Just over 3 months ago I pretty much just up and left Vienna, the place I had been calling home for almost 5 years.
It’s been an absolute rollercoaster to say the least.
Call me crazy but I got the opportunity to work for a great company and I took it. Luckily, that didn’t give me much time to think or second guess my decision. I quit my job, I said my goodbyes and within about six weeks I was on a one way trip to Stockholm, Sweden.
A city and a country I had never been to before.
Moving has always been a part of my life. I moved to Ireland when I was ten, to Vienna when I was eighteen and I even spent six months in Australia during my studies. So this isn’t entirely new to me, but this time round I really was going in all alone – no family, no friends, no exchange buddies – just a job.
I’ve been here just over 3 months now and with so many new impressions, new people and a whole new world of work I feel like it’s been about an age longer – that’s a good sign right?
So here’s the great and the sh*t things so far
Clean slate
There’s something eerie about moving somewhere where nobody knows you. No one judges you on your past, just the present and you can just – be you. You get to live where you want (given you find an apartment), choose who to hang out with…the list goes on.
A new city to explore
Stockholm is truly beautiful, and I haven’t even seen it in Spring or Summer yet. I love exploring the new areas, it’s all very exciting and living in a city is so different to going there for a weekend. You get to know where the locals go, you get to pick and choose your favourite parts. And you get to fall in love with it, slowly.
Being homeless
When I first arrived in Stockholm, I had no place to live. All I knew was that I was staying with a couch surfer while I search for a new place. I had to move twice in 2 months, and this was all ongoing whilst being thrown right into the deep end in a new job. Stockholm is really one of the hardest cities to find a place to live and everyone kept telling how bad the situation is. But hey, challenge accepted. I got super busy, visited every place I could – from a cat-piss-smelling apartment to a semi-creepy old guys place but ended up in an amazing apartment smack bang in the center of Stockholm. And now I’m happy it happened that way, I got to meet cool people along the way.
Your faced with the real sh*t – the good and the bad
When you leave, you truly get to know who’s close to you, who’s important and who literally doesn’t give a sh*t – and hey that’s good to know too. No seriously, I am overwhelmed with the love and support I still get from all of my friends and family even though they are not here. Without them, this would have been so much harder and coming home is always a treat. You also really start to question who you are, who you want to be in this city? And how you are gonna create a new life here? It’s deep sh*t really.
Bureaucratic paper work crap
Personal numbers, banks, getting a swedish ID – ew. Just ew. Long queues, almost months of waiting for letters in the post, that’s the nitty gritty sh*t of moving abroad, the paper work. But on the upside of things, I’m European – moving to Sweden was jolly out when you compare it to the process others go through.
Missing people
This sucks sooo freaking bad. I’m just glad that Facetime exists and that I’m still in Europe.
Not understanding what the heck people are saying
This is super frustrating. Now don’t get me wrong, Swedish people like all speak fluent English so it’s not so bad. But not being able to communicate with people in their language is super frustrating, and I’m pretty sure they’re not as friendly to you too. But I’m on it guys, this is up to me so another challenge accepted – signed up for Swedish classes, check!
My podcast guests Simon did a great job of learning the language when he moved countries; listen to how he did that here.
People coming to visit
Because Stockholm isn’t so far away, people are coming to visit me regularly which is awesome. I love showing them around my new home.
It gets lonely
You’re in a new city, you don’t have a lot of friends – now what? Well, it’s winter time and everyone’s huddled up inside, yourself included because who the heck likes to go out when it’s dark all the time and freezing cold? Yeah sure you meet people all the time, but out of the bunch you meet, very few stick. And those few have their own lives set up. So it’s not easy and it takes time, but I can already feel it getting better and better. It takes me right back to my early days in Vienna. But now I have more of an idea and I’m a heck of a lot less daunted to go to events, to meet up with strangers and to do things I’ve never done before.
Hello discomfortzone
I was listening to the minimalists podcast the other day and they mentioned comfort. One thing that stuck with me was that “growth comes from a place of discomfort” and I couldn’t agree more. Doing something big like moving abroad and starting a new job is uncomfortable and sh*tty at times. But do you grow? Heck yes.
Have you moved abroad? What are your experiences? Or maybe your new in Stockholm too? Hit me up.
