4 Tips to Start Planning an International Relocation

Since we’ve made the decision to move to Morocco, and made it public, one of the most frequent things I’ve heard is, “that’s so great, I really wish WE could do that.”  Not everyone is jumping to go to Morocco but a lot of people are jumping to live somewhere else, whether that’s their spouse’s native country or simply another destination.

 
I have to tell you something;
 

There’s nothing special about us.

 
Honestly, we don’t have buckets of money sitting around (I sure wish we did!).  We’re not anymore adventurous than you, we don’t have a magic ball that’s letting us know everything will be alright.  We hope it will, but it might not.  What we do know is that it was now or never.  We reached a fork in the road.  One fork led us to stay in the US and walk down that path.  The other led us back to Morocco.  We sat at that intersection for a long time.  A. LONG. TIME.  We went back and forth for years really.  But then we knew if we didn’t do it now, if it wasn’t this year, it wasn’t going to happen until our kids were grown.

Do you know how hard it is to find a Moroccan school to accept a pre-teen that doesn’t speak the languages that are taught? Darn near impossible.  Not to mention the older our kids get, the more difficult learning other languages becomes.  So we knew it had to be now before it was too late.  Our goal has always been to have our children speak Arabic and hopefully French and have a relationship with MarocBaba’s family. That’s why we’re moving, I wanted to do more with this post than just explain how we got to our decision.  I want to share some practical advice to make it happen.

1. Decide.  This was the biggest obstacle and also the greatest thing that happened.  Once we firmly decided we were going to move, things started to fall into place.  I know how serendipidous that sounds but it’s true. We were able to move forward and make plans, and things just started to happen.  Before our final decision there were giant obstacles that faced us at every turn, it was one thing after another and that caused us a lot of turmoil. Truly just making a decision and setting a time frame is a crucially important first step.

2. Debt Reduction.  Chances are you’ve got debt, we do too.  While we’d love to have none, I have a degree I’m still paying off.  We however, do not have any credit card debt, no mortgage, and we will be selling our vehicles.  If you want to move abroad at some point, I highly recommend starting now to eliminate any and all debt you have.

3. Research. This is really important.  You do need to do some research as you make plans.  Determine how much you need to have for your monthly budget in the new country.  Also decide if your skills are transferable to the local workforce, or if you would be able to work remotely.  This is a real option. Or, will you be living off of savings?  Many families make this decision though it’s really not viable as a long-term solution.

4. Security Fund.  Start building your security fund today.  We have a figure that we will take with us that is outside of our monthly budget.  This is the money we plan to use to do some traveling, help to buy a car when we’re there, and serve as a back up fund should we need it. This is something you can build right now.

Lastly, a lot of people have said they dream about this lifestyle but xyz won’t allow them to do it.  If this is truly what you want, then you have to make it a priority and just do it.  One of the biggest motivators for me was that I don’t want to look back and wonder what if.  Or to regret that when we had the chance we let it pass us by. Implementing these steps won’t set you back – if anything they’ll put you financially in a better place – and if you decide not to go that’s ok too!

If you’re considering moving abroad I hope these tips will kickstart you to start planning your move!

P.S. Don’t forget to join me tonight for a free webinar to learn more about Ramadan! Click over here, to sign up and join me at 9pm EST.

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