Are you considering changing course to an overseas opportunity, but are overwhelmed by the magnitude of what needs to be done to pull it off? My wife and I were in the same boat! And we managed to pull it off!
In 2013, we (and our 1-year old daughter) left the security of full-time permanent jobs to take a consulting gig in Myanmar (Burma). It was a massive prospect, full of obstacles and challenges but we did it anyways as we knew there would also be so many opportunities to learn.
Three lessons that have stuck with me since our original move:
Make sure all of your paperwork is in order
Don't always believe what you hear about a country
Make an immediate and earnest attempt at learning the language
We are on our third country abroad , and we consider each of these 3 lessons very carefully before, during, and after arriving at our new home-away-from-home.
Lesson 1. Make sure all your paperwork is in order
Missing (or expiring) paperwork can derail things very quickly. You need to make sure your passport has ample time left before expiry, and ample pages left in it for the Visa stamps. An expiring passport or Visa may not allow you to easily enter (or to leave) a country. Additionally, make sure you carefully review all of the rules for your work visa. For example, some work visas require that you be out of country to apply. To renew our Myanmar work/residency visas, we needed to exit Myanmar and go to a Myanmar embassy - for us this was in Bangkok, Thailand.
Lesson 2. Don’t always believe what you hear about a country
It may sound crazy, but never once, in the 5 years that we lived in Myanmar, did we feel at all threatened. In fact, it was usually quite the opposite. For 5 years, our daughter was treated like a princess (an ideal she holds on to 'til this day). She was like a master-key that opened up interactions and dialog with everyone, including males of all ages. One thing I can guarantee, even today with all the shit that country has gone through, with a child, your daily interactions with Myanmar nationals will be loving and positive.
Lesson 3. Make an immediate and earnest attempt at learning the language.
Even just saying “Hello” (min ga la ba), “Thank You” (je zu ba) asking “how much?” (Be lau le?) completely changes the way in which people react - straight from uncertainty to camaraderie. The only country where I have not had a positive experience from this is France, where I was told my French was “merde”, which is entirely, and embarrassingly, true.
If you carefully consider these 3 lessons and prepare carefully throughout your initial move, there is less chance for severe turbulence, leading to a transformative experience that offers ample opportunity for personal growth and cultural exchange.