Making the Move: 10 Practical Steps for Moving Abroad

Get ready, because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh. Hello, hello. Welcome back. Amber McHugh here, your host for this journey. And we are going through a little series right now around living life abroad. Taking your life abroad, whether it's for full time, part time, or for a season, whatever it is, could be a career change. Could be you're running your own business and you're taking it abroad. And in the last episode, I shared our background on what took me abroad and my family abroad. And in this episode, we're diving into some of the practicalities that you may want to think about if you are taking life abroad. So if you are here sitting back, multitasking, getting some work done, driving, got a cup of coffee. Hello. Hello. I am happy to be hanging out with you. And this is intended to just be a really casual conversation. I have made a little list of some of those practical things that come up for us, first and foremost, with every move. Because if you've got these things in place, you're gonna be good. You can pick up and run with it wherever you are. So it's a short list of things to think about. Oh, I just thought of one more thing I'm gonna add to the list and I'm gonna dive in. So first up, I mean, this can be way practical. Way practical. So if you are not thinking about moving abroad and you're like, this does not apply to me, you're right, it may absolutely not apply to you. But I got so many questions on it just over the last few weeks alone. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm gonna make a video. I'm gonna create an episode on this so that we can answer this for multiple people. And I could answer all those questions that people had asked in the last couple of weeks. So first up, moving to a new location may require that you get rid of some things, potentially put some things in storage, maybe sell some things, and then you're going to take some things with you, whether that's through a shipment or just in your suitcase. So what are we going to do with the stuff related to the move? So you've got to think through that process. What are we putting in storage? What are we selling and what are we taking with us? And how will we take that with us. Shipment, suitcases. Couple of four options there. So a shipment could be air or it could be on a boat. Is there anything else for shipment? We can't teleport yet. Am I missing something there? Let me know. So as you think about the move, we put some things in storage our first round, and then we got some things out of storage. I'm like, why? Why did we keep this? So styles change. Everything can change. So keep that stuff that you really want to hold on to. I was happy. We put some heirlooms and an antique of my dad's, that was my grandma's, in storage. That felt good. Other stuff we pull down. Like we need to sell this before our next move. If we ever need this again in our life, I know where to find it. So we sold a lot of our things on Facebook Marketplace and not Craigslist. A little bit on offer up. Facebook Marketplace turned out to be the best for us, the last round. So that's something to think through. Posting it. I will also note, when we are selling things, those high price point items took a little bit longer to sell. For example, we got a dining room table at the Restoration Hardware outlet. Love that thing, but it was so heavy I didn't want to move it. I kind of wish I would have moved it once we got here, but sold it. And we sold it for the price that we bought it. We had only used it for a year and a half when we were in the States and it took a little longer. There was a little bit more interest, a little bit more fall off. But we ultimately sold it. So those things might take a little bit longer. And then the smaller things went pretty quickly. And I totally listed some stuff for free. I was lucky enough to have a pickup like a front porch where I could say, I'll leave it on the porch for you. Send me your money after you pick it up. And is there some risk there? Sure. But it wasn't a big enough concern for me that I wanted to wait down to the minute to hand things off with people. So I did some of that. We did some selling and then we did some giving away to friends and family. And then we had our shipment. We did have a shipment through Matt's job where we sent some things on a shipment, the bigger items, and then we pack in our suitcases because you never know when the shipment's going to arrive. When we did our first move, we got our stuff August, September, October, November, like three or four months later. And then when we did our second move. It took about 10 months for our things to come. There were some extenuating circumstances in 2020 and so I was really grateful to have everything we had in our suitcases. The first time we moved, we took eight suitcases. Second time we moved, it was a little unexpected. We only had four suitcases. That was also fine. And then this most recent move, we packed all the allotted suitcases. So we had two suitcases a piece for our international move with our tickets and we each had a carry on. We used it all up because we thought, you know, we don't know when we're going to get our things, so we're just going to have what we want with us. So that was mostly clothes. It was things to get the girls rooms set up. They had some toys, they had, you know, activities and things that, that they really cared about that they wanted to have with them