Have you ever made a major move in life to a new country or town?

When I first moved from my parents home to a new city, the most important thing I took with me was my art supplies. It was important (and very comforting) to be able to continue the same hobbies I did whilst at home.

Moving from tropical to very cold can be a tough transistion, unless you actually hate the heat and are really looking forward to getting out of it.

You said you are leaving your furniture behind, will you be able to bring some wall pictures? For me the paintings and framed photos I have usually put the final touch on feeling at home. Bare walls feel blank and anonymous. But, having said that, buying new things for a new place can easily feel like home fast.

We always make sure we introduce ourselves to some neighbors, that has worked very well in our moves. We have joined some groups or clubs, see which ones are a good fit, ditch the ones that aren’t.

Some advise meeting local people, when they ask if you like it there, do not be negative. Say you do like it, or at worst that you are adjusting, and name a couple things you do like about your new city. There are always things to like and not like wherever you are.

Also, when in Rome do as the Romans are words I more or less live by, without losing where I am from also. Fitting in within reason will help you feel better.

Lastly, explore your new community. Get out, do things, find what you love there, enjoy what there is to enjoy. If in the end you don’t want to stay there forever, you’ll move. But, while there take advantage of whatever is offered.

It’s exciting to move. I hope you are feeling positive about it.

@JLeslie Although in reality it is a forced move, I am focusing more and more on the positive aspects. There are so many. Tropical is great in winter, not so great in summer. I cannot wait to leave humidity behind. There are a number of things I cannot wait to leave behind. Like the daily poverty I witness, it is heart rendering. The lack of social structures. I will miss my friends, I have had some for over 20 years. We have great history together. A lot say they will visit, I do believe they will. I have been fortunate in life to accumulate precious people who have stood by me. I hope to meet some new ones over there.

I have decided to ship some stuff, my crate is 2Mx2M. Being a bit daft with math and figures I can kind of get a feeling of that size. I know I will place photos, and other dear objects and like @downtide suggested personal things I feel are very me. I am still deciding though what those will be. Oddly I think of my make up brush collection, and also vast make up collection! My zippo lighter that I was given as a gift, those things. I have set to sell furniture and painting with the property since there are antiques and Persians. not a lot but a few and are a great drawing card so far. Those I can live without. They say home is where the heart is. I think that is the key but I am still trying to figure out what that really means, to me.

Yes, several times. The last was moving to the home I live in now 6 years ago after I divorced.
I stayed in my original home for about 10 months, but I needed a new environment so I then moved to a little rental cottage for a couple of years until I found this home in 2006. It is about 35 miles from my old zone but still in the same county. It was pure joy decorating and fixing things up. I designed my patio which I am very proud of and, for the first time in my adult life I had nobody else to consider so I went nuts decorating in my own eclectic style.

I’m the type that likes change though, I see change as refreshing not intimidating. :-)

It’s most likely easier for military. They move my stuff for me, and my coworkers become my friends.

Here are some answers to a related question.

Thirty-five years ago I moved 3000 miles from Massachusetts (U.S. East Coast) to California (U.S. West Coast) for the sake of true love. The change of climate, from snow country (with its hot summers and golden autumns) to more or less perpetual spring, was a difficult transition; I greatly missed the strongly delineated seasons. Still do. It doesn’t take much more than the sight of a single red maple leaf in a photograph to make me homesick at this time of year.

Climate was far from the biggest adjustment, though. The culture was significantly different, and I didn’t even have to deal with a change of language, government, or basic forms of social structure. I felt overwhelmed by strangeness for a long time.

Whenever I’ve moved, including from one Boston/Cambridge apartment to another, the last things to go are my pictures on the walls, and they’re the first things up in the new place. That’s the beginning of what it takes to settle me.

Learning my way around the neighborhood, recognizing the streets, finding local shops and services, and getting used to the sounds of the area help a lot. There’s always been an undefinable moment when I passed from “stranger” to “resident”—when I could say “this is home.” It didn’t happen right away.

In fact, when I moved to California it took me three years to start to feel at home. And what finally did it was getting involved in something locally. On the spur of the moment, visiting a booth at a craft fair, I volunteered to help out with a local repertory theatre that was just getting started. That commitment to something active, vital, and new in this community helped me break some stubborn ties to my old home and reconnect them here.

The theatre is still thriving, and I like knowing that I was a part of its beginning. I still have a strong bond to the East Coast and a special feeling of rightness and belonging whenever I go there, but I am at home where I am now.

My husband and I moved a few years ago after he was laid off to a completely new state. We took almost nothing (we sold everything). He did not even have a job. We just went for it.

We explored out new neighborhood quickly and took little day trips to get oriented. We did things we liked to do in the new place (went out for coffee), went to the library, etc.

We moved to the Philippines for the Navy. It wasn’t too bad. We had an assigned sponsor to help us get settled and our land lady was very nice, especially to my young daughter. We had an opportunity to emigrate to Australia but we passed it up. Of course that was before Reagan took office. I think that if he was president when the offer was made we would be Australian citizens.

I moved from the middle west to one coast and then to the other coast 3 years later. Then 8 years after that, back again. I carried a few things to remind me of family, but I started over each time I moved as far as living quarters went. I didn’t feel permanent until the last move. NOW I have all kinds of ‘stuff’ I’d have a hard time leaving behind, should there be another move.

