Advice to My Pre-Expat Self

Q I: What advice would you give to your pre-expat self? 

The advice that I would give to my pre-expat self would be to above all else keep positive.  Life is about how we tackled the challenges in our life and it will not always be easy.  Since becoming an expat I have had to deal with finding employment, getting approved to rent from a leasing agent without credit in England and not having a guarantor,  and cultural issues with co-workers  The most stressful being this time last year when my husband and I were both without jobs, a lease ending soon, not knowing  how we would afford to live two months down the line, and our kids were all the way back in the US with grandparents.  It was a stressful time.  However in the end my husband got the perfect job in just the nick of time, we found a new place to live, and we moved to Bath with our sons that joined us just a couple of days before Christmas. Of course life is always easiest to view in hindsight. However, things work out the way they are meant to be and it is better to remain really positive than to let the negative affect you.

Q II: How do you reconcile what you thought life would be like in your new home and what it is in actuality?

I thought we would be able to have done a lot more traveling than we have now.  Granted, between my husband and I we have traveled to four different countries outside of the UK.  However I thought my sons would have seen several countries in Europe by now and so far they have only been to England and Wales. Traveling is just a lot more expensive when you have a family of four.  While my passports are not collecting stamps we are taking advantage of the area we live in with  country walks and visits to see nearby towns.  Technically we will not be able to travel out of the UK for about six months anyways since our passports are with Ryan’s current ILR visa application.  I am looking forward to finally traveling with my boys outside of the UK and reliving the childhood my parents chose for my sister and I.  

This was a link up for the Expat to Expat: 
Q&A with Bailie and Belinda
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  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    I think it’s interesting that you and I both had plans of travels in and around Europe… sometimes life and visa applications, get in the way of living the romantic life. Alas. Fingers crossed you get passports back soon {You had to submit yours as well?!} and can travel throughout Europe with your boys! Thanks for joining!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Traveling as a family really is a lot more expensive than traveling as a couple – mostly due to having to buy extra train/plane tickets and extra fees for kids in hotels. After doing a lot of traveling in Asia, I figured our trip budget would be just fine, but we definitely had a rude awakening seeing just how far our dollar DOESN’T go in Europe. It’s a whole different ball game, but we’re learning to make it work. I do wish we had the time/money to do even more traveling though.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Yeah, my expat friend here said they got theirs back in a couple of months but the office was saying it could take 6-9 months because they are so backed up. I did not think I would have to turn in my EU/UK passport, so I’m kinda bummed to have had to turn it in for his application. Cannot wait to have it back in my possession.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    That is so true. Asia travel and living would be a lot different (well in certain places at least). I do love how you been blogging about places to travel and eat that are great budgets for families. Its not something I see a lot on posts so they have been my favourite Sarah! x

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Oh yes, it makes ‘playing tourist’ in your own backyard quite fun!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Oh, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the heads up… Never ending paper work… 😉

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    It is sad sometimes seeing the costs multiply, when I was single and so was Fredrik we both went to concerts all the time but now it is so hard to justify the cost of two tickets!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Oh yes of course babette.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Oh yes, multiplication is not fun when money is involved.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    It must be so frustrating to be pinned here whilst waiting for paperwork to process, are you able to travel around the UK in the meantime?

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    I believe so. We went to Wales without needing passports.

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Hehehe, I meant more timewise – you can most definitely travel in the UK (Wales, Scotland & Northen Ireland) without a passport. We even let you into London on the weekend, and that’s a whole different beast, a different country to the rest of the England. Or so it seems! 😀

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    I can only imagine what it must cost to travel as a family. Sometimes travelling alone is expensive enough! Especially with countries like France and Italy, they are so expensive, Czech on the other hand is also very beautiful and compared to France and Italy a lot cheaper (I recently ate in Prague for 20€ that included a main course, a dessert, two cocktails and a soda, and it was seriously delicious)

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    I’m glad you said that. Thank you. I was wondering if everyone was just like, Blah blah blah – hotels, food, so what. :o) I’m glad it’s at least useful for someone! I haven’t seen many people do it either, and believe me, I’ve looked. I mostly find stuff about traveling as a couple or a single person. The family travelers are harder to find, although The Soultraveler3 is a good one!

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    I loved traveling to the Czech Republic when I was younger. I cannot wait to go explore again with my family. Sounds like you had a blast for a good price! x

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    Wow, I bet that was difficult being apart from your kids. Visas and paperwork etc. are so stressful and I can be really impatient. Happy to see all is well with you and your family now :)

  • http://www.blogger.com/profile/05022023043718407104 Bonnie Rose

    These are great questions this month & your answers are great, Bonnie. I hated dealing with all the visas and paperwork and it’s certainly something I’d remind my pre-expat self of before I made the move. Thankfully it’s all coming to an end in 2014 with my Citizenship application!

  • http://www.emminlondon.com/ Mandy Southgate

    Oh wow, it sounds like you had a similar journey to the one I had. I was a British citizen too, I thought it would be easy! But renting without credit or a guarantor; not being able to provide proof of address for a bank account; and being made to leave each of our first two houses after a year as the owners needed to move back into them! We found moving here financially crippling but I think we’re almost back on our feet!

    • http://www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk/ Bonnie Rose

      Oh yes. Not glad that you also went through that but yes it is now like we are trying to find our footing. At least come Christmas we will have been in our current city for a year. :)

  • http://eatseedoblog.com/ Anna @ Eat, See, Do

    Wow it’s funny as I would never imagine the UK throwing up some of the same issues in France – with leases and guarantors – but it’s just harder anywhere when you’re ‘a foreigner’ and I imagine travelling isn’t as easy as just picking up a cheap easyjet flight and popping away whenever you fancy when you’ve got a family. I love seeing the travels you do in Wales though. It looks beautiful.

    • http://www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk/ Bonnie Rose

      Oh yes. But at least the upsides make the downsides worth it, yeah? Loved Wales so much!

  • Holly Nelson

    I totally agree with what you say about being positive – there is so much stress and this is difficult to do, however things have a funny way of working out! I feel you have to remember people aren’t always necessarily against you in immigration, and that there are people who are also working for you!

    • http://www.bonnieroseblog.co.uk/ Bonnie Rose

      So right, they work out and in the end that is what matters. I hope there are lots of people working for us so we get our passports back soon! I look forward to traveling again. x