and that would give them some entertainment because they can get really boring in an empty house, hotel room, wherever you're going to be for interim period of time. And I pack, I have a suitcase full of work stuff. So what do I need? My husband's like, really? You're going to pack your lights? I'm like, yeah, we have no idea how long or what the situation is going to look like. So I'm going to have a few extra things. So. So I did take a suitcase for like work, some books, things like that that I wanted to have with me immediately so I could get settled and back into a routine. So what will you move? What will you sell? What will you pack in a suitcase? Practical but important. Practical but important. Next up thing to think about, I'm going to go next with WhatsApp. WhatsApp is used in a big way abroad. If you're not using that in the States, I'd set up your WhatsApp account. You might start connecting with people before you even get there on WhatsApp. So this is a simple one. Recommend setting up a WhatsApp account. It's basically a messaging system. That's all it is, just a messaging system, but. And it'll change with your phone number if you move or if you decide to change your phone number, I'm going to take that to the next thing. Most countries, not all, work with one of the phone providers that we have in the U.S. so if you're from the U.S. moving to another country, at and T T Mobile, a lot of these carriers are also overseas and will work overseas with another carrier. For example, Ethiopia does not. So in Ethiopia, our phone service did not work. We had to get phone service from the local plan when we got on the ground. But Google Fi, for example, operates in many other locations. And when we came to Abidjan, we had AT&T and it worked. It was great. But we thought, I think there might be another plan. People were talking about Google Fi. Google Fi does work here and it was a little bit more affordable. I do find that Google FI uses the orange network. So I don't know what it is, but every now and then my call drops a little bit or talk to someone like, oh, all of a sudden I have no signal. I am talking to Noah. And then AT&T signal used MTN, which worked a little bit better. But either way we hit the ground. Everything worked fine. We were set up. Call your phone provider before to make sure it'll work. And you're set up for the right plan so you don't have unexpected fees. You kind of know what you're getting into. But I would definitely think that through and set that up in advance. It'll just make things easier. It's pretty simple to do. Next super practical thing that I recommend you do in advance is download and set up a vpn. VPN will allow you to sort of adjust where you want your IP address to be coming from. It'll protect your network and it allows us to use some things that may be restricted in certain countries. Depending on where you're moving. Like let's say you're going to. I don't know. Oh, the anthropology. Free people brands actually don't work in some countries. When I would go to make a purchase or look at things, not even making a purchase, just look at things in Ethiopia was not allowed at the time. I don't know if that's changed or not. Actually. I don't know if I can do those brands in Abidjan. I haven't looked. But then other brands will pop up and say like, oh yeah, you could totally. We ship to your country. Perfect. Okay. Like Nordstrom for example, shipped to Ethiopia. Setting up the vpn. You'll be able to pull up any website because you could say that it masks where you're actually at and you can be from anywhere. This is also great for like my VPN right now is I think is set up to New York or Miami. And it's also great for watching Netflix, Hulu, you know, getting on various websites in general and entertainment. And they're onto it. They know that people are using vpn. So once they identify, identify that this IP address is associated With a vpn it might not work, but you can always update and change your location. So that works pretty well. There are a number of VPN providers out there. I don't even have a recommendation, so check those out. There is free, there is paid, but that's really helpful and ideal. I mentioned shipments. So mail. If you are going with an organization, a nonprofit, a company, an organization, they may have a mail service set up for you. Otherwise there may be post off boxes that you can get. There may be UPS drop off locations. DHL for example, DHL would deliver to Ethiopia and there's a UPS store here. I have not used them, I have not shipped from there. I've not received things from there. We have mail service through my husband's organization. So that's totally something to check out because the address mail system may not be the same. Speaking of those beeps right now that you hear, another thing you may want to look at is an up supply. So there may be countries and locations that you would move where there are power interruptions. If you're going to be on calls where you don't want to lose power, lose your Internet connection, lose for zoom calls. Getting a UPS uninterrupted power supply. I can't pick this up. Ours is kind of heavy. They do come in small sizes. It's about this big. You can see my power on my frame went out. So our power in the house is out right now. But my computer keeps running because I have the uninterrupted power supply. So basically what this is is it's a little battery pack and when the power goes out it will beep. That lets me know that the battery