It was a calm Wednesday morning as I sat alongside my son drinking tea and watching cartoons. Then, I remembered to check my email and the moment I have been waiting for happened.
My lawyer sent me an email titled “Congratulations” and I knew WE WERE FINALLY ABLE TO MOVE TO ICELAND!!!!
Researching A Life Abroad
My husband and I first considered moving abroad in 2016 for a variety of reasons. Though, at the time it was entirely hypothetical. I spent countless hours searching through internet forums filled with American expats, researching paperwork for various countries, and looking for jobs abroad.
Over the course of the past 7 years we’ve considered Canada, Vietnam, Germany, Sweden, New Zealand and Iceland.
I’ve filled out job applications for positions in New Zealand. I’ve downloaded the paperwork for Canadian immigration. For three months last year I even studied Swedish. All of the different countries ended up not working out for one reason or another, but that didn’t stop me from devouring memoirs of people moving abroad or raising their children in Europe.
So, I kept researching. One thing I noticed was that Nordic countries always topped the global charts for safety and happiness–my primary focus.
Around 2021, I began to research more about Iceland. Some friends of mine went there, I read through articles, memoirs, history books, and more. I followed American expats in Iceland on Instagram and recognized that it might hit all the major points we were looking for in our move.
Visiting Iceland
Guys, we visited Iceland. In October 2022, my family and I took a weeklong trip to Iceland, staying in Garðabær with day trips into Reykjavik.
It was GLORIOUS.
More specifically, it was peaceful.
Peace is an underrated state of being and one I lost sight of for a long time. Regardless of where I’ve lived over the past 30 years of my life, I can’t remember once feeling the peace I experienced in Iceland.
Not in Ohio.
Not in Japan.
Not in Colorado.
Every place I’ve lived still occupies a part of my heart and served me well for what I needed at the time. But, right now, Iceland is what I need. Iceland is what my family needs.
AND IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!
(Please excuse all the caps lock, but it’s the only way to convey the volume at which I’m screaming to myself as I type this.)
Life is MESSY
So….I had a really solid plan. I’d crunched the numbers, run my finances and then life swiftly reminded me that plans are nothing more than hypothetical daydreams.
My income stream that I had stopped abruptly due to a change in corporate processes and I’ve since sent approximately 253…You read that right. 253 applications to other contract positions with little to show for it.
It’s awkward to put out there, but I know I’m not alone. LinkedIn specifically enjoys letting applicants see how many candidates they’re up against and I’m one of 1,000+ to not get these positions sometimes.
That system seems broken, my family and I are lucky, we have some options. I can pay my salary like I stated in my immigration paperwork, I might just not like where it comes from for a while. That’s okay and that’s beside the point because maybe. Just maybe. Life is trying to tell me to stop scrambling and putting off my life’s work.
Writing has been my passion for years and I have 7 complete manuscripts to show for it. Though, none of them are published…yet. Nia’s Rescue Box will be out later this year through self publishing which I am learning as I go. (Make sure to check out the kickstarter rewards, we’re nearly halfway to our goal! I’m also getting more deeply involved in causes and stories I want to share.
Who Knows?
Trick question. Nobody knows the future. I have no idea where I’ll be living a month from now, but I’m hoping it is on the other side of the Atlantic!!
I’ll be attempting to live the dream while keeping my severe anxiety under control and maybe even publishing some books (whether independently or through a publisher).
If you want to see pictures of puffins, northern lights, whales, and all things Icelandic, make sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok. And stay tuned for my Author Spotlight tomorrow with Maria Faust Bostian!
