The first few months in a foreign country is likely to be stressful, especially if you find it upsetting to change your routine. Hopefully, the following tips will help you make settling in a smoother experience.
1. Sign up for an exchange program
You should spend at least a couple of weeks in the new place before deciding to move there. Organizations like Go Overseas, IVHQ, Love Volunteers, and Projects Abroad can help you to ease your transition in the new country although it may cost more upfront. Depending on region, there are also free volunteering opportunities with NGOs. Signing up for a language learning program in your destination will also give you a chance to make friends with others who are in a similar situation as you. Of course, it’s even better if you have a family member or a trusted friend in your destination.
2. Foreign bureaucracy: Leave nothing to chance
Find out in advance through the country’s immigration website about the requirements and forms you’d need to fill in to enable your stay as a resident. They’re usually quite thorough, or else you could enquire in the respective embassy found in your country. You may need to exercise patience in countries where paperwork is slow-moving. Also, be prepared for fine prints and contradicting answers from different departments.
3. Secure your finances (for young adults)
Apart from banking arrangements, this means having your budgeting figured out to last you half a year to find employment or securing employment before you arrive. Also, set aside an emergency
fund only for the purpose of buying a return ticket back to your country should things go very wrong in your new destination.
4. Bring as little with you as possible
Start by packing up things you cannot live without. You’ll find it easier to move about with a lighter load. These might include your paperwork, such as work history, degrees, professional qualifications and bank statements. In terms of documentation, find out the common practice of your new country. Next are personal items like laptop and other electronic gadgets. Pack only clothing that match.
5. Find out the prices of stuff
There are things you may need which are priced reasonably in your country yet are very expensive in your destination, like brand name hiking gear and winter wear. Bring them along with you if that’s the case. Once settled in the new place, find out where the locals buy their groceries, this will save you money.
6. Get a mobile phone contract
Having a local SIM card is essential for making calls for services and for cases of emergency. It also makes it easier for you to keep in touch with new friends.
7. Join an expat forum
Expat groups tend to organize get-togethers, it can be a comforting experience to interact with your fellow countrymen abroad. If they’ve been around for some time, you could even gain new local friends because of them. Check out http://www.couchsurfing.org to begin with, or forums of your specific country of interest. Sometimes, your embassy may organize afternoon parties during national festivities which you could attend.
8. Learn their language
If you’re moving to South America, build a basic Spanish knowledge with a native tutor or online courses at home. After that, it will only take a few months to master intermediate level once you’re in your destination. Find out how and how not to interact with the locals in terms of social etiquette. Two most useful new skills are learning how to greet people and how to share a meal. Be forewarned about non-stop fireworks during local festivities, water fights and blasting music through the night.
9. Stay on the beaten path
When you’ve just arrived, it’s wise to stay in a safe neighborhood and listen to local or expat advice about eating out. As a general rule, restaurants that are filled to the brim prepare decent food although you may have to wait for a while.
10. Make the Internet your ally
The Internet is an information hub at your fingertips. From Google maps and Wikipedia to live forums and tourism blogs, getting lost and confused in a new place is now a thing of the past. Once you find useful and reliable information, bookmark it.
11. Stop comparing to your homeland
In my 9-year experience of living abroad, I found out that there are positives and negatives in anywhere you may be. Provided nothing drastic happens (civil war/climate disaster), try to make the best of the positives. On the other hand, inconveniences and a slower pace of life, especially in a less developed country, are to be expected.
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