I’ve said it before, and I will say it a million times again, moving abroad is not easy. Not only are you leaving behind everything you know, but also everyone you care about and everything you have worked for. The great news is that new adventures, friends and life experiences are waiting for you at your destination country. In reality, it’s settling in that really takes its toll – especially on children.
If you are packing up and relocating with your family, then things can get pretty tough. While for your youngest it might be easy, your oldest is likely to be more sceptical. Perhaps mum is not too happy about giving up her career back home to become a housewife, or dad finds out that he has to wear a suit and tie to work every day.
Anything that helps the process of settling in for the whole family is great. It gives children something to look forward to, it gives mum a project to focus on, and it gives dad a chance to unwind from working long hours.
Make buckets of bucket lists!
How exciting! You are in a new country and you should make the most of it. There are certainly thousands of things to explore. Take a moment with your family to sit together and come up with fun different bucket lists that cater to everyone’s tastes and preferences. You can start crossing off items once a week!
Make sure your children are involved in the process of making the bucket list – this will give them something exciting to look forward to.
Here are some ideas for your bucket lists:
For the foodie family: make a bucket list of all the restaurants you want to visit in your new home, or just one of all the foods and meals that are typical from there that you want to try. If you are in an exciting country such as India, this list can be quite extensive!
For the explorer family: depending on your destination country, this list can be for trekking, exploring, swimming, or even running! Make a point to visit every corner of the country and explore the varied terrain.
For the culture and art aficionado: create a bucket list of all the museums you want to visit in your new city! If you are in Paris or Mexico City, for example boasting over 150 museums, you are sure to find something that caters to everyone’s taste.
For the traveller family: you are in a new city, which might take a while to explore…but what about the rest of the country? Make a bucket list of all the other cities and towns you want to see before heading back home.
For the sports enthusiast family: search the web for all the 5k races that the whole family can join! This could be a project you do once a month, which gives you time to train with the whole family and meet new people to go to the race with.
Engaging the whole family in fun integrating activities can take the stress and hardship of being abroad away.
[Image source: Bill Branson]