How to move to another country from the US

This isn’t my first time moving abroad and not the first time doing so alone. This time, I’m headed to London! I’m beyond excited and have a world of opportunity ahead of me. Growing up, I lived in Australia for 3 years, and in college I lived in Japan for 4 months. 

London is a bit different at this stage of my life. Now, it’s all on me and my preparation. I get out what I put into it. As a teenager in Australia, I could go with the flow and still have a great experience. Now at 28, I need to be more deliberate to make sure I’m getting the most out of my time abroad. 

For anyone else thinking about moving abroad, I wanted to document what this process has been like for me. Maybe there will be a few things that help you with your plans.

1. To-do list before moving
2. Additional considerations
3. Setting intention

My to-do list before moving:

1. Rent out house
2. Figure out property management on other rentals
3. Figure out what to do with my car lease?
4. Immunizations for Africa/Asia? 
5. Dentist + doctor Visit
6. Taxes
7. Storage unit + packing
8. UK/EMEA new travel documentation requirement/Visa
9. Find a furnished apartment in London
10. Mail forwarding?
11. Travel microphone?
12. Wardrobe refresh?
13. People to connect with before moving
14. Find a gym
15. Meal delivery service to make food easy and continue with fitness plan
16. Don’t get married ✅

Being single with no kids and no pets, there are clearly a few things missing from this list.

Do you have a spouse?

Can your spouse work? Consider bringing this up with your company if your spouse won’t be generating an income for the household. That may factor into a higher compensation plan for you. Can your spouse do any work online? Do they need or want to work? That's up to you both to determine.

Do you have kids? 

In Australia, we had to find a high school for me to attend before we arrived. Is homeschooling possible? Realistically, if you’re in a foreign country, my vote would be to give them the most authentic cultural experience, which would imply sending them to school. However, I do know people that homeschool, and it works great for them. Apply that same model in a foreign country and find your homeschool cohort for the kids to interact with others. Also make sure your kid(s) have a passport. Sounds obvious but you'd be surprised.

Do you have a pet? 

You’ll need to research how to get your pet into the country if you plan to bring them with you. This is country-dependent but likely includes immunizations, quarantine, and a special crate and transport company for flying them over - like it did in Australia for us. If you’re only going for 6 months, it may be better to have friends or family look after your pet until you return. It took our dog upwards of 2+ months to go through the whole process. Granted, that was a clerical error, so be prepared for things to not go according to plan. This page from APHIS is a good place to start. Find a good animal company to help transport them. 

Make sure to give yourself ample time to complete these items and make progress every day. Check something off the list or pack 1 box every day. Don’t leave everything to the last minute. I promise you, you do not want to be throwing screws from drawers into reusable grocery bags on your way to the airport. In a rush, we did this, and needless to say the TSA was very confused… 

Additional items to consider

I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and those involved in making it a reality. It’s helpful having a company sponsor this process to get you through. However, it is still possible to do this yourself. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!  

Also, I won’t touch on the nomadic lifestyle, there are plenty of other resources for that, and I’m by no means an expert. Maybe in the next few years I’ll get a dose of that. 

International tax implications + tax prep: 

US-UK Tax Treaty provides a way for taxpayers to avoid double taxation of paying taxes in both countries. This offers a Foreign Earned Income Exclusion and the Foreign Tax Credit. There is a cap on this amount, and there are nuances to how each of these can be used.

I used Google Gemini deep research to first give me an understanding of how this all works, and then I spoke with international tax advisors to ensure I wasn’t missing anything. AI research tools can be a great starting place to give you a foundation and help you ask the right questions when you do meet with an advisor. Depending on your situation, international tax can be very complex, both during and after your relocation, so definitely look for an expert.

Realistically, the company should be handling this pay equalization for you and help you avoid double taxation. It’s also common for the company to pay for international tax prep as it can get quite expensive. If you already have a CPA that does your US taxes, they probably don’t do international tax.
(not financial or tax advice, find yourself a professional but also do yourself a favor and be self-educated with some preliminary research).

Flights back for immediate family

We had this in Australia, and it was great to be able to go back to the US for any life events within our immediate family and for our immediate family to visit us (weddings, funerals, graduations, holidays, etc). If you have children that are out of the house and don’t relocate with you, ask your company to consider 2-3 round trip flights per year to be with you as part of your relocation package. 

