Exit the US?

What disheartened US Citizens should consider beforehand.

Following Wednesday’s destruction, social media feeds on expat groups are blowing up with questions about how and when to exit the US. 

Here’s what to do as you contemplate jumping the pond.

Clarify and Align with Your Values.

Articulate your values prior to selecting a host country to ensure that you’re considering not only recreational activities of a place but also the cultural and political environments that will impact your lifestyle abroad. These may include issues such as financial independence for women or legalized homosexuality. If your push to leave the US is an undesirable political field that’s got you feeling out of whack, then identify how your values pull towards other countries and ensure that they’ll provide you with alignment.

Account for your personal situation and loved ones.

Importantly, consider in earnest how a move will affect each individual who would be involved. This includes those who may go with you, such as your partner and children, as well as those you may leave behind, such as aging parents. How will leaving the US affect each person’s care and well-being? How might a move align with your partner’s values and life journey? Next, weigh remote or overseas employment options with your skills to determine what you’ll do for work, and review your long term goals and finances.

Ditch the Filter.

While Instagram may scream otherwise, expat life isn’t all sunshine and margaritas. This is no deterrence to pursuing and fulfilling the overseas dream, but do consider the following points to ensure you’re not running from one hard reality to another:

1. Moving overseas impacts your ability to be present with family and friends in joy and times of need. 

Consider growing families, aging parents and illnesses, and come to terms with the fact that you may well not be present to witness deaths, marriages, and births.

2. Your access and involvement to US politics will indeed change.

You have greater choice of when to engage in political news and surrounding conversations while living abroad. It’s much easier to step back from events when you’re in a country where not everyone is talking about, or fully understands, what is going on at home.

However, this is a two-sided coin. While you can still vote overseas and write letters to representatives, your overall political involvement is limited. You will have fewer opportunities to physically meet for discussions, campaigns, protests, or other gatherings to stand for your beliefs. Perhaps less political involvement is what you’re searching for in a move; just be sure not to unwittingly defer a desired level of involvement while running to escape your current climate.

Get Real About Logistics.

After deciding comes planning and implementation. For an excellent run-through on the logistics process, read Jessica Drucker’s How to Move Abroad And Why it’s the Best Thing You’ll Do. Determine a budget and consider hidden costs, gather necessary documents to secure a visa, organize housing and shipments, select schools and a place to live, and begin booking flights.

The decision-making and moving process will take several months, so make it manageable by taking one step at a time. With clarity, purpose, and direction, your life overseas will bring fulfillment beyond measure.

Christine Hodges is an international expat coach and educator who is originally from Montana, USA. She has lived in South America for the past seven years. As an expat coach, Christine helps first-time expats transition successfully abroad as they make their homes and build communities in new cultures around the globe, and supports current expats as they navigate life overseas. As a teacher, Christine has worked with third-culture kids (TCKs) and expat families from over 60 different nationalities, many of whom have arrived to South America as both English and Spanish-language learners.