What is it really like to move abroad? 6 tips for moving abroad and experiences!

Have this word "Ulkosuomalainen" in Finnish, which basically means a Finn living outside of Finland. I think "Ulkosuomalainen" is a funny term, because your homeland still defines you, no matter where in the world you are and what you do.

In general, Finland is quite patriotic, which is understandable from Finland's history, and how Finland has been Finland for a relatively short time (compare, for example, the Netherlands, which has been the Netherlands for over 400 years.)

Anyways, in this article I thought I would share my experiences living abroad, especially the challenges of moving abroad and the beginning.

This started with an Erasmus exchange from Ireland, after which I lived in Spain for a while and then in Malta for a good couple of years.

Now I have returned to live in Spain again. So, so far, the experiences of living abroad you will find on this blog are only from within the borders of Europe (hopefully more widely in the future 😉).

Also, read my 6 tips at the end of the article if this is your first time moving abroad!

So, I threw a two-days farewell party, packed all kinds of random clothes from the bottom of the closet in a bag and headed for Helsinki-Vantaa.

For me, every move, and the beginning abroad has always been quite turbulent, before I could settle in. 😀

I'll tell you about these beginnings of life abroad first, before telling my tips I learned from all of it.

The first move abroad is the most exciting of all, at least if you do it alone.

I went on an exchange to Ireland when I was 18 years old in January 2013.

At that time, I didn't really stress about anything (which makes me laugh now that I'm such a worrier, and I miss how I lived so carefree).

So I had a two-day farewell party, packed all the random clothes from the bottom of the closet in a bag and headed for Helsinki-Vantaa. (NOTE: the hangover packing & "hey this is nice, why haven't I used this in forever - I'll take this!" strategy is not the best for packing).

From Helsinki-Vantaa, via Heathrow to Cork, Southern Ireland.

I arrived at my shared dormitory in Ireland at about 3am, and at that time I didn't know in advance that, oh well, getting the keys to the dormitory from the office might not be the easiest at that time.

Eventually, however, a security guard found my name on the papers and let me sleep, and it was said that we would meet again at the office in the morning.

It should be mentioned that at that age my English wasn't that strong, so the strong Irish accent was a nice challenge to try to understand at 3am.

In retrospect, I facepalmed a bit for my own first move abroad, which seemed like I really hadn't prepared for it at all, even though I thought I had.

I got to my room, where there were no sheets, and I certainly hadn't realized to bring any with me.

I was also very hungry, and first I had to Google whether I could drink tap water.

I slept until morning, and tried to go find something to eat (there were only 5 candies left from my travel snacks).

I put on some nice clothes, stepped out the door into the yard, walked 20 meters and was soaking wet because it was pouring rain outside. So I gave up on the idea of ​​looking good, turned back to my room and put on a windbreaker set.

I asked the first person I met which way I should take the bus to get to the city center. I finally got on the bus, and pressed the Stop button when I saw Subway – finally coffee and bread, hallelujah!

After that, the goal for the day was to find rubber boots and an adapter – I hadn’t thought of that in advance.

So I recommend figuring out some very simple practical things in advance, so the landing in your new life will be smoother.

On the other hand, things always become clearer – sooner or later, so it's not worth immediately giving up and buying a return ticket to the land of a thousand lakes because of the initial difficulties.

The second time I moved abroad was to Spain in January 2016. I had just graduated as a Bachelor of Hospitality Management & had also studied Dance and Performing arts for a year.

I found a job at a four-star hotel, as an activities organizer and dancer – a dream come true!

The second move was much easier for two reasons:

1. I was traveling to a country I had been to several times before.

And well, the atmosphere was made much less international by the fact that my one-way ticket was a tourist flight to the Canaries.

There, accompanied by the sounds of Nokia phones starting up and “can I get up from my seat yet?” chants, we landed in Las Palmas.

2. The second time you are an expert in the sense that you already know that problems will come, but you will overcome them.

The second time you will feel more relaxed in every way, simply because you have some idea of ​​the fact that anything can happen – but everything will still turn out just fine in the end.

I had a shared apartment in Spain through my job, but to get there, I had to first pick up the key from my workplace, the hotel.

Too bad my team had just left home, so the hunt for the key was a bit tricky. We finally found the key, and once again, my language skills – this time in Spanish – were put to an instant test.

It took the taxi driver a very long time to find the address – he was already wondering if this apartment was a joke. Luckily, I finally found my room, and the others were already asleep.

My next move was to Malta in May 2017.

My infamous moving turbulence started less than a kilometer from my home in Rovaniemi – the wheel of my suitcase broke so that it couldn’t be dragged a meter further in the snow slush – at least not in time for me to catch the train to Helsinki.

With a student mindset, I thought that before calling a taxi, I could at least try to hitchhike. To my surprise, the first car that stopped was a girl about my age – and she dropped me off at the station for free! So it’s always worth remembering that everything will work out!

