Moving Abroad

(Last Updated On: July 10, 2019)

This is a sponsored post brought to you by Nuffnang.

Moving is one of those especially harsh, stressful, eyeball-busting, hair-grabbing events of life. It is one of those significant episodes in life that turns everything upside down – for good, or bad. Moving when you have kids is ten times harder. But moving abroad is a hundred times worse, I’d say.

I should know. My family has chalked up a record of sorts when it comes to moving. Moving as a young adult, checked. Moving with a young child, checked. Moving on my own whilst heavily pregnant and with a young child (my husband was working away so I had to do a lot of preparations on my own), checked. Moving with an infant (after giving birth) and a child, checked. Moving interstate, checked. Moving abroad, checked. Twice, in fact. Once from Australia to Singapore and the other time back, when we had a whole turnaround of plans (you may call us adventurous, spontaneous, flighty or plain restless). Our family photos are actually categorized according to where we have lived!

 

 

1. Singapore // 2. Trying to be romantic on the beaches of Darwin // 3. On the plane to sunny coast QLD (Yes, look at that cheeky little face. Very enjoyable plane ride we had!) // 4. Enjoying the beaches QLD // 5. Moved back to Singapore // 6. Just Ally and me living in Singapore for a while as Husband works in AU + I finished my degree // 7. Living simple for a while in an apartment room in Singapore // 6. Back to… a new place. This time, it’s Sydney and my little girl started school for the first time. // 7. In the last couple of years, we have been in Hunter Valley, NSW

There is nothing like completely starting from scratch that makes you feel more alive yet simultaneously nervous. Especially when we had a young child to consider back when we did our overseas move. It was nerve-wrecking, to say the least. We sold most of our possessions (furniture, vehicles and the lot), stored a few boxes of belongings at my mother-in-law’s and flew with only a couple of luggages, tired aching bodies and hearts full of anticipation for a new start. Despite having family in both countries, there was still a lot of stress in starting anew, starting from scratch and building a new nest.

I mentioned recently that we were considering another overseas move. While that will not be anytime soon, you can say my mind already sees straight into the future based on previous experience and my heart already knows all of the overwhelming work and stresses that we will be facing then. Whether it is a country I have experience living in or a completely foreign country, I think moving abroad is nonetheless, such a stressful event that it is always good to have some form of support or safety net in place. One less thing to worry about would be good and that is where Bupa comes in.

Many of us will know that Bupa offers domestic health insurance products but did you know that Bupa is also the only provider offering insurance solutions for inpats, expats and travellers? Bupa offers health insurance products for moving abroad, settling/having settled in Australia (e.g. on a 457 visa) or traveling.

Personally, I never knew about or thought to research such insurance products. Travel insurance is common but my misconception is that when you move abroad, you are pretty much on your own. For people like me contemplating the big move overseas, it would come in handy to know that Bupa offers 100% coverage on many treatments (whether from doctors, surgeons or other specialists). Worldwide cover also means you get 24/7 support and you can feel as secure and as supported as you do back home.

For a limited time, Bupa is offering a $50 virtual Visa Card for inpats and $100 virtual Visa Card when you take out the Bupa International Health Insurance. If you’re traveling, Bupa is offering 15% off for Bupa Health members. Make sure you take advantage of these offers if you’re looking for insurance!

Have you ever moved abroad? What was your experience? Do you think our family is a little crazy, well, adventurous-crazy? Did you know that Bupa offers insurance products to support you after you leave the country?

 

Linking up with Essentially Jess. Have you joined in my Luna Blu Julia Bag Giveaway?

 

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17 Comments

  • Moving overseas is certainly daunting, exciting and.. somewhat tiring. I’ve moved around quite a bit and am happy to have settled down for a while with the family. It’s not just the moving of luggage and physical possessions that is tiring, it is the uprooting of lives and seeing people come and go that can be heartbreaking and emotionally tiring as well.

  • OH my goodness. We are planning a big move back to Canada in a few years. I’m scared. We have one baby now but will probably have 2 then. Yikes. I guess I know who to write when I need someone who understands the daunting task! ahhhh!

    • Hey Jess! Gosh Canada is so far away. With 2 babies, it will be so difficult. I won’t be moving any time soon but the whole thing already is already daunting enough even if it’s still a good few years away.

  • I’ve moved from Melbourne to Perth and back again (the back again was with a 3 month old – not fun!), which is practically overseas:-) We’ve been with BUPA for about 4 years now and I have to say their customer service is actually brilliant (and no, I wasn’t paid to say that, but credit where credit’s due!).

    • Hey Bec! Haha actually, yes that does kind of qualify as an overseas move 😉 Nice to know your experience with BUPA has been great!

  • I hate moving! I hate packing and unpacking!

    The biggest move was moving to Australia with my family. Back then I was 14 so my parents did the hardwork.
    The 2nd biggest move was moving to Sydney after working in HK for 2 years – I went there with just 1 suitcase and I had apartment full of stuffs to move back. Can’t believe I accumulated so much stuffs in just 2 years! This time I had my husband who was my then-boyfriend to help me to organize the packing and the move. Still, quite stressful!

    • Tell me about it! I don’t know where half of our stuff come from either. Especially when we knew we were going to move around a bit, we didn’t even unpack a whole bulk of boxes. Yet we still ended up with heaps of things to pack for our next move!

  • Wow, Mandy. I really take my hat off to you! That’s a lot of moving and separation from the hubby – well done and you are one brave mama 😉 For our family, insurance is a complicated issue as we are from different countries and living in a country that is not native to us. We just get Japanese public health insurance and then our own personal insurance in our respective countries. For the bub, I figure we will get an Aussie one for him when we move to Sydney in a few years’ time.

    • It was very challenging but luckily I had a lot of help and support from family still. Wow your situation is quite complicated indeed! So many countries involved. Didn’t know you were moving to Sydney in a few years. That would be interesting!

  • Me and my husband are planning to move abroad, but we’re still dueling whether it will be Australia or the UK. Thank you so much for this article, it reminded us that there are many things we’ve overlooked and haven’t thought about. It was really nice to read about your experience!

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