118: Before the checklist: 5 key decisions before you move abroad

Most people think they’re stuck because they don’t know what to do. In reality, they haven’t decided what they want. There are a few key decisions you need to make before you start working through a move abroad checklist. We'll cover those key decisions today. 

In this episode, we talk about the decisions that come before action—and why getting them wrong early can cost you time, money, and momentum.

We cover:

• Why checklists don’t work if you don’t know which version of Europe you’re moving toward
• Why choosing “Europe” isn’t the same as choosing a country
• How visa reality should shape your decisions—not the other way around
• The role of work and income in shaping your move
• How your timeline and personality affect your strategy

The big takeaway: moving abroad isn’t one big leap—it’s a series of decisions. Once those decisions are clear, the checklist becomes obvious.

If you’ve been collecting checklists, guides, and timelines—but still feel stuck—this episode is for you.

👉Take the free quiz: Which European city should you move to? 🤔

Grab my free guide: 5 exact steps to move abroad

Website: jordangiberson.com
Instagram: @jordan.giberson

Transcript

0:00

I think it's really important to know why you want to move abroad and why you're doing this for yourself. but also not to get discouraged if there are any roadblocks and you have difficulty or frustrations or if a family member is questioning your decision and is not supportive. just continue moving forward when it does get a little bit hard. Hey, my name is Jordan Giberson. I'm a Texas girl living and thriving in London. The best thing I've ever done? Moving abroad, hands down. And I'm passionate about helping others do the same. Are you curious about finding a job abroad? You're in the right place, friend. I'll teach you the tried and true secrets of how to make moving abroad a reality for you and how to live a fulfilling life once you get there. We'll cover topics like choosing the best visa for you, how to get a job offer in another country, how to get over your fear of moving abroad, and how to live a life you love once you get there, this is The Move Abroad Podcast. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. Today we're going to be talking about what happens before the checklist. I feel like whenever we think about moving abroad, we think about a checklist, all the things that we need to do, all the things we need to action, but I think that a lot of people think that they're stuck because they don't know. To do, but actually they haven't decided what they actually want. You can't necessarily just follow a checklist if you don't know which version of Europe you're moving towards. If you don't know exactly your plan, your visa, your move abroad strategy, like I think that there are so many things we have to decide before we actually start actioning things. So in today's episode, we're going to talk about what happens before the checklist, what we need to decide to move to Europe before we actually start checking off things on our checklist to actually move abroad. So these are all the things we need to decide before we start taking action. So let's just take a second to have a little bit of a mind shift whenever it comes to moving abroad in what we think we need to do, because decisions do come before action. So in today's episode, we're going to talk about the key decisions that you need to make before you start taking action. And I think that we need to be a little bit careful because I think a lot of people get in a analysis paralysis. Kind of loop where they think that they have to have every single thing figured out before they start actioning moving abroad and start taking steps and start working on that checklist. And I think that is a big thing that stops people from moving abroad. So I want to be careful in saying that, you don't wanna take forever to make these decisions, but you do need to have decisions that are made for yourself so that you're not going in a million different directions and then getting overwhelmed and then not moving forward at all. So I think that it's a little bit of a balance. I think you do need to make these key decisions that we're going to talk about today before you start working on your checklist to move abroad. But I do want to be careful and say that you don't want to spend so much time in making these decisions, that you kind of use this as an excuse or a roadblock, and it prevents you from actually moving abroad for a long period of time because you're still trying to make these decisions and you stay in the continuous research loop. So what are these important decisions that we actually need to make before we attack our checklist and start taking actions? What a great question. The first decision that you're going to want to make is deciding why you want to move abroad, and more importantly, deciding that you're actually going to do it. I know this sounds a little bit silly and counterintuitive in a way, but it's because I think a lot of people think that they want to move abroad. Or they say they want to move abroad, but they haven't actually decided, yes, this is a hundred percent something that I'm going for. I think a lot of people are have their toe dipped in the water or one foot in, one foot out, but they're not totally convinced that this is something that they want and that they're going to go after. And I think it's also important to decide your why, because you might run into a few roadblocks. There might be things that are frustrating. You might have people that are questioning you and your decision, and so I think it's really important to know why you want to move abroad and why you're doing this for yourself. There could be a million different motivations for you, so I think you need to decide what those motivations are really. But it could be something like for a lifestyle upgrade, maybe you want more work life balance. Maybe it's a really great career opportunity that you could have. Maybe you are burnt out or just dissatisfied with your current life and with the way that things are run in your current country. Maybe you just want a bit of a change of pace. Maybe you care a lot about the cost of living, and you want to move to a country with a lower cost of living. Maybe it's politics, maybe it's healthcare. You want to have universal healthcare. Maybe it's for safety for you, for your family. There could be a million different things that could go into this. For me, I wanted to move abroad for the adventure and to be able to travel. Now, a lot of the reasons why I stay, I think are still aligned with that, but. I think a lot of the reasons why I've stayed abroad are the lifestyle reasons and some of the other reasons that I've listed above here as well. So I think that this does really matter because your