MOVING ABROAD CHECKLIST! 11 Things to Do Before Moving Abroad

What's up guys, welcome to my channel. My name is Malika and I'm so happy you're here watching with me. I actually just started this channel to share more about my experiences traveling and living abroad. So I'm really excited to be posting this video today. I've been thinking about this one for a while because I'm actually moving out of the country for the second time and I'm so excited. I moved to Italy about probably like 10 years ago at this point. But I'm getting ready to pack up for another big international move, this time with my husband. I'm not saying the country that we're moving to yet, but if you want to be first to know, go ahead and hit that subscribe button. But anyway, as I'm filming this video, we're a few weeks away from moving to our new home. I've had plenty of time to prepare, but honestly, it's been like insane. But since we're just close to the last few days, the kind of craziness has started to wind down. So I decided to take some time to make this video and give you some pointers on how to prepare for the big move abroad, just like all the little things you need to do before you get on that plane. These tips are more focused on people that know that they're leaving in a few months, like they've had time to plan it, and they also know that they're going to be gone for a while versus people that kind of pick up and leave at the last minute or will have flexibility to come home back and forth every few months if they want to. So kind of more for the people that are moving long term. But yeah, definitely keep watching for 11 things to do before you move abroad. Number one, start downsizing. If you're planning a big move, you need to start downsizing as soon as possible. It can be overwhelming, obviously, but the secret is getting through it just a little bit at a time. I am far from a minimalist, so trust me when I say I packed way more stuff than necessary. You know, I had to look cute, I had to have all my travel clothes, my work clothes, all my shoes, all my toiletries, beauty products, wigs, all that stuff. I did strategically get rid of a few things I knew would no longer fit my lifestyle, and I'll probably do a whole video later on what I kept versus what I threw away, but please just do yourself a favor and start getting rid of stuff. If you're planning early and you have time, you can sell stuff on Poshmark or Letgo or eBay and you might actually make some money. But if it's the last minute, just be prepared to donate or dump it. And unless you have friends or family you can leave stuff with, don't even bother putting stuff into long term storage. It is such a waste of money and most likely you'll just come back home a few years later and throw it away. Number three, go to all your doctors. You have to get all those medical checkups done and make sure you start a few months before you actually plan to leave the country. Don't leave it to the last minute, because if you unfortunately do find out something's wrong with you, you need to have enough time to learn more, get follow up visits, schedule treatments and all that kind of stuff to make sure you're okay. So don't do your screenings at the last minute assuming everything's going to be fine. That means your annual physical, your well woman's exam, eye doctor, ear doctor, ear, nose, throat, sinuses, just get everything checked out and have a perfectly clean bill of health. And whatever your opinions are on vaccines, I know a lot of us have them, I don't care, you should at least be aware of any required or recommended vaccines for the country you plan to move to. And you should be informed of the risks you may encounter if you decide you don't want to get a vaccine that is recommended in that region. Up to you, but at least be informed. Number four, stock up on your medications and any of your necessary medical supplies. If you take any prescribed medications with monthly refills, talk to your provider about getting six months or maybe even 12 months of refills to take with you. Depending on where you're moving, you may also want to bring like a stash of all your favorite other counter stuff like Tylenol, cold medicine, Theraflu, motion sickness meds, all that kind of stuff. Just because you might not want to experiment with new brands or like different formulas you'll find in whatever country you're going to. Also don't forget your contacts or glasses if you wear them and retainers if you need me. I already got a stack of my contacts, like a nice big stash and extra glasses. For retainers, I did Smile Direct Club and I ordered a couple of extra retainers to take with me because they take probably like six weeks to make and then there's shipping time. That's another week, so I wanted to make sure I had extras on hand because your teeth will start shifting like crazy really quickly. I also have a shellfish allergy, so I made sure to get some extra EpiPens and anyone with allergies should also have done that. Even if they're not severe, it can't hurt to just have one for emergencies or if things get worse. And ladies, don't forget your birth control or your Plan B because you do not want to get caught out there needing to find that in three days in a foreign country and not knowing where to start. So just grab a couple of those. It's over the counter now. Shop for a country-specific attire, especially formal wear. So most people are surprised to hear that I hate shopping, so this is actually really hard for me, but I did have to get some new clothes and some new shoes that are more appropriate for the environment where I'm moving to, especially work clothes because I will hopefully be working probably in an office that might be more traditional. You should also have a few options of formal wear, just like fancy stuff, cocktail stuff, black tie, because you might get invited to something last minute and need something nice to wear. The U.S. has really great options for affordable evening wear and cocktail party dresses, but that's actually really not the case in a lot of parts of the world. So in the U.S., if I get invited to a wedding or a cocktail party or some kind of formal, I can always run to Macy's or Nordstrom or grab something from Rent the Runway and be set in two days. But depending on where you are, you probably won't have that option, so just be prepared. Beauty treatments and touch-ups. So some countries are known for beauty treatments you can get