Living abroad is a big decision.
I mean think about, it’s not something that you just think of doing one day. Sure people move across the country, or to the other side of town. But to a whole new country?
You’re going to have to be pretty brave to pull it off.
Leaving America
Before living in Thailand, I was living in St. Louis in a one bedroom apartment with a cat. I had been working at the same job for 4 years at a restaurant and felt like I was stuck in a routine that was going nowhere. So the first thing I had to do was quit my job. I lived in the same apartment for almost three years and accumulated a lot of stuff. Stuff that gets put in a closet and forgotten about. Stuff that you buy because it’s on sale and you ‘might’ use it later.
I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.
When I decided to leave America to go to the Czech Republic to earn my TEFL I went with the hopes of being able to work in Prague. I was able to book an interview before even leaving America. When I was given a job offer the reality of living abroad sunk in. Visa costs, Embassy visits, finding an apartment, and the language barrier were all scary things and prices added up quickly. Taking in consideration of the cost of living and start up costs to what I was to be paid, prices were too high for me in Prague. So I did more research and found a program in Thailand that started at the end of September which worked out nicely with my timeframe.
After arriving back in the States, I went through all my stuff and started posting everything I could online in the hopes that someone would buy it in the few weeks that I had before jetting off to Thailand. Most of my larger items sold on Facebook and some smaller items sold on an app called VarageSale. I made a couple hundred dollars from selling my furniture and the rest went into a U-Haul to Chicago where I attempted to have a garage sale.
It definitely wasn’t easy having to let go of all my things, but I just had to keep telling myself that I won’t be using this again.
The last item I had to sell was my car. Which I just happened to have paid off earlier that year. I ended up selling it back to the dealer that I bought it from after driving around to different places trying to get the best offer.
Moving Day
When the day came to move to Thailand, I had my one big suitcase with just clothes. This is the one thing that I regret doing. Because when you move to a new place you still need all the little things like kitchenware or decorations.
All the things that I just sold.
In reality it’s not reasonable to bring all things you need to make a place more homey. But it is inconvenient to have to buy cups, plates, forks, a cutting board, pots and pans, and so on.
The house that I live in in Thailand is unfurnished. I spent about 20,000 baht or more buying all the things that I would need to live in a house. This converts to about $700 which is about the same amount of money that I got selling all my things. So I broke even.
If I decide to move to another country, I won’t be able to take most of the things that I bought in Thailand with me. This means that I will have to spend more money replacing everything again. This cycle is the downfall of living abroad. If you buy anything electric you probably won’t be able to take it with you. Large items won’t fit in your suitcase and you can’t take too much because of the weight limit.
So before moving to another country and starting again, you have to think about the cost of replacing everything. Another thing to consider is when you will be paid from your job and if you need to leave the country to go to an Embassy outside of the country for a visa.