why does determine the country that you're getting. If you care a lot about politics or you care a lot about cost of living, for example, or the weather. There's a million different things like we said, but I think that determines the country that you move to. As I said before, I think it's really important for making sure that you're continuously moving forward and checking things off your checklist whenever you start doing that, but also not to get discouraged if there are any roadblocks and you have difficulty or frustrations in the Visa process or if a family member is questioning your decision and is not supportive. So I think that just helps solidify this decision for you and helps you to continue moving forward when it does get a little bit hard. Okay, so moving on to decision number two. So we've decided our why of why we want to move abroad, and we know that this is something that we a hundred percent want to pursue. The second decision that you'll want to make is deciding where exactly in Europe you want to move to. Europe is a continent, so you'll want to decide a specific country that you want to move abroad to, and if you're able to decide a specific city or at least narrow it down to two, it'll be really, really helpful. So you'll want to decide if you'll want to move to Southern or Northern Europe. They are completely different in their experience. I think you'll just need to think about those reasons why you want to move abroad and think about what's really important to you in the country that you're moving to? So if weather is a non-negotiable, really, really important, you have to have sunny weather, then you might not consider moving to the Netherlands or the UK for example, because they tend to be more cloudy and rainy. So maybe Southern Europe is a better fit for you. Or if you say, okay, my career is number one really important to me, I want to be employed, then maybe Northern Europe might be a better option. And you'll want to pick a specific city that aligns with that and has. Good career options for you. So I think that it really depends on what exactly you're looking for. I know we've done a lot of episodes on specific countries and cities that might be a good fit for you. If you want more information on a strategy to choose the best European city for you, you can go back and listen to episode 56. It's called, how to Choose the Perfect European Destination for Your Move Abroad. So that's episode 56. You can go listen to that episode if you want more about how to choose the best European city and country for you and for your lifestyle. So I think that would be a good option. Another good option for you is if you want to get matched with a perfect European city for you, you can actually go take the quiz, so there's a link at the podcast description. You can go click on that quiz and it will match you with your perfect European city that fits you best based on a quiz that you take. It takes Under two minutes. Or you can also go to Jordangiberson.com/quiz if you want to access it there as well. So decision two is choosing our perfect European destination. I would definitely recommend if you don't wanna go back and listen to the episode, just to make sure you're choosing maybe two countries max, because once you start looking into visas, I think that it can just lead to overwhelm. Make sure you narrow it down to at least a couple countries. And if not, I mean if you're able to choose a country and then maybe narrow it down to a couple different city options and do a little bit of research from there. But I think if you pick too many countries and then you start looking at visas after that, it can become very, very overwhelming because there are a lot of visas within each country as well. So just to avoid overwhelm and having analysis paralysis where you have so many decisions or there's so many options, you have a hard time making a decision. So I think that it's helpful to narrow it down to at least a couple countries. But what I think is helpful is if you can't pick your specific country, I think that's okay. You can compare the visa options for the type of work that you need. So that's another decision that we'll need to make. But this third decision that we're focused on now is how you will legally stay, which is your visa. So you'll once to choose the visa that aligns with the type of work that you're going to be doing, whether you're going to be work-based or have side income that you have, if you are going to be staying there for short term versus long term. Some visas you can only have for one year or two years max. Other visas you can have for long term. So I think looking into that, I think the visa is one of the most boring decisions that you make whenever you move abroad, but you do have to have a visa in order to live abroad. So I think that it's really helpful to make sure you're staying on top of that and seeing what visa options there are in that country and what fits you best. There is normally a Visa option for whatever type of worker income you're going to have. It really, really depends on the country. But a lot of countries do have a freelance visa, for example, or they'll have a work visa or they'll have a digital nomad visa, or they'll have a student visa. Basically any reason that you'd want to be in the country, they'll have a visa option for you. Definitely some visas are going to be easier to get than others. I'd say the work visa is going to be a more difficult visa option. Definitely not impossible. You can find a job but it is probably the most difficult one, whereas the other visas are a little bit easier. So I think it's just looking at the visa options that are in that country and looking at the eligibility requirements of each visa so that basically, it's just a checkbox exercise. So you'll look at the freelance Visa, for example, and you'll say, okay, these are the five eligibility requirements. You have to be able to speak English, or you have to be able to have an income up to this level for your freelance work. They'll have the exact eligibility requirements, so I would just look into those and see what they actually are. The next decision four that you'll need to make, which is aligned to our decision three, is the work and income strategy that you're going to have. So you'll want to answer, am I going to work locally for a local company? Am I going to build a business there? Am I going to work remotely as a contractor for a company in the United States, for example, am I going to do freelance work or am I not going to work at all? And what would that look like? So I think that there are. Many different options. So I think it's just marrying your visa options and what those look like and the eligibility requirements for how you will have your income depending on what it is. So is your income portable? Are you willing to change careers or make a bit