Moving abroad these days isn’t just about packing up your belongings and saying goodbye to your friends and family for a year or more – it’s got a whole lot more exciting and complicated thanks to the world of technology. With an endless supply of apps, programs and memberships at our disposal 24/7, anyone can easily manage their life and loved ones at home while living in another country on the other side of the world.
Being an expat myself, living abroad has been such an exciting (and at times stressful!) experience, but in my six years living in the UK I’ve managed to pick up a few tricks of the trade for keeping in touch with family, and handling my life and travels along the way.
All of these resources can be managed right from your laptop and set up almost instantaneously – perfect for the time-poor and excitement-rich expats out there!
Here are my top must-have resources for anyone living abroad:
A Web Cam
In this day and age, everyone should have a laptop – that goes without saying! It doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive, but at the very least you should have a web cam so you can set up video conversations with your family and friends back home – everyone will want to confirm that you’re still alive after that weekend trip to Ibiza, and go on admit it – you’ll be happy to see their smiling faces when you’re feeling a wee bit homesick too!
Skype
Skype has revolutionised the way we communicate and is one of the main ways I keep in touch with my family and mates back home. Not only is it free to download and easy to use, but you get to look into the eyes of the person you’re talking to if you both have web cams – amazing! Calls from laptops to laptops are free, but if your parents are as techno-phobic as mine you can also purchase Skype credit to call any number, anywhere in the world. The rates are very competitive too, so there are pretty much no drawbacks!
Google Documents
If you’re living abroad then you are going to need somewhere to store important documents, photos and notes – and the best and cheapest way I’ve found for doing this is Google documents, by a long shot. Sign up for a google account and you’ll also have access to gmail and almost 8GB of storage – enough for hundreds of photos and pdf/word documents to be stored for as long as you need them. I keep everything I need backed up on here just in case something happens to my laptop, or if I need to access them overseas – it’s brilliant!
An iPhone
Love them or hate them, you have to admit, iPhones are pretty damn snazzy. While I do also like HTC products, I’ll always remain faithful to my trusty iPhone. You can pretty much do anything on it, and that in itself is the absolute best thing about them – from listening to music to downloading apps that can manage your finances, help you keep in touch with your social networks, provide city guides, discount vouchers and so much more! I use mine for booking restaurants, seeing what’s on in London as well as planning weekend trips to Europe – it’s a must for anyone on the go!
Award Wallet Membership
If you’re like me you’ll have a gazillion memberships to frequent flyer and loyalty programs but no time to manage any of them! Award Wallet stores all of your passwords for your programs and pulls together all of your totals into one neat dashboard. Great if you’re planning a flight home but can’t remember which airline you have the most points on, or working out who you should fly with. Best of all, it’s completely free.
A Bank Account At A Reputable International Bank
There are lots of decent banks out there for people living abroad, but personally I use HSBC and have been impressed by their service and help in the time I’ve been living in London. I’ve had cards stolen and lost, and have had my bank details forged while overseas, and each time they have been great at helping me get my new card quickly and recovering stolen money. At the very least make sure your bank has online netbanking and have measures in place for people travelling abroad frequently so that you are protected from fraud.
World Clock App
Living abroad means you’ll most likely be in a different time zone to home, and if you travel a lot for work or play then trying to figure out the different time zones can get quite confusing! I’ve got this App on my phone with the time zones for my parents and friends around the world, so it stops me from accidentally calling Mum at 3am if I forget the time difference after a few drinks on a Friday night – definitely worth it!
And The Other Stuff
You may also require things like mail forwarding, storage and insurance for your trip – these things can differ depending on where you are from and where you are going, but make sure you look into what you require before you move abroad. These services can all be managed online, so you’ll easily be able to keep up to date on your life from your lap top, wherever you are in the world.
Photo Credits – Thanks to blakespot and Wolfgang Staudt (Attribution License)
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