is now being used to run the electronics. So uninterrupted power supply. You may be able to buy these when you get to your location, but you may want to make sure it will run the right thing. So I'd ask people that you're coming, can I get an upstair? Will it be enough to run my computer and some Internet? That's basically what I have plugged in. I have my computer plugged in and we have Internet plugged in, I think. And hopefully I think that's what we have plugged in. So look into your UPS uninterrupted power supply and make sure it works for the electric network in your country, for example, you're going to want adapters, you're going to want all these things. And there's a voltage thing like I can't use my typical blow dryer here because the power System doesn't work. Those are questions I bring to my husband, like, can I plug this in here? Yay or nay? So there's someone better out there to share information on that with you. I just want to bring it up so it's something that you think about and look into. Next up, medical. Okay, you may need to get some medical boxes checked before you leave the country. Are there shots that you need to enter the country that you're going to. Are there expectations that that country has around those things? So those are things to look into. Some medical systems may not offer what you need in terms of health care. So everybody's situation is unique on this. So I want to bring these up as things that you're going to want to look into. When we were in Ethiopia, it was not uncommon for people to travel to various locations. We had doctors in Ethiopia. We had doctors through my husband's organization, but we would also travel for some medical services. So it was a mix of things. And so that's something to look into. What are your medical needs? Are there medications that you need that you can't get in the country that you're going to? If so, okay, what can I take with me? How am I going to get those sent to me through the mail while I'm there? Are there alternatives in country? So check with your doctor and your medical team on that and I will say you may want to work with a medical provider who understands the international system and requirements. I went to a couple doctors and they're like, wait, you need what? I was like, yes. So you might have to make a few phone calls to get to that point and to find your people that'll set you up and work with you. You may want to have a tele detail arrangement, set up a Teladoc system and then look at the on the ground situation. So when you get into the country, this is super practical, but I did a tour of our medical facility, I talked to someone and understand, okay, who do I call if something happens? If it's an emergency, who do I call, where do I go? Dentist appointments. So when you get on the ground, I'd also sort of get a medical orientation. Because while we certainly hope and it is unlikely that something will happen, you still want to be prepared in case anything happens. You know, a kid jumps from the couch to the floor and twists something and you got to get that checked out. So you'll just know where to go, what to do. And you may also want to bring some over the counter medications with you just so that you are comfortable. In fact, someone who works with us here at the house said, you have a lot of medicine. I know, but we needed some things when we were in Ethiopia, and I didn't exactly know where to find it, and it was nice to have on hand. So you may want to have some things. You're like, I don't know, once a year I get a round of allergies. Just have it with you is my take on that. So think through your medical. In addition, I'm going to go to groceries next. Also super practical. When you hit the ground, oh, my gosh. Talk to people, scope it out. Groceries might be more expensive, less expensive, but also, there may be markets, and we don't always get exactly what we expect, but it's fun. It's like, okay, what's it going to be? What's it going to be? We were so happy to hear have cheeses. And we were. I mean, everything in Abidjan here, people are like, okay, what's the food like? For example, someone knew I was here, they're moving here soon. And they messaged and said, all right, tell me about the food. Can I get buttercream? Can I get milk? Can I get, you know, tomatoes? And they just had a list of kind of specific things. It's totally okay to ask. We are a family that will sort of adapt. I don't like to cook, so I'm like, okay, what can I get here? Yes, we'll take that. I'll eat whatever, right? So I do not have that. But it's also. You may hit a point where, like, wait, I really just wish I could have this. So ask, because somebody might know where to find that thing. And it's such a fun adventure. Like, it's these little things that bring joy and add things up. Like when we first got here, people like, oh, mango season. It's going to be good. Like, okay, when is mango season? I'm really looking forward to mango season. So ask all the questions about groceries and explore and go to the markets, and it's just so much fun. The other nice thing that I was excited about here was coconuts. They're everywhere. And there's coconut stands where people will either have drinks, coconut water coming up. So there's so many beautiful, unexpected things. And maybe you can mail some things if you want. You might want to put some things in your suitcase. For example, we pack cheese and some meats that we can't get here when we go to vacation. For example, when