How to Know When it’s Time to PACK UP YOUR LIFE AND MOVE
PC: Pinterest
Ohh what a tempting question, I know. I feel like more and more people, particularly in America, are tempted with the idea to leave — Europecore didn’t become this summer’s biggest trend without a reason. A softer lifestyle, rejecting hustle culture, and the promise of a better healthcare system (or any system, really) is whispering your name, luring you away from the stagnant life you’re currently leading and replacing it with something else, something more exhilarating. Maybe your summer vacation in Italy was so inspiring that you’re truly contemplating packing up your life and booking it.
I know that feeling, because I’ve done it over and over again. Whenever I was sick of life, I quite literally ran away. At 15 I moved to Austria, at 20 I moved to London, at 22 I traveled the world for a year, at 23 I lived in Paris for two months, at 24 I moved to Bali, then Tokyo, at 26 I stayed in Lisbon for a month and at 27, I was back in Paris. And these are places I stayed for at least a month to a year, and don’t include all my little travels in between. Believe me when I say… I GET IT.
Being a professional runaway-er, I also learned when it makes sense to pack all my things and go, vs. when I’m just being a wuss about being home. You probably could have guessed it, but vacationing somewhere vs. living there for an extended period of time is not quite the same. You begin to miss your friends, your family, and everything that’s familiar to you. Life becomes quiet, almost awfully so, even if you’re an introvert. Still, there have been times when leaving the country truly did solve all my problems, breathing life back into my soulless body. At times, changing my surroundings felt like my last resort, and it paid off beautifully. So if you feel like you’ve been stuck and need a change of scenery, I’m here to help you decide if you really should pack up your life and escape.
It’s time to move if you’ve been…
… coming to a close on a certain chapter in your life. Maybe you outgrew your job and you see no future there anymore, or you’re finally getting over that breakup. Maybe you’ve just been doing the same thing over and over again for years, writing a chapter that’s 45 pages long when it should have been done after 12. These are perfect scenarios that call for a dramatic change in life. Go ahead, move to Denmark or start your business and work remotely out of Mexico. Maybe you’ve just lost any and all will in life, and that’s okay. That happens. If you feel like you’re in a pit and you can’t get out, a single vacation won’t fix that. You need to really leave and live a different life. Other perfectly okay scenarios to move are during big changes in your life. Did you just get married? Are you going to have kids? Did your favorite person leave town? Did you get fired? Permission to pack it up and head to the airport, my friend.
I would reconsider it if…
Let me start this by saying it is actually always okay to leave (haha). I think it’s a wonderful idea to experience different lifestyles and everyone should do it. That being said, I know not all people are the same, and some might really struggle with the changes if they’re not fully prepared for what’s to come. So, I advise you to take some time to think over it if the only reason you want to move somewhere is because you just had a great vacation there. I advise you to think about it again if overall, you have a great situation at home — good friends, good work, good home, and are merely just a little burnt out. I advise against it if you’re not comfortable being alone, because you will do a lot of that when you move. Ask yourself if you merely want to have fun in a new town, or are willing to learn the language, get a job, and integrate with the locals. Are you ready to alter the nature of your relationships with everyone at home? Are you prepared for them to drift apart? These are all great learning experiences, and I honestly highly encourage it. But scan yourself and ask if you have all the tools to deal with moving to a new country.
