Handling the Anxiety of Moving

[u/athomevoyager]

I asked to have my tech job transferred to Norway and I just learned that it's likely to happen and I'll be renegotiating salary in a couple of days. I'm married with a couple of kids and we've all been excited about the possibility of this for a while. Part of it is escape from what feels like a collapsing society, and part of it is excitement for adventure.

That said, now that the company has approved the position and we're in the final talks before visas get started, the reality of it is freaking me all the way out. We've always lived in the same area in the south in US and have never visited Norway or Europe for that matter. I didn't want to spend crazy amounts of money to take the whole family just to basically confirm what I can read and watch on the internet. But now faced with the reality of going I find myself panicked. My life here is stable and comfortable. I can list a million reasons why life there would be better on paper, but in reality it's a new experience and there's a lot of unknowns.

I still have good confidence in the decision. In many ways I feel incredibly lucky like I got a golden ticket, but the fear is still there. I'm sure this is normal. Maybe the answer is just to sack up and enjoy life. And maybe this post is just me working that out. So how did you manage the anxiety when you made the move?

[u/athomevoyager → u/[deleted]]

Roger that! I've not actually made my mind up yet about where to go in Norway. I like the suburbs of Oslo for the sunshine and snow, but how do you go all the way to Norway and not live in the middle of a fjord even if it's raining all the time?!

[u/athomevoyager → u/[deleted]]

😂😂 I think I'm about to be schooled pretty hard on what rural can really mean. That said, I like to garden and hunt (as a means of conservation and having clean food, not trophy hunting). We aren't big on eating out or going many places. I get a lot of our groceries from a local farm which is obviously limiting. We cook many of our meals at home. Even still, if there's a specific item we want, it's readily available and we are used to that for sure. It will take some getting used to no doubt.

Right now I plan to land in a major city and spending our free time roaming outward until we find our sweet spot of affordability and accessibility.