Worst Things About Living Abroad

Happy Tuesday! 

I hope you are having a good week so far :)

Over today and tomorrow I'm going to share some of the best and worst things about living abroad.

Don't get me wrong, I feel really lucky and grateful to have had the opportunities to live in London and now Melbourne. It is so cool to experience different parts of the world. But it's not always smooth sailing. I have met many people who thought I would hate living abroad (probably even Tj thought that at first) and they were surprised by how much I embraced it and love it. There were others who I thought would love living abroad and it just wasn't for them. I think there are so many factors that affect the experience someone has and many of them are out of a person's control. In London, Tj and I would debate if we would love the city more if we lived there when we were a bit younger and would go out more and do different things, or if it was best when we were there and could afford to live on our own, in a great part of the city. And we were lucky to move to English speaking cities - I imagine it's a lot more complicated if you add a language barrier.

No matter what age you are, or how far away you are from home, here are a few of the worst things about living abroad:

Life Admin

This means setting up bank card, getting the equivalent of social security number for tax, paying taxes in a new country, finding a doctor or dentist, hair salon, gym, and finding a new job! When we moved to London, it was harder for me to get a new bank account than it was for me to get my visa in the first place. Such a pain in the butt. Even just remembering all the different pins for my different accounts is hard haha. 

Missing big events

It sucks always missing weddings, birthdays, births of children, family events,  and even just weekend brunch with the girls. I try to make up for it by sending birthday cards, but holidays are tough. It's the worst missing out on events that you would never ever miss if you didn't live so far. It's nice to facetime people or see pictures, but sometimes that makes me sad too. FOMO. 

Missing the little events

I really miss just being able to grab a Starbucks and hang out in Chapters for hours or browse at Marshall's. I miss people popping in and out of the house or doing puzzles with my mom and aunt. Not the big events, but the everyday stuff that adds to your life.

Missing the dogs.

I miss my dogs and walking them and cuddling them. I am so jealous that Jacob just gets to live with them all the time. Really I'm jealous of anyone with a pet haha. And my dog will be all over any stranger who goes near him, but he couldn't care less if I try and talk to him when I am facetiming back home.

Downsizing

Living abroad means living pretty lightly since eventually, you will have to take everything back home. I had a friend in London who lived there for over a year and didn't accumulate anything. She kept all her belongings in the luggage she moved over with. It was impressive. I miss my Kitchenaid mixer and my baking supplies and buying books without worrying how I'll eventually have to get them home and things like the old play station and the gorgeous artwork Jacob got us at a wedding present that we had to leave behind. It'd be nice to buy something without thinking of what I have to get rid of to make space for it. 

No access to favourite foods and different brands

POUTINE. Sigh. When you move to a new place and you get groceries for the first time it can be kind of shocking. It always takes me a while to find new milk and butter and yogurt that I like. Everything is different and even brands you know might not taste the same. In London I found I really missed Lipton Chicken Noodle soup mix. I bought a box of Kraft dinner here and it tasted so different! It's fun trying new things (especially the junk food), but it is definitely a bit of an adjustment for the first few months until you got used to the food. And did you know most restaurants don't have ginger ale? 

Other things I can whine about:

• phone numbers in different countries are in weird formats and I feel stupid not knowing which part is the area code, and why do I sometimes have to add a zero? No one explains this stuff! lol
• I have no reference for how close or far a city or place is. I'll just nod along like I get it and then look it up on google maps
• no one knows where Ottawa is. I always say I'm from 4 hours away from Toronto. They only know Toronto, Vancouver, and maybe Montreal
• Accents. Again, sometimes I just nod along and have no idea what someone is saying
• Then again, a lot of times people don't understand me either! I have to revert to saying lifts (elevator) and flat (apartment) and football (soccer) although in Australia, I think footy refers to Australian football which is an entirely different sport
• Tipping culture - to tip or not to tip? Sometimes it's included, sometimes you just round up a bit, but mostly you just don't tip and they don't expect it, but it feels so wrong! 

Tune in tomorrow to read about the BEST things about living abroad! And they are way better than the worst things or else I wouldn't be in Melbourne right now :) 

Have a good day!