Home > Survival Kit > Survival Kit for living abroad and feel happy

Living abroad can be a tough and challenging experience, especially the first time. During the years Expatclic has collected a number of key articles to help you facing a relocation in the best possible way. We are glad to create a simple “survival kit” to help you in the areas you feel you need more support and advice. You can also contact us if you wish to talk to anyone of us about a specific problem or country.

Happy relocations!

The Expatclic Team

General

Let’s start with a very comprehensive article about some of the main points to consider before taking the decision of living abroad: you find them all in Relocating internationally.

Once you have actually decided to go, read this article that gives you interesting tips on how to make a move less complicated: Moving is hard but there are some ways to make it better. If you want to get familiar with culture shock, go here, or here to get some practical tools to face it.

Expat Blogs

We have a list of expat blogs, which we update regularly. Have a look at it, maybe you’ll find an expat living in your destination country, willing to inform you. Or you could try a women’s welcome association, here is an exhaustive list.

Specific destinations

If you are searching for practical info on a specific destination, try our “How do you live in?” section, we update it regularly with reports from expats living abroad all over the world.

Last but not least, should you relocate to an African country and be anxious about insects and unknown diseases, read this small guide against insects.

The accompanying partner

In Grumbles from a trailing spouse Kirsten talks about the feelings of the accompanying partner; read this beautiful interview with Jean, this article by Julian (former Julianexpat – yes, we had a man on the team for a while!!!) The lot of the Kept Expatman in Peru, and this reflection of Jostein, all of them accompanying expat men.

If you are an accompanying partner and want to keep your professional identity alive and kicking, here is a reflection of the ups and downs of a portable career.

Focussing on you, now: if you are an expat spouse who is struggling to find a meaning in being abroad, here is the suggestion of a great activity you can join!

Loneliness

Should you feel lonely and lost at the beginning of your life in the new country, please know you are not alone. Here is an article with some heartwarming reflections from other expats. Here and here you can find some tips on how to deal with ageing parents from abroad.

Relocating with children

Now how about the other members of the family? If you relocate with children, you might want to read Traveling by plane with small children, just to get ready, and Arriving in a new country with children. If you are worried about bilingualism, here is an interesting article on a great book on the topic.

Talking about children, don’t forget that Expatclic also takes care of relocations with children with special needs. Here is a selection of articles and testimonials about such a special experiences, where you can also find some miscellaneous books and online support

Schooling abroad

Relocating with children also means sending them to new schools and schooling systems. If you are anxious about it, this article God! Where does my baby go?, will help you face things from another perspective. We’d also like to introduce you to My Online Schooling, a recent project that has solved many expat students’s problems, and here is a wonderful online math tutor that know all about how maths are taught in the IB system. Here are some useful tips from April Remfrey, North American special needs consultant, about making the school move of your children smoother. Juliet Ryder is a British expat, and in this article she introduces you to her International School Advisor platform, an invaluable tool to choose your child’s next school abroad.

Relocating with pets

But let’s not forget about other important members of our family, our beloved pets! Go here for general tips about moving your pet from one place to another, and here to find out how living conditions are for it in the next country.

Since you are here...

...may we ask you to buy us a caffe ? We are joking of course, but there is something we would like to tell you. You might have noticed that Expatclic has no ads or paywall. For 19 years we have been working voluntarily to provide quality contents and support to expat women all over the world. However, keeping such a big website going has some costs, which we partially cover with team member’s fees and donations of those who appreciate us and wants our work to continue. If you could give even a tiny contribution to cover the rest, we would be immensely grateful ♥ You can support us with a small donation, even a small one. Thank you so very much.
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