there, but you might still want to get some polishing up at your favorite place back home. I do microblading. I'm a big fan of it. I got my last touch-up like a year and a half ago, so I was due for a touch-up, so I got one of those to make sure it would stay nice and fresh and also last really longer. I also got laser hair removal because, again, big fan of that, and I'm not getting that done just anywhere. We're not experimenting with lasers on my skin, and we all know a lot of places are not experienced with people of color. So people with darker skin tones, you just have to be a little more careful. So I wasn't trying to play around. I went back to my regular place and got it done. And of course, I have a peer appointment scheduled for the day before I leave, so everything will be nice and ready to go. Okay, next you want to make sure you back up all your vital records, and this will be a very long, annoying process, but it's important to keep digital copies of anything that's really important, like important documents you need to have on file. I used to have a ridiculous file cabinet with paperwork from years ago, and so I had to organize everything, scan everything into the cloud, and then shred all those documents, which took a few days and just a ton of organization, but now I have a digital record of anything in cloud storage that I can access anywhere, because you just never know when you might need that kind of stuff, and you don't want to physically lug it all around with you. So you might need paperwork for visas, for leasing an apartment, for a bank account, like any kind of normal amount of real life, any number of real life scenarios that you might need, and you don't want to scramble around at the last minute trying to find that kind of paperwork. And then lugging around pounds of old paper and documents is really annoying, and it's also kind of risky, because you have all your personal information out there, and it's so easily accessible. So just put it all in the cloud and then shred it, or keep it in storage at home with family where it will be secure. So how many times have you guys traveled internationally? Probably like a decent amount, or you're planning to travel a decent amount. How many times did you check in with your local embassy or the state department travel advisory before planning your trip? Most people don't, okay? Most people don't. I honestly never used to, but get in the habit of reviewing security updates, especially if you're moving to the new country. That's also the best way. With all this COVID stuff and all these updates coming out every day, you want to make sure you get them, especially if your country suddenly imposes a curfew or a quarantine, you might adhere fast enough and then be out on the street when you're not supposed to. You can also check out the STEP program or any other services that might be offered by your local embassy or consulate, and any of the emergency assistance services that they offer for people abroad. I'm going to leave all those links below in the description box for easy reference. Next up, it's going to seem super obvious, but get travel adapters. When I moved to Italy, I definitely forgot one. It was such an obvious thing, I assumed, oh yeah, duh, I totally packed a few. So I land in Italy, I get to my apartment, I look to charge my phone, and yep, I have nothing. Now, had I realized at the airport, it probably would have been fine, but instead I ended up spending my first afternoon in a suburb of Bologna looking for a place to buy a travel adapter. And not speaking a word of Italian, so don't be like me. Have a travel adapter, preferably pack one in each bag. Get some local currency in advance. Yeah, you can always exchange money when you land, like everyone can do that, but in the spirit of being prepared, just do it a few days before. If you have time to go to a currency exchange in your city before you depart, that'll be like the best way to do it because you'll get a better rate. Or if you must, you can do it before boarding your flight at the airport, but you'll just be prepared to pay more fees and probably get a worse rate. But just don't land in a foreign country with no money, making the assumption you can just take money out of an ATM or exchange when you get here. Yes, of course, in most cases you will be able to, but I just always prefer to arrive in the country with a small emergency stash just in case. It really just needs to be enough to cover like two meals and a taxi. So just don't think you need to bring a ton, but you don't want to put yourself in a stressful situation if you don't have to. Pre-book your transportation. Most of the time on vacation, I just hop out of the airport and grab an Uber or a regular taxi, but moving abroad is just a whole different ballgame. You'll be exhausted, you'll have a lot more stuff, and it's just gonna be like worn out from all the travel, so just make your life easier by pre-arranging an airport pickup. It doesn't have to be a fancy luxury one, but it will be a huge convenience to not have to figure out how you're getting home from the airport, especially when you're carrying all this extra stuff and have a lot of like bigger, heavier bags. Buy your favorite DVDs. This one's kind of random and also totally old-fashioned, like who actually still buys DVDs, but it is one thing I learned from living in Italy and in my research on where we're going to next. Streaming services can be unreliable, your internet speed may not be as fast as it is here, it might even be annoyingly slow, and also a lot of shows and movies have different licensing agreements, so they might not even be available in your new country. I know it's a little bit old-fashioned, but yeah, we picked up a couple of DVDs, like just our favorite movies, the things you can watch over and over and over again, just so we have options in case the internet is problematic or like we're bored and we've watched everything on the local shows. So that's it. If you made it this far, thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate it, guys. You don't know how hard it is to start a new YouTube channel and just be like out here like this. So definitely appreciate everything that you'd want. If you have more questions, if you want to learn more about moving abroad and kind of general packing tips, just let me know in the comments. And if you like this video, please like, subscribe, and share. Thank you so much, guys.