10 Hard Truths You’re Not Ready To Move Abroad Even If You Think You Are

So You Think You’re Ready to Move Overseas? Think Again.

Forget the Influencers! Here’s What Instagram Doesn’t Show You About Real Expat Life

You think you’re ready to move abroad just because you’ve binge-watched a few travel vlogs, memorized Duolingo phrases, and have a Pinterest board labeled, “My Future Expat Life”? 

Let me stop you right there.

I’m currently living in Albania where stray dogs understand traffic laws better than most drivers. 

I’ve stood in line at government offices in Ukraine so long I started recognizing people from previous lifetimes. 

And yes, I’ve even tried to explain to a taxi driver in Georgia why I didn’t want to share the ride with three strangers and a goat. 

You think “moving abroad” just means “escaping the Matrix” and unlocking the next level of your “best life”.

What it actually unlocks is your patience threshold, identity crisis, and a daily craving for whatever snack you can’t find anymore.

Most people don’t crash and burn overseas because they ran out of money or got denied a visa.

That’s the easy stuff. 

But, no one tells you how soul-wrecking it is to be misunderstood on every level. That it gets painfully quiet when you no longer have your people around.

And you quickly realize just how much of your confidence was built on things like Amazon’s free delivery, Costco and unlimited data plans.

In this article, I’m going to walk you through the 10 brutally honest signs that you’re not actually ready to make the leap… even if you think you are. 

If you’ve ever fantasized about sipping wine in France or working remotely from a beach in Thailand, this one’s for you.

Just know the wine won’t come with ice cubes, the Wi-Fi might be weak, and you might want to throw your laptop into the Aegean Sea by week two. 

Let’s begin.

1. You Think Culture Shock Is Just Jet Lag

I thought culture shock was a punchline people exaggerated in travel blogs.

Then I moved to Ukraine in the late 90s.

Imagine stepping off the plane and realizing you can’t read a street sign, the water smells vaguely metallic, and everyone looks at you like CIA for smiling too much.

Culture shock doesn’t knock.

It hits when the honeymoon ends and you’re in a Kyiv supermarket, staring at a slab of mystery meat, wondering if it’s pork or pigeon.

What to remember: Culture shock isn’t about distance. It’s a full-on identity dislocation.

And it sticks around long after your jet lag fades.

2. You Can’t Function Without Amazon Prime

A friend in France nearly cried when her curling iron adapter fried the plug and Amazon wouldn’t deliver a new one until next Thursday.

In the U.S., we’re spoiled.

Click. Confirm. Next day delivery.

Try that in Tbilisi, where I waited two weeks for parts to fix a 2010 MacBook Pro through a local Amazon forwarding service.

No overnight delivery.

If you break or lose something, you improvise.

Or wait.

What to remember: Moving abroad means swapping convenience for creativity.

3. You Hate Being Alone and Offline

There were days in Georgia when I had no Wi-Fi, no data left on the SIM, and no one nearby who speaks English.

So I did what any lonely expat would do: walked to a café, tortured patient waitstaff with broken Russian, and journaled like it was 2003.

Isolation isn’t just a lazy afternoon.

It’s a regular state, especially in the first few months.

If you can’t sit with yourself in silence, living abroad starts to feel less like and escape and more like a sensory deprivation tank.

What to remember: If you crave nonstop stimulation or approval, you’re going to unravel faster than a cheap hostel blanket.

4. You Crave Predictability and Routine

In Ukraine, I tried to set up a bank account with paperwork, ID, proof of address, and a utility bill.

The woman barely looked up and said, “Come back tomorrow.”

I came back and…

She was gone.

No reason. No follow-up.

That’s not an exception. That’s the rule.

The routines you took for granted like schedules, structure, and familiar groceries?

Gone!

Expecting a clean 9 to 5 system will leave you pacing outside a closed office with your to-do list and no one who gives a damn.

What to remember: Flexibility isn’t optional. It’s survival.

