Settling in is a time when moments are lived intensely and new impressions burn themselves into your memory. It is also a stressful, bewildering time of great change when you may find yourself tested to your limits. Major life changes—even positive ones—always involve stress.
Think of some of the stressful times in an average person’s life: moving to a new community, changing jobs, separating from loved ones. Moving out is the equivalent of facing several of these changes at once and lacking the support systems you relied on at home?
1: Manage your first few days carefully:
The First Few Days: Rest and Recuperate Even if you haven’t stayed up late for nights on end packing and cleaning, you may be exhausted from the trip itself and suffering from jet lag. Your first priority upon arrival should be to rest, recuperate, and stay healthy. A continued state of exhaustion will make you more prone to illness, less effective at work, and more irritable about having to face the constant new challenges of daily life. Worst of all, illness and exhaustion can sap your morale, souring your attitude toward this adventure you have embarked upon.
2: Enjoy the new areas:
This is known as the vacation period where you enjoy your time in the new places. The “Vacation” Period. After catching up on your rest during the first few days, you may experience a few weeks of excitement and energy. Like a tourist taking an adventure vacation abroad, you may focus on the positive things in your new environment and think, “This isn’t so bad; I can handle this.” Now is a great time to get moving, explore your new environment, build up your competence, and make new friends. The more plugged in you can get during this period, the better you will weather the slump that probably lies ahead.
3: Understand that the process of moving into a new home is beneficial:
Despite the fact that you may have parted properly from your last house and paid your respects to the home you left behind, relocating is still a wrench. This is because the division between you and your home can become almost indistinguishable. In the first stages you mold your home; after that your home molds you. You become as one, inseparable. It’s therefore quite natural that no matter how sensible the reasoning behind this move, nor how much you can justify relocating into this new house, you still feel a sense of loss. You will probably feel disorientated too, out on a limb with nowhere to turn. What you are going through is a period of adjustment. You are at the in-between stage. Although you have a house, you do not yet have a home. Don’t force it. This reaction is absolutely natural.
4: Plan the moving day accordingly:
On moving day, try to create at least one pleasant area as soon as you put a foot through the door of your new house. Whilst others are ensuring that boxes and crates are going into the right rooms, you set up a home-from-home. Open that box you specially prepared with tea/coffee, fruitcake, kettle, linen, etc. Pick something out of your new garden, even if it’s only a dandelion, and stick it in a jug. Turn a tea chest upside down, throw a cloth over the top and lay out your feast. Place the flowers in the middle and call everyone in for refreshments. They’ll laugh, think you’re mad, but they will also enjoy the sentiment even if only secretly, and raise a toast to your new home. You will have broken the ice – and bread – for the first time under your new roof.
5: Decide on what each room serves in the house better than you did last time:
Consider how each room; each section of the house can be put to best use. The most supported area of the house should be the back. Here, it should be quiet and still. An ideal area for bedrooms, away from traffic and the general activity of front-of-house rooms. Studies are best located in a quieter area of the home also. An obvious fact perhaps, but one easily overlooked in the rush to allocate people to places.
Small, dark unattractive areas can be put to use as utility rooms and storage cupboards, or perhaps as a separate toilet. The center of the house should really be used by all the household as a representation of health, wealth and general prosperity. A hall table with fresh flowers and a picture depicting family unity can be particularly uplifting.
6: Get comfortable in your new home
Begin as you mean to go on by calling the house home and encourage the rest of the family to do the same. . Wander around your new home by yourself. Stop in each room and feel your way around. Pick at the wallpaper, lift the corner of the carpet, poke at the paintwork, trace the woodwork with your fingers, and breathe on the windows. It’s called marking your territory. This is very important for your instinctual side to feel at ease when you are at home.
7: Get sociable with other people:
Start talking to others about trivial things and get to know your neighbors. Some people invite everyone around for lunch or for a Sunday grill. You don’t have to go that far, but it’s very important that you establish acquaintances often and early.
8: Do things differently than last time and learn from your past experiences
Creating your new, happy home is the best part of moving. There aren’t any rules. You’re not staging a house to sell anymore. No more Zillow photos, no more Realtor advice, no more need to target immaculate, magazine-cover perfection. Forget about what you think other people would like. This time, it’s about you and what makes you happy. It doesn’t matter if you own the property or took a rented apartment, whether you live in a studio apartment or a four-bedroom house, or whether you have a budget of $50 or $50,000.
9: Design smart
You can design a home that makes you smile every time you walk through the door. Wow, you say, that’s quite a promise. It is—and designing a happy home doesn’t just happen from dumping your box marked “Dining Room” onto the dining room table. There is a method for creating a joyful place. The process is a lot like trying a new cake recipe—there will be some comforting ingredients you already have (like your beloved couch) and others you’ll discover out in the world, whether in the form of a stunning design blog or a new favorite restaurant.
10: Make friends with your real estate agent
If you have committed to working with a real estate agent, you have entered the most intimate part of your home-buying endeavor. As you look at houses with your agent, you’ll be regularly exposed to the work aspect of his or her personality — something even the agent’s own family might never see. On occasion, you will see your agent’s social self. You, in turn, will be revealing aspects of yourself, some that you may not even know about. In short, you’ll be developing a unique relationship that may even continue long after you move into your new home.
11: Stay in contact with your locators
As soon as you find out when and where you will be moving, draw up a moving plan. What will you need to do, and when will you need to do it? Many of the tasks that need to be accomplished can make you feel in a hurry, but your specific situation may call for others, such as taking a medical exam or applying for a work permit. Consult your personnel office, relocation consultant, or other sources of information.
12: Make sure that all the legislation is taken care of:
If you start early to get your affairs in order, the paperwork won’t seem so overwhelming. The first step, of course, is to obtain passports for everyone in the family, including babies. Do this early, because applications for visas and work permits can only be made after you have a valid passport. Have extra passport-sized photos made and take them with you. Renew your driver’s license, if possible, so it won’t expire while you’re overseas.
13: Be more conservative about what you pack
This is the perfect opportunity of getting rid of all the clutter that has been in your previous home. Make sure that you only pack your essentials and sell whatever clutter you have been trying to get rid of in advance.
14: Keep your ears on the lookout
We all get excited about getting a new home we are happy about, but we can’t deny that there are always better options. It’s very important to keep your ears listening on new deals popping up. Don’t be closed off on deals, you might get opportunities to go move into your dream place at a fraction of the price.
15: Say goodbye and welcome a new life ahead
Amid the rush of moving, it’s easy to forget the importance of saying proper goodbyes to the places and people you are leaving behind. Saying goodbye and acknowledging your feelings about leaving will help you close this chapter of your life and begin the process of moving on. Even if you plan to return to the same location after your time abroad, it is important to recognize that you need closure.
15: Keep your ears on the lookout
We all get excited about getting a new home we are happy about, but we can’t deny that there are always better options. It’s very important to keep your ears listening on new deals popping up. Don’t be closed off on deals, you might get opportunities to go move into your dream place at a fraction of the price.
