Continental Shift

Introduction August 18, 2009

This is not a book about how to immigrate to, or from, Australia, the US, the UK, or any other country. Nor is it a book about how to live or work overseas.

Rather, it is a practical guide for how to organise a move to the other side of the world, for yourself, your family, and your stuff, no matter where you’re going.

Every year, thousands of people make permanent or temporary moves away from their home country for work or lifestyle. But just moving across a city can be stressful—psychologists generally recognise ‘moving house’ as being a major life stressor.

For example, one study found that people’s rating of the intensity of stress experienced from moving house was 82%, behind divorce or marital conflict, being robbed, illness, and financial difficulties, but ahead of changing jobs, receiving counselling, or having a new baby. Other sources claim moving house as one of the four top stressful life events (along with a death in the family, divorce, or losing a job).

Imagine, then, the stress associated with having to pack up and move to another country, which can also involve initial financial strain and decisions which feel irrevocable (they aren’t, by the way). It can be overwhelming.

This book will help you organise such a move, whether it’s for good, a few years, or a few months. It gives advice on what kinds of things you should be thinking about and getting done at each stage of the move, from the very first decision to go, to settling in at the other end. It is not specific to any one country or nationality (though many of the examples are Australian), but does provide help on where to go to get the specific information relevant to your particular situation.

The book is divided into sections on moving yourself, moving your family, and moving your stuff. Obviously, some sections will be more relevant to you than others—for example, if you are being transferred by your company, you have little choice on where and when to go, whereas if you are just leaving your parents’ home for overseas work, you don’t have a lot of stuff to move. Feel free to cherry-pick the parts of the book that are useful to you rather than read it from cover to cover.

I have tried to include examples from my own expat experience whenever I could, and other examples I have heard of from other expats.

Sometimes these are given as specific case studies at the end of the chapter, while other times, the examples are interlaced within the text of the chapter. While your own experience will be unique, it can be useful to know that others have gone through similar experiences.

Remember also that it’s a huge move to shift countries. Be sure you—and your family—understand the challenges involved, but also try to relax and enjoy the process.

Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t think of everything. Friends and families back in your original country can bring extra items when they visit, or you can organise things in the new country (with some extra difficulty and expense)—just because you forgot to do it at home doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be done at all.

Now, let’s get started on how to organise the biggest move of your life…

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