I was moved an average of once every year when I was growing up. I don’t have to settle in, since every new place is interesting and getting used to it is part of the fun.

At age 50 something I sold my business, packed a few favorite things including my dog and moved to the other side of the world to be with a man I met on the internet. That was almost 15 years ago.

I always like adventure and I had planned on selling my business and moving south, so it wasn’t really a big deal. My parents were dead, I have one brother and we were never particularly close. The relatives I miss most are nieces and nephews. But my husband has a large family here and I enjoy them. And my nieces and nephews do come to visit, this is an exciting place to see.

The most important thing to me was my dog. I could have flown back and forth first class a couple of times for what it cost me to bring my dog but there was no way I would leave him behind. And I guess I wanted to establish that my prospective mate would understand how important to me dogs are and always will be.

We all speak english so there shouldn’t be a language barrier, but I still often don’t have a clue what people are talking about because the colloquialisms are so different. I still have to laugh at “Bob’s your uncle” and “fair dinkum.” If you are going somewhere and the language is different, that will be a challenge but not an insurmountable one.

I moved from cold climate to moderate climate, then onto tropical and now back to cold but not as cold. I loved the tropics but after 8 years there, I understand what you are saying about humidity. But wow now that I am in the cold I think I might swap back to hot and sweaty again!

To me life is an adventure and you can’t experience it if you don’t take the opportunities provided. I figured the worst thing that would happen is that he and I would not mesh as we thought we would and I would do something else. I thought I could stay in the country and travel until I was sick of it or found a place I wanted to stay. Or I could just come back to the USA and start over. No big deal, just do it. My advice though is don’t mingle your finances until you are damned sure you want to stay with this person. It is always good to have your own bank account in case you decide you aren’t going to be compatible.

Keep us posted, I love to hear these tales. There is another flutherite who is making such a move, hopefully she will weigh in too.

You should take a few sentimental items to preserve the connection with your past. I moved to get married and so I wasn’t on my own and I was introduced to my wife’s family and friends. Moving is an adventure and can be exciting. Make the most of it and explore your new city. Get to know your local shops and the local facilities and try to establish a new routine. I found that Skype was a great way of keeping in touch with people back home and I can’t recommend it highly enough. The internet is a constant wherever you are and makes settling in to a new life much easier than before.

@flutherother Thank you! yes it is an adventure, and the place I am moving too, is so beautiful and historic. I am so lucky that I am moving to a village. I am tired of city life. The only thing that worries me is the gloominess, but I can make my home snug.

@Shippy Good luck with your adventure! A Scottish village in winter can be very gloomy but the skies and the low slanting sunlight will make it very beautiful at times. It will likely be very peaceful and you may have to rely more on your own company. I am sure it will be a relief to get settled in once the house sale and the move are over.

You’re moving to Scotland, @Shippy? To a village? A seaside village, by any chance?

@Jeruba The sea is about an hour away apparently. I live very close the sea now, about a ten minute walk so will miss it. It has great history, it is said to have kick started the Industrial Revolution, being a Marxist fan I like that idea! Plus Mary Queen of Scots visited the village.There are castles to visit, cannot wait! Most oddly of all, I was born quite close to this village. Ironic, to think I traveled the world only to land back where I started. And all by chance!!

@Shippy, that triggered a recollection and led me to post this question. I know I’d like to read more about the area described by the writer whose name I’m trying to remember.

@Jeruba I actually sent the link to a friend in Scotland, you question, but he doesn’t know. It sounds beautiful (The writings). I think he is doing a hunt down on it, and will get back to us.

Don’t be shy. Get out and meet people. Join your local library and attend events. Join a photography club, walking group, Toastmaster or if appropriate, your local church. The more friends you make and the more opportunities you give yourself to get to know people the sooner you will feel less ‘alien’. In addition, get a job and especially one where you meet people (even if you don’t need one).

You will feel ‘alien’. When I moved to Australia, the currency wasn’t familiar, I didn’t have my geographic bearings, I didn’t have a developed sense of how things worked in terms of dress, social norms. Queenslanders dress very casually compared to my home country. I didn’t know what to ask for at the pub. In my home town I might say “Can I have a half of lager”. Here, you might say “Can I have a pot of XXX”. There are differences across states here too. So, be prepared to feel a little disoriented for about six months. The more you get out and make friends the better it will become.

In the UK, I would say go to your local pub and sit at the bar and meet people. Might need to get a sense of which pub is the ‘community’ pub but that would be the first thing I would do.

Oh, the Scottish people are incredibly warm and friendly. Great sense of humor in my experience, and great story tellers. I have only positive feelings about your move in terms of making new friends and feeling welcomed. :)

More than I can count, but now I’m dug in and have no wish (beyond an occasional fantasy) to move again.

@JLeslie Thanks. It’s only weeks away eek! loll.

I’m moving too. It all started happening about a month ago. Moving back to FL, but the other side of the state. I’m in the throws of settling my husband into his apartment while he starts work. Getting a lay of the land here, and having to go back and sell my house.

^^Florida sounds like a great place. :)