of a career shift? So you might say, well, I'm a lawyer in the United States. But I want to move abroad, then it might be a little bit more difficult because obviously the laws are a little bit different abroad than they are in the United States, but there might be other options that can be a little bit of a shift in your career, but are still aligned with your expertise. So the reason why this matters is that you need to figure out your income strategy to figure out your visas, your taxes, the cost of living, and ultimately just decide what's best for you and your family. Basically, countries don't necessarily care how you get your income. They just want to know that you do have consistent income. So whether you're going to be employed or you're making your own money in some capacity, or you have some sort of side income or passive income, they just want to make sure that you're going to be taking care of and that you're not going to be using the public funds. So that's basically what the Visa is. They just wanna make sure that you're staying in the country legally, that you are going to be taken care of, not using public funds. And that's all it really is, is just kind of proving that. So that is our decision three and four, which are how you will legally stay in the country, which is your visa. And the decision four is your work and income strategies. So you'll need to decide those two things next. Our decision five is figuring out your timeline and your risk tolerance. Decision five is our timeline. So this decision is key because it helps you continuously move forward and make these decisions that you can actually get to the checklist. You might consider giving yourself a hard deadline. I would recommend that you go into your calendar and you pick a specific date, or maybe you just say a specific month in a specific year. So I would recommend giving yourself maybe six months if it's just you or up to 12 months if you're moving with you and your family. If you have more responsibilities, more obligations and things that you have to close down before you actually move abroad. Then I would say a longer timeline would be better. But if you're thinking I'm just going to, move abroad by myself and I'm going to bring freelance work with me, for example, then I think that you could have a shorter timeline, but I would consider putting a date in the calendar because I think that it gives you a work back plan where you can state for yourself and keep yourself accountable to say, okay, this is when I'm going to move abroad. So you can decide on working towards your checklist and have a workback plan, like I said, so you can start working on specific things in specific months and know what you need to accomplish and a specific period of time so that you can move abroad whenever you want to and not continuously delay it by months and months or even years. If you want to learn more about how to set a specific timeline for yourself, I would've recommend going back to episode 58, which is called Your Perfect Move Abroad Timeline. So in that episode, I outline exactly how you can outline a timeline for moving abroad and what you should do in each month to work towards moving abroad. So I'd recommend going to listen to episode 58 if you want to learn more about setting a timeline for yourself. And that's it. Ba b ba, boom. Those are the decisions that you need to make in order to start working on that checklist. So these are the things that you really need to decide to actually start moving abroad. So the first decision. Is why you want to move abroad and to decide that you actually are going to do it, that's something you actively are going to pursue. Decision two is deciding where in Europe you're going to move to narrow it down to at least like two countries max. And figure out the city that you want to move abroad to if you're able to do that as well. Decision number three is how you will legally stay there. So figuring out the exact visa that you need to live there legally. And then decision four is going to be figuring out your work and income strategy to make sure that you have that income come in so you can take care of yourself. And then decision five is figuring out your timeline, figuring out when you're going to move abroad, make that decision so that you can do that work back plan to figure out what you need to do in which months to actually accomplish moving abroad. And that's where this checklist comes in then, because you need to have a checklist that you put together that kind of outlines exactly what you need to do, when to move abroad smoothly and to get it done in the timeline that you really want to. So I really think that once these decisions are made, then you're able to actually move forward and start taking action. Because without decisions, checklist just causes paralysis. I think that it just becomes overwhelming because you don't know the direction that you're going in and you don't have an end goal. So that's why I think that this is so important to have these decisions actually made so that you can start actioning a checklist and all the things that you need to do in order to move abroad. So that is it for me for today's episode. I hope that you found this useful. I think it was a little bit of a quick one, but again, I think that these are the most important steps that you need to take. It's not about overwhelming yourself or. Thinking about all the tiny, tiny decisions that you need to make because like I said at the beginning, I think that I wanted to be really careful not to say you need to make these 50 decisions before you start actioning anything because you need it to be perfect. Like that's just not how life is. I think that you need to have these specific decisions made, which are I think a small amount of decisions. But you need to make these decisions before you start working on a checklist and before you start actioning things so that you have a direction and you're not pulled in a million different directions and you're not going down a huge research rabbit hole of looking into a million different visas in all the European countries and narrowing it down from there, like, no, no, no. I would not recommend doing that. I think that's just gonna set yourself up for overwhelm. And I think that whenever we are overwhelmed that we stop taking action, we stop doing research, or we just do research when we don't actually move forward. So I hope that this is helpful in just making those key decisions that you can move forward and start working on a checklist in order to move abroad and make that dream a reality for you. Thank you so much for listening to another episode of the Move Abroad podcast. I genuinely really appreciate you listening to episodes. So thank you so much for being here and for listening. And I will catch you here again next week, same time, same place. I'll catch you then