Living For Less Abroad: What Other Expats Want You to Know
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Moving to a new and foreign country is something that only seems like an exciting dream to many. Although it could have been an amazing experience, the leap is too big - and the countries abroad are just too strange and far away. Then you have those who packed up their lives and actually took on the role of an expat, experiencing new cultures, and eventually becoming a part of the daily hustle in their new home country.
Here is what they wished they knew before packing up their homes and jetting off so that you can make the right decision - whatever it might be.
It’s not as easy as you think
Media makes everything seem either awfully simple or very tricky. There’s no in-between as the topics they cover needs to be so sensational; here’s how you can move abroad with absolutely no money - or here’s how local thieves stole everything these people owned as soon as they landed.
The truth is, of course, that life is complicated, a bit messy, and you can’t always predict how things will work out.
You can expect life to go a certain way, though, which is exactly what you need to do before moving abroad. Most likely, you’re going to need a place to stay, first of all, and your best bet will be to get in touch with a real estate agent in your new country. You can find great rentals and HDB resale in every price range possible, so it’s smart to have an expert who can help you out with this one.
Then there’s the whole visa struggle as well. Anybody who ever needed to arrange a student visa, work permit, or go through any other kind of governmental procedure knows that the pain is real. Take care of this before you leave, by the way, depending on which country you’re heading off to.
If you’re not sure what kind of visa you need, you can have a look at this article. While work visas may seem like the most obvious option, seeing that you need to make a living as well, it’s not always the best choice as you’ll be depending on the company you work for. You will have to stay loyal to them, in other words, and if that’s your plan, a work visa is definitely a good idea.
I don’t have a job! What should I do?
Some people move abroad without arranging anything with their current job. They simply quit, pack up, and find themselves something better. You can also do this if your work doesn’t offer relocation or if you’re just looking to start a new chapter - and it’s not necessarily going to lead you to homelessness in the streets of Mumbai either.
You actually have a lot of different options, and most of them are found online. Teaching jobs, for example, are a great way to live and work as a local while also making a bit of money. You can easily take on a teaching job, stay there for a couple of months, and move on to a different country if you’re in it for the experiences.
Some expats go the traditional route which is, in fact, oddly untraditional and apply for listed jobs with their degrees. It’s going to be a nine to five office job, that’s for sure, and those who choose this option are often passionate about what they do. If you’re quite educated, don’t mind the office environment, and burn to do something more with your degree, you should absolutely take this route instead.
You’ll be able to experience the country just like the locals, waking up to the morning rush, and unlocking your front door around dinner time. There will be no strawberry plucking or jumping from the one teaching job to the next; you’ll stay put in your job, and a work visa is unquestionably the best option.
Hear with recruitment agencies in your home country who works together with companies in the country you have your eyes on - or get in touch with an agency in your new home country straight away.
Another option is to offer your services for food and shelter; organic farms need eager people like yourself, and many of them are able to accommodate and feed you as well. You won’t get paid, though, but you’ll have a roof over your head and get to live that simple life we always dream about.
You will develop a new love for your native country
After a while abroad, you may start to notice a few changes within yourself. There are so many, really, and they include your relationships as well as how you view your different homes across the world. You will undoubtedly start to miss parts of the culture you grew up with, the familiar products you used to buy in the grocery shops, as well the feeling of fitting in.
As you fill your fridge with all sorts of strange brands and odd-tasting cheese, it’s difficult not to call your family right away and have them send you a treasure box of everything you love at home. With time, you’ll come to enjoy the food you eat in your new home country too, though, and before you know it, you’re missing the taste of that odd cheese when you’re back ‘home.’
Even worse, you start to realize that you don’t really fit in anywhere anymore. Your taste is a melting-pot of different cultures, a fusion of what you have experienced in multiple countries while your friends and family back home only have one input.
They will talk about the latest TV shows or up-and-coming celebrities who you’ve never even heard of - then you return to your new home country, where they’re all talking about something you still don’t quite understand. It’s all very confusing, and a bit lonely, so keep in mind that you get to live life in a very different way than your classmates from high school who has lived in the same city for their entire life.
You may feel like a stranger no matter where you are in the world at one point, while also experiencing the freedom of having multiple places to call home and make a living in. Is anywhere really home anymore and what is home in any way? If you ever figure it out, please let the rest of us know.
Friends are important
Sure, friends are always important, but you will need that extra support more than ever when you’ve settled into your new home. It will be easy to find, in the beginning, and you’ll hear how much you’re missed back home until you’re almost fed up with it - until you have stayed there for a while.
The support becomes less after a few months abroad, maybe half a year, and your network back home starts to get over the initial loss of not having you around anymore. They move in, in other words, and it can be tough to bear at times.
Keep in mind that, however much it hurts to see your friends having fun and enjoying themselves without you, they also need to watch you living life to the fullest and experiencing new cultures. You moved on so they will have to move on as well; but when you meet up again, it will be like nothing ever changed.
Some of your friendships may change a bit, though, as they always do with time in any way. It becomes a lot easier to single out who you’d like to keep in your life forever, who you can meet up with after not talking for half a year and still love each other’s company - and those you never really talk to that much again.
But making new friends can be hard
To combat loneliness, it’s important to put yourself out there. You may think that since you’re moving to a set location, it should be easy enough to find new friends and make new connections, but friendships are much deeper than we realize.
Meeting people and befriending them are two very different things - and you can easily meet a ton of new people, have a good laugh, and never really hang out with them again, even though you all enjoyed each other’s company.
It’s tricky to break into people’s established circles, and you need to put yourself out there in order to actually make friends. Reaching out to other expats is a true and trusted way of doing this. Foreigners tend to stick to together, you know, and when you’ve found a few of them, you may easily find the rest within a few days.
Remember that it’s normal to feel lonely sometimes, especially when you have moved to a new country. Many people feel just as lonely as you in their native country too, and it’s good to know that you’re not alone in feeling like this.
Most likely, you’ll be able to find many other expats in need of a friend as well; put yourself out there, reach out to others, and the experience will be a whole lot better.
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