Balancing the Logistics and Emotions of Moving Abroad

I’m an expat coach, and I have a client who wants to move to Italy. Right now, she’s mired in the logistics and planning.

What type of visa do I need?

Can I run my business there?

Where will we live?

I know from my own experience that this is completely normal, but I also know from my experience that dealing with the nitty-gritty details isn’t the most important part of preparing for a move abroad.

It’s the emotional part that’s more challenging.

When You Untether Your Life by Moving Abroad

I’ve used that word a lot, “untether,” and it’s an accurate one. We tend to get so excited about a new life in a new place that we overlook the fact that we are disconnecting from the familiar.

Even things we take for granted, like drive-through fast food, car washes, or even the DMV…these are all things that we have been raised to understand how they function, but once you move to another place, either these things don’t exist, or they function slightly different from the familiar.

Starting over in building a friend circle is another thing people don’t consider. Some of us have had friends for decades, if not longer, and we don’t…