5. You Panic Without Customer Support

I once bought a prepaid SIM in North Macedonia that stopped working two days later.

I went back to the shop, receipt in hand, and explained the issue.

The guy shrugged. “Try another one.” That was the support.

Forget about hotlines and live chat.

In many places, “customer service” is either nonexistent or laughably unhelpful.

If something goes wrong, you either solve it yourself or live with it.

Sometimes both.

What to remember: You’re not in Kansas anymore.

And there’s no 1–800 number to fix that.

6. You Can’t Stand Bureaucracy or Paperwork

Registering my residency in Ukraine felt like auditioning for a low-budget spy thriller.

Multiple trips, rubber stamps, a hand-drawn map to the local office, and a woman behind a glass window who looked like she hadn’t smiled since the Soviet era.

If you hate paperwork, don’t move abroad.

Because the paperwork never ends. Visas, permits, registrations, renewals. And it’s rarely in English.

Bonus: nobody tells you the rules until you’ve already broken them.

What to remember: Bureaucracy is the hidden full-time job of every expat.

7. You Take Everything Personally… Even Stares

I’ve been stared at on public transport in Ukraine like I just landed from Mars, too many times to count.

I used to call it the “Ne Nashe” look, which in Russian, roughly translated, means, “not one of us.”

For me it was always strange. I’m a blue-eyed white man in one of the whitest countries I’ve ever been to.

Yet I was still, physically, considered “an outsider.”

Then came the double-takes when I ordered in Russian with an American accent.

But nobody’s trying to insult.

You’re new. Different.

Taking it personally will exhaust you.

Not everything is a microaggression.

Sometimes people are curious. Or they think you’re a lost celebrity from a B-list American sitcom.

What to remember: If you expect the world to understand and automatically give you validation, you’re going to be disappointed.

8. You Expect People to Get You Immediately

In Ireland, humor is dry and subtle. In Spain, it’s loud.

In Ukraine, sarcasm is a second language, but so is suspicion.

If you think being clever, kind, or smooth at home means you’ll thrive abroad, think again.

I’ve told jokes that landed nowhere, shared stories that missed entirely, and ordered soup in Romania that turned out to be pickled tripe.

It’s humbling and part of the deal.

What to remember: Abroad, you’re a foreigner first. The rest takes time.

9. You Get Easily Frustrated When Plans Change

I once had a bus to Tirana canceled two hours before departure. No refund. No explanation. Just a shrug and a smoke break.

My plan? Gone.

My backup plan? Improvised at a café with slow Wi-Fi and a stale pastry.

In many places, plans are more like suggestions.

Delays, strikes, holidays you’ve never heard of, these will wreck your calendar.

If your stress response is tightly wound to timetables, you’re going to come undone.

What to remember: The only constant abroad is change.

Sometimes sudden, often inconvenient, always unavoidable.

10. You Think It’ll Be Cheaper and Easier Than Home

A friend of mine who had relocated to Mexico once said to me, “You can live here cheap. Or you can live here well. But not both.”

And she was right.

While cost of living may look better on paper, the reality often involves trade-offs.

In Albania, my rent is low. But utilities are separate, prices for many other things are higher than I had expected, and my attempts at being frugal just make things harder.

Sometimes “cheaper” means cold showers, power cuts, bad internet, and more problem-solving than sunset watching.

What to remember: Cheaper is relative. Easier is a myth.

What Are You Really Getting Into

Still dreaming of expat life? Good. You should.

Just make sure it’s not a fantasy propped up by social media reels and beach photos with suspiciously perfect lighting.

Living abroad is powerful, perspective-shifting, and one of the most rewarding decisions I’ve ever made.

It’s also messy, unpredictable, and sometimes lonely.

Those who thrive abroad are the ones who walk in with their eyes wide open and their expectations checked at the door.

So what about you? 

What surprised you most when you moved abroad, or what fear is holding you back now?

The dream is still alive.

But it only works when you show up for the hard parts too.