How to prepare your parents for your move abroad

This is a question I see a lot and I get asked on our social media handles and it is How to prepare your parents for your move abroad

You might never be able to fully convince them, but you can make it easier to share your decision with them with these 4 tips to follow:

1. As soon as you know talk with them about the idea of your relocation.

Whether it is at dinner time, watching TV or having a coffee, talk about the country, the opportunities there, your plans, how you paint your life there, your plans.

So when the time comes and you get your one-way ticket it won’t be a surprise and they will soon notice your excitement for this new life which will make it easier for them to support you.

2. Put yourself in their shoes

You are the one leaving. They are staying in the same place but the only thing that changes is that you are not in the picture.
Especially if you are the only child or your parents are overprotective, you have to see yourself through their glasses.
Obviously, it is easier for them not to worry and it is easier for them to have you closer than 600km away.

This is one of the main reasons why they could not support you at first so don’t take it personally. It is more about them than it is about you.

3. Show them that you are prepared

Have a security network when you are planning to jump from point A to point B.
Do your research, have your visa and paperwork ready, find temporary accommodation in a safe area, talk to locals and expats already living there to get to know more about the cost of living, places were to hang out, and so on.
Everything you know in advance will ease your arrival as a newbie in the city.

And if something wrong happens you can always go back home and you need to repeat this to them in order for them to be ok too.

And of course, don’t mention anything crime statistics, bad things happen everything and it is not necessary for them to hear them. Paint them that you can have the same security and even more opportunities in that new place than where you are now.

 

4. Be proud

Even if they don’t tell you that they support you, you will learn a lot just by the fact that you are moving abroad and away from your family.

And I am sure that once you are back even they will be really proud of you and about the decision of being more independent. And so you need to be of yourself too. 

Remember that twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.
This is a quote by Mark Twain.

So just make that jump. You will thank yourself later.