Without further ado, getting to Malta was made easier by the fact that through my future job I had a lovely apartment ready for the first two weeks, as well as a driver waiting at the airport with a nameplate.

The woman picking me up from the airport was definitely not the friendliest, and the surprise, to me, driving in the left lane was a fun nighttime experience.

I got to my apartment door, but I couldn’t unlock the door.

So after trying for a while, nothing helped except humbly ringing the neighbor's doorbell, where I heard the neighbours were still awake. A couple of friendly Swedish guys helped me get inside to sleep.

Moving abroad is full of these kinds of humbling experiences, when you don't even know how to open a door. xD

Unfortunately, at first I suffered from a bad, 3-day migraine, and Malta was very different from what I had imagined.

I was expecting something similar to the Canary Islands, but at first glance, the place reminded me more of Egypt, or some other lively, not-so-European place.

Now that I am translating these old memories of moving aborad here, I am currently living in Alicante, Spain.

The long story of ending up here for this trip, first living in Valencia and then in Alicante can be found from these articles:

Why Spain as an Expat? My answer to "How did you end up living in Spain?"

Moving to Alicante - The long personal story of buying an apartment in Costa Blanca, Spain

Next up, I tell you my tips based on these experiences.

When moving abroad, you don't have the choice to act cool, or delete two definitely wrong answers from the options given.

It's hard to say anything general under this heading, because surprise-surprise, the experience depends so much on which country you move to!

The whole word "abroad" is a bit strange to me, because it lumps all the countries together in the form: Home country and all the rest of the world.

However, there are always some things that are the same when living abroad, at least based on my own experience. So here's mine:

1. First time as an expat - you learn the most about your own culture and yourself

The first time you become most aware of the customs, traditions, "things" and essence of your own culture.

I would argue that the first time you move abroad, you learn much more about your own culture than about the country you are in.

2. You have to practice humility (and maybe even embarrassment)

When abroad, you have no choice to act cool, or to eliminate two definitely wrong answers from the four options.

If you don't know some basic everyday things, as in my case these were: how to open the curtains, how to flush the toilet or where to buy food.

These questions need answers quickly, and the only way to do that is to ask.

At first, stuttering in a foreign language can be unnerving, but what can you do?

However, people are people everywhere, and in fact, we are not universally that different, so you can ask anything. You may have to learn to laugh at yourself and your helplessness if you don't know how yet.

3. Adapt to the country - or go back to your country

As mentioned in the first paragraph, you will finally become aware of all the wonderful Finnish things (or your homecountry things) that you didn't know how to appreciate. At zero degrees Celcius, suddenly having indoor heating would be quite nice.

Or, it would be nice if the Internet installer that was scheduled to arrive at 1:00 PM - would show up at least on the same day, or even during the same week.

It would also be nice if there was a drying cabinet for dishes and drinkable water from the tap.

At first, all these small details can be consuming, such as constant communication in a foreign language, forced small talk and sorting out bank matters and other foreign bureaucracy.

Don't give up, though - you get used to everything, as long as you give yourself the opportunity to get used to new things.

In just a few weeks, a drastic change has occurred, and everyday life is slowly starting to go smoothly.

4. Do things you would do in your home country

Since you are not on vacation, but starting your life abroad, it is important that you start finding things you want to fill your everyday life with.

For example, I want to get a gym membership as soon as possible, and find my favorite grocery store nearby, so that some basic everyday routines can start to settle right from the start.

Of course, you can and should also do sightseeing and get to know a new place and have fun, but also think about what you prioritize in your everyday life.

It is easy to accidentally start a “holiday life”, at least in these tourist destinations where I have lived, because alcohol is cheap, there is a happy hour every Friday or even free Friday beers from the company.

5. Focus on the best things

In the beginning, it is easy to focus on the difficulties – butit's also easy to focs on the good things.

Everyone has their own reasons for moving abroad, and finally they get to enjoy them!

I have to admit that for me, the weather is a big motivator. Sunlight really affects my mood, and the irregular length of the Finnish day caused me a lot of insomnia both in winter and summer.

I also love that eating out is much more common when living abroad, and it's nice that you have the money to do it more often than in Finland.

6. Meet new people – and not only people from your country

Of course, this is easiest if you have a job or study place waiting for you abroad, through which you can meet people. However, even without this, there are many ways to meet people, such as local Facebook groups, Meetup, and various hobbies and language exchanges.

It's worth taking advantage of these and finding new acquaintances and friends to share life with. When moving abroad, it's easy to get to know others who are also expats.

(More tips on making friends abroad here)

I don't think this is wrong per se, but rather natural, as locals usually already have their own lives and friends and aren't looking for new social circles.

Of course, this isn't always the case, so I recommend at least trying to get to know the locals.

However, it adds so much to your understanding of the country and culture – and if nothing else, you'll really get the best local tips on what to see and experience!