Living Abroad 101

First things first - no matter where you go, you will need to obtain permission to be there legally. It used to be that a student visa was the easiest way to live abroad legally but the pandemic may have made this less true. The most secure way is to have a job sponsor you since regardless of the type of visa you get, you will need to show an income. Having a job sponsor you will take care of that requirement for you and often, they'll take care of a lot of the paperwork so that all you need to do is show up. However, unless you have a special skill, finding a job overseas can be daunting. Language requirements will vary depending on the type of visa you have. In short, visas are a complicated issue but not a dealbreaker. Give yourself time because it can easily take  6 months or more to figure out. Also, nothing is guaranteed. Until you have some sort of resident visa in hand, it's not a done deal. Period.

The first and most important thing to point out here is that the experience between those two populations is not the same. If you're connected to the military and moving overseas with the help of the government, it is still stressful, but a lot of the things that civilians need to do simply do not apply. As a service member, your household goods will be moved for you, you will not [usually] have to go through the visa/residency process, you probably still have access to goods from your home country, plus, you may also have access to discounts and other fringe benefits that make life easier overall. As a civilian, you are likely doing everything on your own and unless you land a job with a multinational corporation, you may not have many - or any - fringe benefits. I wanted to include this because I have seen people try to make the comparison between the two. I've experienced both and it really is like comparing apples and oranges. 

Depending where you go, you may need to learn the language. For someone who has never lived overseas, the idea of learning a new language might sound like someone saying, "You're going to have to buy new clothes." But the truth of the matter is that in some cases, you don't need  to learn the host language. This is not the same as wanting to learn the host language. If you want to learn the language, the best way to do it is to only make friends who do not speak your native language. Surrounding yourself with people who speak your native language will greatly inhibit your learning. When I lived in France, I had someone tell me the easiest way to learn French was to date a French person. I found this to be true except I would like to add that the person should not speak your native language. This is not always possible, but if you are single and are up for a challenge, within a few months, your brain will figure out how to communicate. 

This might also sound like a no brainer, except for a lot of people, it's not. From my experience, the problem I've seen with being some place that is similar to your own, is that you begin to expect it to be "like home" and before you know it, you've forgotten that you're living in a foreign country. Holidays are usually when differences become most clear and that can bring up a lot of emotional issues like loneliness, depression, or anxiety. You might find that the climate is causing you to experience Seasonal Affective Disorder. Or, you may not have many close friends with whom you can spend the holidays so they might feel extra difficult or lonely. Normal business hours might be ones that you're not accustomed to and having to learn to work around them can be difficult. Whatever the situation, learning to remain or to become adaptable will be the key to enjoying your time abroad versus having the experience feel like a prison sentence you can't wait to complete.