12 COMMENTS
René
4 years ago
Hey there 🙂
Totally agree with what you said, especially the part that you can only grow when you are in you are out of your comfort zone and the paperwork – yikes! I did not necessarily move abroad, but worked for 6 months in Australia, (we actually met in Brisbane 😉 ) while I am now on another 3 months work trip to South Africa.
I feel like there are better and worse days, some where you think you did everything right and you are just glad for the opportunity you have to experience something like this, some where you miss everything at home and just question why you are abroad in the first place. And this is where it gets complicated in my opinion because I noticed that many people do not understand that you can be rather unhappy being surrounded by beaches,etc. and while having the opportunity to go abroad for a while in the first place.
It gets easier when you feel like you’ve made your new place and city your new home, which gets difficult though when you do not master the language in the country. Not being able to communicate in the native language makes me personally feel like I am not part of the society… I notice that now with my lack of Afrikaans skills in the country.
But in the end I guess all the trouble with moving/working abroad is worth it, just because of how diversified you become, especially regarding your personality.
thelivilife
4 years ago
AUTHORHey Rene,
Awesome you got in touch again, of course I remember the cool time I had in Brisbane. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I totally agree with you. I think that’s a reason why I wouldn’t be as quick to move to Australia or America, it’s simply too far away from home for me. The beach thing too, I have been following people living the digital nomad lifestyle for a while now. And while you have beaches everyday, I think it could get very lonely too – it’s harder to have lasting relationships with people who are continuously moving around. That’s why I am doing my best to visit home often and hold on to those connections overseas. Will you be returning back home then or what’s up next after South Africa? I bet it’s an awesome place to travel to, an ex work colleague of mine is from there and another friend of mine goes regularly. Hope you are well and you enjoy the rest of your time there 🙂
Alexandra
4 years ago
Hej! I can totally relate to everything you wrote about. I myself went through a very similar situation and it’s nice to know I am not alone in it 🙂 Sweden is my sixth country to live in but it’s the first one I moved to for a undefined period of time and it’s scary from time to time. If you’re looking for friends “that stick” I would be happy to meet up for a coffee and see if we’re a good fit, but by reading your blog I already know we have a lot in common 🙂
thelivilife
4 years ago
AUTHORHi Alexandra, thanks for getting in touch 🙂 wow 6 countries, that’s quite a few – would love to hear more about it over coffee. You can get in touch on Facebook or Instagram (Link below my profile when you click on the round setting icon in the banner on top.) Looking forward to hearing from you.
Alexandra
4 years ago
I sent you a message on Instagram 🙂
Lukasz
4 years ago
Definitely can relate to almost all bullet points: flat search, bureaucracy, language barrier and loneliness. I moved her in the middle of June last year (got relocated by my company from Poland). Despite all the disadvantages listed above, Stockholm is a great place to live and I am slowly exploring it every day.
thelivilife
4 years ago
AUTHORHi Lukasz, thanks for the comment 🙂 yeah I totally agree and it’s also gonna give me the opportunity to travel around Scandinavia which I’m very excited about.
Glendora
4 years ago
Welcome to Sweden.
Been living in Sweden over 20 years and I love Stockholm archipelago with over 30,000 islands,
Lot`s to do;
***You can go swimming in the middle of Stockholm, since the water’s not all unbearably toxic.
***Everybody has ‘fika’ — the ritual of drinking coffee and eating a pastry — at least twice a day.
***There are 20 hours of daylight in the summer.
***The summer solstice is celebrated with Midsommar, a maypole-dancing holiday where the usually reserved Swedes go insane while wearing festive flower crowns.
***Almost every subway station in Stockholm is like an art installation.
***Sweden is the world’s third-largest exporter of music, after the States and the UK. Artists include the Knife, Robyn, Ace of Base, and, most legendarily, ABBA
***Pippi Longstocking was Swedish.
***The king’s former hunting grounds are now a totally chill public park
I am part of a global travel club and I enjoy travelling around the world. Thank`s 2our travel club been in over 20 countries.having fun and making new friends.
Etc…!
If you wanna meet for fika let me know.
Until then all the best to each one of you.
Stay Blessed!
thelivilife
4 years ago
AUTHORNice Glendora! That sounds lovely and are also things I love about Sweden and Stockholm 🙂 drop me an email at o.scheibelreiter@gmail.com would love to hear more about your travels.