June 2022 - Balancing It All

For those who didn’t know, I just made the move to Dublin, Ireland! It’s been almost 3 weeks at the time I’m writing this and it’s been quite the rollercoaster of events but I’m embracing all the obstacles, the good, the bad, the expected, and the unexpected.

I wrote about why I wanted to move abroad in the first place and in this post, I’ll explain why I moved to Ireland.

Why I Moved to Ireland

To vaguely recap, I’ve wanted to move abroad since about 2016 when I went to London to visit family.

Fastforward about three to four years later, I started to put my plan of moving abroad into motion. It was a very slow and long process. There were so many times where it felt like I wasn’t making any progress at all. Anytime I told someone I was making this move, I felt like I was lying because I didn’t have anything to show for it.

I eventually got my Polish passport which gives me the right to live and work freely in the European Union. That alone would open more doors for me without needing a visa to live in the EU. It also took a couple years to get. It’s not government work if it doesn’t take a long time, right?

(Side note: if you want to make a move like this and you have family abroad, read up on dual citizenship laws. Maybe you can do something similar! You may have to do some digging in your family tree but it’s definitely worth it.)

By the time I got my Polish passport, Brexit happened and England left the EU. This sucked because I got my Polish passport to make it easier to live in London and now that possibility seemed even further away.

Around that same time, I visited Ireland on my first solo trip. Usually, I’d be traveling with my cousin but this time, I went on my own.

I knew I would have a great time but I was surprised by how much I loved it. It was so easy to get around, everything was GREEN, the people were friendly, the food and drinks were excellent, and I had a blast even though I was mostly on my own. Staying in an Airbnb in town and getting around myself allowed me to briefly feel like a local. All these things influenced my decision to pick Ireland.

Granted, all those experiences happened as a tourist but I knew that the real deal would still be a lot of fun.

I toyed with the idea of going to another EU country but I decided to stick with Ireland. The thought of moving abroad to foreign country was overwhelming enough; I didn’t want the added pressure of not knowing the language or translating my CV when applying for jobs. I knew if I moved to Ireland, I would have an amazing experience and the transition would be a bit more seamless.

Now that I made my decision, I just had to execute it.

Want to Know More?

So, I’ve established why I wanted to move abroad and why I chose Ireland. The last part will go over why I decided to move to a foreign country in 2022. Make sure you subscribed so you’re the first to read it when it’s out!

Landscape photo I took of Glendalough in Dublin, Ireland. I had never seen anywhere so green before.

Why I Wanted to Move Abroad

My reason for moving abroad in the first place goes back about six years ago to 2016. I had just accepted a job at a large non-profit organization (it was my first big-girl job after stints at small businesses and startups) and I was going on vacation to London to see family. Things were finally looking up after many years of feeling stagnant.

There was something in me that just clicked while I was in London. I don’t know what it was; maybe it was just spending time with my cousins, enjoying the nightlife together, trying all the yummy foods London has to offer, or just taking the tube from one part of the city to another to explore. Something in me told me that living here would be really exciting. I didn’t really think beyond that, but it just seemed like a cool idea.

I’m a sucker for European cities. I love how close together everything is. Everything is easily accessible by public transportation. There are historical landmarks around every corner. There is no end of amazing restaurants and good cafes. Flying to other countries is way easier and cheaper than flying from the US. And somehow, everyone always looks so effortlessly chic even if they’re not trying. Are all those legit reasons for wanting to move abroad? Who knows? But that’s what fascinated me about Europe.

I was thrilled by the idea but felt a little sad because I just accepted a new job and I felt I had to honor that commitment. However, that didn’t shake my desire to move there eventually. I just had to be patient and figure it out.

Years went by and the thought still lingered in my mind. Each year I traveled somewhere new, it strengthened my desire to move.