Leaving it all behind and getting a new start in a new land—it’s a wonderful romantic notion, is it not?
Before moving abroad, there are 1,001 nagging details to take care of first though. Okay, maybe it’s only 101 details when you’re in your early 20’s, single, and jobless. It gets more complicated fast though. Each of the following factors exponentially increases your to-do list: one or more children, a spouse, a job you will do remotely, each bank account and credit card account, cars to sell, insurance to cancel, possessions to move, phone contracts to cancel, addresses and phone numbers to change, and, oh you get the idea.
I’m convinced this is why most people who move abroad seem to be either young and single or retired. In the great gulf in between, the idea is just too daunting.
We’re defying the trend and doing it though. This week the moving truck loads up the crap we’ve been packing for days and puts it all into storage in another state. We’ll visit the relatives, tie up some remaining loose ends, then fly to Mexico on the 30th, grudgingly handing Continental lots of checked baggage fees—for the very first time ever. Packing for a year in one place is very different than packing for long-term travel.
So, no guiding bits of wisdom today. After losing thousands of old personal e-mails in a botched Thunderbird migration over the weekend, I’m not feeling all that wise at the moment anyway. When I’m swinging in a hammock in Mexico come July though, all will be right in the world. If you’re heading to Guanajuato anytime in the next 12 months, track me down!
