While I admire the courage of anyone who declares, “That’s it, I’m outta here!” and finds themselves in another country a week later, the majority of individuals are likely to prefer a bit more strategizing and organizing than that. If you aim to travel for an extended period, work as a digital nomad, or establish permanent residency abroad, you probably can’t simply seize your passport and depart. There are certain aspects you must address beforehand to ensure you don’t leave behind a mess of tasks, financial troubles, and anxiety in your previous country.
You could acquire a lengthy 49-point checklist for relocating overseas, complete with checkboxes, but it doesn’t have to be that intricate. This article will focus on the essential elements, the categories into which most other tasks fit.
I’ve perused numerous extensive checklists, and they often make my head spin. They invariably include many items you can disregard. For instance, “Hire a moving company”–naturally, from a moving company’s website. Or “Cancel all your magazine and newspaper subscriptions.” Seriously? Who under 60 still receives those? Such lists overwhelm me, and I’ve already relocated!
<pHowever, some individuals perceive the notion of relocating abroad as an unattainable aspiration, largely because they feel excessively anchored in their current location. They possess so many belongings, commitments, and unpaid bills that the idea of freedom seems unimaginable. If this describes your situation, it will likely take you a considerable amount of time—perhaps even years—to dismantle the confinement of your own construction.
If you’re in your 20s and own little, or have no children, it’s significantly simpler. You might be able to secure a storage unit, pack everything in after filling up a backpack, and you’re set to go. Or you could perhaps just leave everything in your parents’ basement.
I’ve encountered stories of individuals selling their homes, cars, and the majority of their belongings within three months and heading off. Yet, that’s a colossal undertaking. You are probably somewhere in between and are merely contemplating the steps you need to take in due course, where to begin and what follows. This is especially true if you’re still employed full-time while making arrangements.
Think about the checklist you would create for moving to another state or province within your own nation, then expand it. If you’re a couple and one of you is more organized than the other, appoint that person as the checklist creator for relocating abroad and the one responsible for gathering documents. Otherwise, you might never actually board that plane.
Here are the main categories of actions you’ll need to undertake to prepare before moving to another country or embarking on a long period of travel as a digital nomad.
Mail, Taxes, and a Permanent Address
Indeed, we can accomplish most necessary tasks online, such as settling credit card payments, retrieving statements, and even remitting quarterly taxes if you’re a self-employed American. The post office might only deliver you junk mail. However, you will almost certainly still need to maintain a permanent address in your homeland, both to have a location for stray mail to reach and to keep accounts with your financial institutions.
If you possess credit cards, you’ll require an address for replacement cards to be sent to. Some companies still dispatch tax documents by mail. You might even receive a notification regarding a driver’s license renewal or a jury duty summons.
You can acquire a mailing address that forwards to you overseas, but a more practical method is to use a relative’s address so they can inform you when something important or suspicious arrives. Alternatively, if you retain a house and are renting it out, you could utilize that address and have someone manage the mail for you.
There are also services that will accept your mail on your behalf, and some will scan it so you can view what you received online. You can then instruct them to dispose of or forward the physical items.