family came in for the holiday holidays, they filled up one whole yeti cooler for us with meats. Might have been. No, no cheese in there. We've got a pretty good cheese selection here. But they're brats and things that my husband wanted that we haven't found here yet. I don't think they're here, but maybe so groceries. It's so fun. It's such an adventure. It's all an adventure. Two other things, super practical schools. Someone was asking me about schools and there again, it's going to vary by location. For example, here in Abidjan, there are French schools, there are English schools, there are schools that teach in both. So it's really thinking about what you want. If you've got kids who are coming with you, their age level, can they learn a new language and step right into a French school? If they're younger? What a cool opportunity. And so schools are something to evaluate. Each school has their private schools that are expensive and less expensive. So there are scales of that as well. I love this international schools that teachers are from all over the staff is from all over the students. I mean, it's just such a cool experience to be a global citizen and then be in a community of local and global citizens. And it just creates a really special learning environment. So you talk to admissions, you may need to send in essays, you need to send in applications and medical records and school records. So there is a process there. So if you've got children that may be coming abroad with you, that is something to get ahead of and look into. And then there are all sorts of online schools and homeschooling options now as well. I know some people who homeschool or do online schools. So lots of options. And in many locations that we're at, there are going to be a lot of extracurriculars for your kids too. For example, Audrey, we got here, we had already looked up horseback riding. Then we talked to people about the stables and she was riding again within a couple of weeks, maybe three weeks, it was definitely under a month and she was riding. And then Harper wanted a very specific kind of dance. She had just started doing west coast swing. And my sister and her husband are west coast swing dancers. And Harper got really excited to be plugged into that community at my sister and brother in law's wedding. And so she started west coast swing dancing. So cool. We have not found that here yet. So instead Harper is going to do salsa lessons and we did a break dancing lesson last week. So what are things that like, oh, I wouldn't even thought to Try that. But the school teaches it, this dance school here, and we're going to try it, so. And I say we. Harper has already started. I'm thinking I'm going to get in for a couple lessons too. So extracurriculars may be plentiful. And again, it's just asking questions. Which leads me to get plugged into community now. You don't have to wait until you're on the ground in the new country. Are there Facebook groups where expats hang out? It was a little bit more challenging for me coming to Abidjan because it's a French speaking country and the Facebook groups are primarily French speaking as well. So I made a couple of them. Like, this looks so cool. I wish I could read this. Also Instagram, Instagram gives me the immediate Translate option. So I found restaurants and places to stop and hairdressers and medical and just all sorts of things on Instagram as well. Certainly some countries are going to have more presence in various social media platforms and others will have less. But definitely something to check out. But then getting into some of those groups and communities from the jump to ask these questions, you're going to find people are looking for similar things. You know, can I buy furniture there? Is anyone selling something? Like all sorts of good stuff there. So why wait? Like, get into community, ask people, see what people are saying, see what other people have asked. And as you start to narrow down locations, continents, countries, cities, plug in before you make your decision. In fact, we're doing that right now. We've got our next move, location undetermined, but we've got a few ideas and things that we're talking through and working through. So I'm already talking to people about, oh, what's it like to live there? What do you recommend it? What did you think about schools? How was traffic? And it's also so interesting when you bring up a country, what people immediately say, like I asked about. I think I'm saying this wrong still in Yolande, Cameroon the other day to someone and she's, oh, the food. So good. Take me back for the food. Okay, I love it. So there are great things to get into conversation about simply by asking the question. So with that, if you have any questions about these very practical things that I have shared here today, tag me on instagram @amber McHugh. Ask me in the comments on YouTube. I would love to connect with you and follow along your journey journey as you step into your adventure abroad. And you're so right on time wherever you are in this journey if you're just starting to think about it like I was over a decade ago, or if you're more in the steps of making it a reality. So much fun. You're right on time. I can't wait to see where you land and check out your pictures. All the love. See you in the next episode, where we are going to dive into some of the more adventurous, nuanced things that you might want to think about as you embark on this journey. Thanks for hanging out.