Moving Abroad as a Woman
Moving abroad in general sounds exciting, but moving abroad solo as a woman brings a ton of challenges. As a woman who’s moved abroad alone multiple times, I’ve experienced many ups and downs. Here are a few tips, challenges and lessons I learned during my time abroad as a woman.
Why Move Abroad Alone
If you ask many women why they decided to move abroad, they might give you different answers, but they all have one thing in common: we are all sick of waiting. Waiting for others to join, waiting for the right partner to do this with, waiting for the perfect moment. Moving abroad is messy and chaotic and sometimes even a little bit insane, but it also brings so much joy and experiences, and it opens your worldview immensely (at least for some).
Life shouldn’t be about waiting for others to be ready (or even waiting for yourself to be ready) but rather to take chances even when you’re not sure how you’ll do it all.
Reality vs. Expectations
Some people watch Emily in Paris and think life is going to be exactly like that. And although there might be great opportunities waiting for you, there are also a lot of hardships these shows would never portray. Moving abroad is difficult. Moving abroad alone is even more difficult. Moving abroad alone as a woman brings many challenges that solo male travellers do not have to face. When you are travelling as a solo female, let alone moving abroad, oftentimes you will need to take precautions. I personally avoid late flight arrivals when I go to a new place I’m not familiar with. Searching for apartments can be a nightmare (I accidentally ended up living with 6 guys in Lisbon). And you will generally end up spending more money just to ensure that you are safe. Making friends on the other hand, is often a lot easier for women compared to how men experience it.
Challenges of Moving Abroad Alone as a Woman
One of the biggest challenges as a woman moving abroad is safety. It can already be challenging in your own country, but moving to another place where you do not have any support network just adds another level. (And I’m not saying this to turn you off moving abroad, but rather to be prepared for it). I’ve moved to four cities without ever having been there prior. But one thing I always did was research a little. I made sure to clearly know how to get from the airport to my accommodation. I always had some type of accommodation sorted, and as mentioned previously, I will always avoid a late arrival flight if I possibly can.
Doing research also includes understanding the local culture, how to appropriately dress and places/things to avoid. It can be frustrating having to look into all of these things, but unfortunately, it’s the reality as women. And we’d better stay safe than sorry.
Lessons I Learned
I’ve experienced a lot of wonderful things living abroad, but I definitely also had some scary moments that made me feel a little unsafe. From being stranded in a strange city the first time I moved abroad to moving into an apartment full of men (who most turned out to be really lovely). Luckily, I managed to make the most out of the situations (sometimes I had to have a little cry though).
And as boring as it sounds, most of these situations could’ve been avoided or fixed with a little more preparation and research. When I was stranded in a city 2.5h away from my exchange student town, I panicked, cried and then got my shit together. I remembered that during my research, there was a train station not too far away with trains leading to my destination. And that’s how I managed to get where I needed to be (although I did arrive in the middle of the night and walked to my hotel, which I later found out was apparently really dangerous).
But if you’re taking one thing away from this post is that you are resourceful and much stronger than you think you are. And with the right preparation your move abroad will turn out fine (and if it doesn’t you will be ready and prepared to deal with it).
