Moving abroad isn’t easy, but it’s worth it

In 2020 I lost all of my jobs in the early days of COVID-19. I knew I couldn’t survive long without downsizing my life and drastically lowering my cost of living. I was in my 40s, childfree, with only a small amount of savings–I felt like I was running out of time to “start over.”

But I still had big dreams and vivid memories of a promise I had made to myself more than two decades earlier. Within a few months I had sold everything I owned except for two suitcases and a very spoiled cat, and booked a one-way flight to Turin, Italy. I never looked back.

If I did it, so can you

Moving abroad is never simple, especially when you make the move solo. But every big change starts with a decision, every major accomplishment starts with a series of smaller steps. While the exact timing of the move was a bit spontaneous, my plan to move to Italy had been in the works for years (decades even)–I’d just been waiting for the right time to take the leap.

In the five years since I’ve been living in Italy, I’ve often wondered whether I should have waited a bit longer, saved more money, or organized more details before leaving the U.S. and moving here. These questions are impossible to answer, of course.

There’s never an exact “right” time to move abroad, change careers, or make any big life decisions. You’ll never be 100% ready for all the challenges and unknowns that come along with it. But if you keep holding out for perfect timing, you’ll always wonder what your life would have been like if you had just gone for it.

Every journey starts with a step

The first step to moving abroad is to gather as much info from as many resources as possible. I wouldn’t have lasted more than a few months without everything I learned from other expats, immigrants, whatever you want to call people who have real life experience moving to a new country.

I would like to be one of your resources, for whatever stage you are on your journey to live abroad–whether it’s figuring out the logistics of moving or choosing a country to call home. Follow me on TikTok and YouTube for some moving abroad tips, and subscribe below for updates!