Moving to another country can be an enriching experience full of new opportunities, but it’s a good idea to take a “trial run” trip to your new destination country before committing to a full move. Essentially, this means taking a short vacation or business trip to the new country so you can get a feel for how it works and how it fits your lifestyle.
Once the trial run is completed, you’ll have a much better idea of whether this is the right country for you and you’ll have a better time integrating if you choose to move forward.
Why Plan a Trial Run?
These are some of the best reasons to plan a trial run before moving abroad:
· Mitigate risk. No matter how confident you are that you love this new country, you’re going to face some risk when planning a move. If you have trouble overcoming the language barrier, if you don’t like the new culture, or if you have trouble integrating for other reasons, you might end up being miserable and unable to move easily in this new location. A trial run minimizes this risk.
· Get to know the culture. This is your opportunity to get to know the culture. Even if you’ve read a lot about this culture, experiencing it is often enlightening. How do people act around each other? And how do you blend into this place?
· Learn to get around. This is also a chance for you to learn how to get around by yourself. What forms of public transportation are available? What are the easiest ways to reach your destinations?
· Immerse yourself in the language. If this country speaks a language different than yours, this is also a good time to practice your new language skills. You can immerse yourself in the language, get some practice, and find out your weaknesses before you plan a full move.
· Have time to reflect and improve. After taking a trial run, you’ll have some time to reflect on your experience before you make a final decision. You can figure out how you feel about the language, the culture, the travel, and the dozens of other variables you experienced on your trip – then make a more informed decision.
Making the Most of Your Experience
These are some of the best strategies for making the most of your trial run experience:
· Protect yourself. It’s a good idea to treat this trip like any other and find ways to protect yourself. If you plan on driving, get temporary car insurance. If you have existing health insurance, make sure you have coverage in your new country temporarily. Only travel with a relatively small amount of cash, and have backup plans for how you can get home if you run into trouble in your destination country. Additionally, learn about staying safe in your new country and avoid dangerous areas.
· Plan at least a week. If you want to truly absorb a new culture, you should plan to stay in the new country for at least a week. After just a few days, you’ll have some experience practicing your vocabulary and getting used to the culture, but you won’t have truly immersed yourself. Of course, a week isn’t long enough to truly know a country inside and out, but it should at least give you a foundation to consider.
· Do mundane things. As a vacationer in an exciting new country, you’re probably going to be tempted to visit a few tourist attractions. There’s nothing wrong with this, but you should spend the majority of your time doing more mundane things. After all, when actually living in this country, you’ll be spending more time shopping for groceries than visiting museums.
· Go out and socialize. Make sure to go out of your way to socialize with other people, assuming that’s appropriate for the culture you’re visiting. Not only is this a good way to hone your language skills, but it’s also a way to get to know some people in the area. If you’re lucky, you can make a handful of friends before your move and have a warm welcome when you finally get settled.
· Use public transportation. Countries like Spain, Austria, and the UK have some of the best public transportation systems in the world – so you might as well get used to using them. Spend some time using the public transportation system so you can use it effortlessly when you finalize your move.
· Explore on foot. It’s also a good idea to explore the area on foot, or on bike. While driving or using public transportation, you don’t have a chance to take in the sites. This is a much better way to get to know the place.
Not everyone will get the opportunity to take a trial run before moving abroad. But if you can afford this short vacation, you’ll get to know your destination country much better, and you’ll be in a better position to make the right decision for your future.
