Moving Overseas Is Not For The Faint-Hearted
When I wrote Italian Joy back in 2005, I was inundated with queries from people who felt they had similar back stories to me and would love to pick up their lives and move.
I loved receiving their emails and hearing their stories, and the instant connection we had.
But my advice at the time was NOT to follow in my footsteps without some very careful consideration.
Moving countries is at the top of the list, along with the breakdown of a relationship, death, and illness as the biggest decisions and stressful situations one can have in life.
My experience ended up the greatest thing that happened to me; it has shaped the last twenty-five years of my life, but that doesn’t automatically make it right for everyone.
There has been love, joy, creativity, success, adventure, wonder, and learning.
There has also been difficulty, bureaucracy, frustration, mistakes (loads), having my patience tested time and time again, and going out of my comfort zone on a daily basis.
Moving overseas or even to a new place in your own country means that you are creating space for something new, and along with that space, there is a lot to learn.
Often, learning a new language has the sensation of reducing to feeling like you have the skills of a 3-year-old.
New ways of doing things, whether it is finishing everything you need to do to beat the siesta closing hour of 2 pm. Finding new friends and a community that you click with, and the basics of everyday life, such as somewhere to live, getting a new phone, or having the electricity connected, sometimes feels like you are lost in a game of Snakes and Ladders.
But the greatest shift is who you become in the meantime.
You have to be willing to be uncomfortable, and I mean really uncomfortable, to be OK or learn how to feel awkward whilst sitting at a table of people speaking in a foreign language you can’t understand for hours!
Sit with having space in your life and to find your own new rhythm and get comfortable with not always knowing the next step, but have the resilience and resources to figure it out.
When I first moved to Italy, I was mesmerised by it all: the handsome men and beautiful women, the buildings, the architecture, the language, the food, and how it made me feel amongst it all.
I never expected or considered that it would be the greatest ‘growth’ experience of my life.
That it would teach me to put on my ‘big girl panties’ and stand up for myself when it counted, that learning not one but 3 languages (eventually as I moved to France then Greece) would change something inside me and make me feel ever so proud of this unexpected gift in my 30’s, 40’s, and 60’s. That it would teach me patience, something I never had, and resilience when I thought this experience may be taken away from me.
Moving overseas is not for the faint-hearted, and it's not for everyone, but it can be the greatest adventure of your life and unpack a whole new you you can’t even imagine exists.
In light and love,
Carla
P.S. If this is a subject you are interested in, I will be teaching a small live workshop on this subject. You can learn more about my live workshop, From Dream to Decision, here.