Renew your passport

Is your passport about to expire in the next 1-3 years or while you will be overseas? If so, my two cents: it’s worth updating it right now. They’re valid for 10 years. I didn’t want to be stuck dealing with that while abroad. Plus, within 6 months of its expiration you may run into issues traveling. I submitted my renewal with all expedited options including overnight shipping to the facility and got it back 12 days later. They received it on a Monday and had it completed and started shipping it out by Friday of that week. Your mileage may vary. If you have some time and no international travel coming up, you can opt to save some money and do the normal non-expedited process. Get started here.

How long are you going to be overseas? 

This can impact several decisions. Do you sell or rent your house (if applicable), get rid of your car, your belongings…? 

We’ll get to intention next, but what is it that you actually want to do? Is it worth bringing extra stuff just for the sake of it? I’ve treated this as a great reset function for my life. The goal is 2 suitcases and a backpack at most. I’ve been able to donate and throw away lots of belongings that I realize aren’t worth keeping, especially while living abroad.

This impacts your to-do list by narrowing down your packing list. Everything else can go in storage. There are some very affordable storage options, and you may be able to include this in any relocation assistance you receive. If you’re there for 1-2 years, you probably don’t need to move your entire house of belongings. Over 2 years, and in an unfurnished place, it’s probably worth shipping everything overseas, especially if the company offers a relocation stipend. 

Banking

Depending how long you’ll be abroad, there’s a good chance you’ll need to have a local bank account for your company’s payroll. Talk to local co-workers and see what they recommend. NerdWallet may also be a good resource for banking as well as credit card implications prior to relocating.

Setting Intention

“Who am I kidding? I’m not going to be a serious triathlete over there!”

Why are you going? Why do you want to go? If you don’t want to go, nobody is forcing you (blink twice if they are). What do you want to do while you’re there? 

I think it’s incredibly valuable to set your intention for living abroad. For many people, this opportunity could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

I’ve been in Columbus for a decade and needed something new. Before I was offered this role, I had already been thinking about moving to London. I was loosely planning out my next 1-2 years, 3-4 years, and this fit into the 3-4 year bucket. Little did I know it would be less than 1 year later! This is a lesson in creating a vision for your life. I’ll save that topic for another post. 

I’m being extremely intentional with what I bring with me. It’s a big reset on material possessions and the scope of activities I can do. For example, I haven’t been playing guitar much lately, but even if I wanted to, there’s no way I’m going to bring it, so it’s off my list for now. Not the season for that. Alternatively, if I do want to try to make some music or scratch out some ideas, I have a small midi keyboard that fits in a backpack that will scratch that itch.

How to support my intentions

Efficiency and execution

Figure out systems to be highly efficient, especially considering I’ll be traveling frequently. I won’t always be able to easily access everything I need or spend extra time on preparation and projects. Done is better than perfect. I’ll have a much longer commute than I’m used to in the States. Can I leverage this time to practice a language or listen to audio books? 

I can't waste time second guessing decisions. So, being efficient both in my work as well as my life and decision-making process will go a long way.

Exploration, learning, and serendipity

It’s important to say "no" to the things that don’t fit within the plan, and I intend to say "yes" to the opportunities that come my way to have awesome life experiences.

Ensure you get the most out of the experience by making a bucket list for your new country. Time will pass by very quickly, and it's easy to get to the end of your time there with regrets of activities you missed.

I plan to take long weekends to travel to other countries in Europe. I anticipate traveling for work, so maximizing the time spent on those longer trips will be important as well. Reading and educating myself on countries prior to travel will improve my connection with and appreciation for each new country.

As you connect with family and friends before you move, you’ll be surprised at how many people start planning trips to come visit. You’re their conduit to a new experience. How cool is that!?

Documenting my experiences

Historically, I have not been great at publicly documenting and sharing my experiences. Fortunately, I have this forum for doing so! This is a great jumping off point. Stay tuned!

I know some people that the idea of moving abroad terrifies them. It’s somewhat normal for me, and I’m energized by it. I’m ready to go! Hopefully you fit into the same bucket, but if you’re a bit apprehensive, I hope this has helped get your head wrapped around the process. 

A couple parting thoughts:

1. Be resilient - a lot will be thrown your way, and there will be plenty of unknowns. Be resourceful and you will figure it out. When we first got to Australia, for 2-3 weeks before our shipping container arrived, my dad and I slept on reclining outdoor chaise lounge chairs in the living room, and then I upgraded to a small air mattress. Living in luxury, right?
2. Document your experience - even if this is a personal journal or Google Doc, you'll be grateful for this later in life and it'll add to your connection to the experience in the moment. Plus, you may be able to help others in a similar situation!
3. It will be worth it - To you and to my future self, it will be worth it. This can be the adventure of a lifetime!