I can still remember the first time that I became an ‘expat’ when I moved to Hong Kong. It was quite a surreal feeling knowing that I was going to be moving all the way to the other side of the world. At first I was excited but then all of a sudden quite nervous, a million and one questions started popping in to my head. If you too have moved countries then I am sure you know what I’m talking about; Where will I live? What’s the weather like? What’s the Food like? Can they speak English? And the list goes on and on.
It is daunting but well worth it and the best news is that there are plenty of people out there willing to help you on your way. Fellow expats are unbelievably helpful because they too were once in the same boat. So I advise you all to take the leap if the opportunity is there, it’s better to have tried than not to have tried at all.
Here are 3 of the main things that I think worried me most before I moved, and how I overcame any such worries:
Finding Accommodation
Of course, your home is probably one of your number one concerns, you want to make sure that you have a good home in a good location. If you have never been to the city you’re heading to then making an informed decision can be a bit of an issue. One of my buddies had just been helped by friends in Barcelona to relocate from the UK, so he advised me to use a similar company to make the transition easy, Three Men And A Truck would have been very helpful back then!
Making New Friends
It’s much easier than you think! The expat community is always quite closely knit so it’s easy to get out and meet new people. In bars for example on Friday night, fellow expats are super easy to approach and strike up a conversation with. Like I said before – we’re all in the same boat. Then the other sure fire way to meet new people is to join clubs, if you have a hobby locate the nearest club and you’ll be making friends in no time at all.
The Food
To be honest this was a concern, but I shouldn’t have been worried at all. Of course you can always eat the local cuisine, but pretty much everywhere in the world now has a variety of options. If there’s a mall close by then head there because you’ll be spoiled for choice.
