5 Important questions about Emigration

How often we wonder if a new country would offer us more happiness? We all love to dream, but only a few actually make those dreams come true and move abroad to find a better life.

For those thinking about emigration, I have collected 5 important questions to ask yourself before packing your bags and head for the airport.

1. What are my expectations?

To dream about a new life is fun. And every person has his or her own dreams. Also when it comes to expectations when moving abroad. It can be as simple as living in a different culture or raising the quality of life.

Is it a dream you have been carrying around a long time? Or a spur-of-the-moment thing you came up with just recently?

Write down for yourself what you expect to gain from your emigration?

2. Is my goal realistic?

Moving abroad sounds like fun and all the expats seem to have such an exciting life. But are you realistic about your hopes and dreams? Not everyone is capable of emigration. Please do a personal reality-check?

Check your goals and see what you need to reach them? Be practical and self-critical. Do not only focus on means but also on skills and education.

The expat life seems amazing, but sometimes in daily life, those expats work harder than they ever did before, and needed skills they never used before or even knew they had.

3. Am I running away?

Maybe your own country feels like a pair of pants that became too tight. Maybe you feel cornered, limited, an outcast. Maybe you are in debt. A country can be ruthless and change on you from one day to another through new laws or an economical crisis.

Are you making a decision to move abroad based on negative circumstances in your own country? Your own life perhaps?

Is the reason: I’m done with ‘it’! a balanced reason emigrate now?

4. Will I manage without family and friends nearby?

When was the last time you relied on family or friends for help or companionship? Do you have the social skills to build a new social circle you can rely on to water the plants when you go on holiday? Or to help you with a personal matter? To stand by you when you are sick?

How about that regular night out with friends? Will you miss them?

5. Do I want to move to a foreign country?

Some plans to emigrate start with a holiday. But during your vacation tucked away in your resort or hotel, a country seems very romantic indeed. living among the locals, in a local house and finding your own way through new rules, a new culture, and being the stranger in the neighborhood, might be a different story than that impression you got from an all-day excursion into the hinterland.

In Conclusion

Emigration is an exciting adventure. But it does require some realism and soul searching and certainly a good preparation.