Cards

Vaccination, Medical and Dental Records

Insurance Policies

Academic Records and Diplomas

Employment Records

Proof of Residency (utility bill, statement, etc.)

Living Will and Testament

International Moving and Shipping Companies

Contact international moving and shipping companies to obtain quotes for transporting your belongings overseas. Since it could take over a month for your items to arrive, plan ahead when scheduling your shipment.

Insurance

It is critical to determine the exact insurance requirements and availability at your new destination as limits vary widely throughout the world.

Auto Insurance

Anyone planning to operate an automobile internationally will need to purchase an International Auto Insurance policy. Requirements vary among countries, so select an insurance provider with the expertise and resources to ensure the policy meets your needs.

Property Insurance

International personal property insurance, which can include transit and destination coverage, protects items damaged during the relocation process, while in your foreign residence or during shipping and transit. Contact an insurance provider specializing in expatriates for more information.

Health Insurance

Even if your destination country has a socialized healthcare system, you may not be eligible for coverage. If you are not covered under a group medical insurance program, individual policies can be purchased to protect you in a foreign country. These policies include worldwide medical protection and also can include evacuation services. Costs are reasonable and, in many cases, less expensive than stateside coverage.

Bank and Credit Card Accounts

Review your accounts and notify your banks that you will be overseas. Also consider online international banking, which makes it easier to transfer and manage funds between countries.

Prescription Drugs

If you or a family member takes prescription drugs, purchase additional quantities and obtain a copy of the medical file related to the condition. Keep them in your carry-on luggage in the event any bags are lost in transit.

International Driving Permit

Renew your driver’s license if it is set to expire soon. Acquire an international driving permit (IDP) and take extra forms to renew it annually by mail. You can obtain an IDP at a local office of the American Automobile Association and the American Automobile Touring Alliance (through the National Auto Club). Remember to carry both your IDP and your U.S. state driver’s license with you at all times.

Tax Obligations

Each country has distinct tax rules for foreign earned income. Determine your obligations and gather the necessary paperwork.

Pets

If your pet is moving with you, ensure it receives proper vaccinations and identify a pet carrier. If you have decided not to bring a pet, allow enough time to find it a new home.

Flight and Hotel Reservations

Make any necessary travel arrangements as soon as your travel dates are set.

VOIP Phone Service

Consider using VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service, otherwise known as broadband phone service. This is an affordable way for expatriates to make local, long-distance and international calls, all for a monthly fee.

Cancel Subscriptions and Forward Mail

Cancel all publication subscriptions and complete the appropriate forms at the post office to ensure your mail is forwarded to your new address.

Do Your Research

Learn about the country’s history and culture before you move, so you are prepared with the necessary knowledge to adapt quickly to your new home

Article published courtesy of Clements International

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