Is becoming an expat right for you?
Making the decision to move your family to another country is very difficult. When you think about everyone who will be affected by your decision, it weighs very heavily on you, especially when you have kids. Our girls were 7, 9, and 11 at the time when we decided we were actually going to move from the U.S. to Italy.
For us it was for my husband’s job. So when my husband and I started to think if this was a good decision, we started to make a list of pros and cons.
Conosco i miei polli. (I know my chickens)
This term is an expression used in Italian to mean know your chickens, or in our case, know your family. We knew we had to have all of our interests in mind so that this could work. When considering if this is the right move for you, you need to consider everyone who is involved. Were our girls going to be ok in their new home, their new school? Were they going to be ok making new friends? How about their actual studies? How different was the international school setting?
Think of the pros
- learning a new language
- immersing yourself in a new culture
- traveling through Europe
- meeting new friends
- enjoying a slower way of life
- professional benefits
- learning about different cuisine
- more family time
Think of the cons
- being far from family
- a big time difference
- missing your friends
- for the kids: new school, new friends
- not being able to communicate right away
- missing important events like family birthdays, graduations, baptisms
When you gather all of your pros and cons, trust your gut, and don’t be scared. If the move ends up being something negative, you can always go back home. One thing I realised is that you can have two homes. Home is where you feel good. Where you feel welcomed. And don’t forget to stop yourself from comparing everything to the way things are back home. If you do that, you’ll find something wrong with everything. Have an open mind and remind yourself that this is a new experience and it may take some time to adjust to your new way of life.
