Moving To Thailand: My Last Month In Los Angeles!

Moving to a whole new country is already a stressful task, no doubt. Now, imagine that you have ONE MONTH to quit your job, sell all of your belongings, save money, sell your car, and pack up an entire apartment. To say that my last month in LA was challenging is an understatement. So, let's get into all that happened and why moving was THE BEST decision I've made--even with it being extremely hard!

Here comes the FEAR and DOUBT...

I'm not even going to lie to you... I was feeling SCARED. As soon as I submitted my resignation letter, I began to feel MORE anxious, MORE stressed and MORE doubtful that I had made the right decision. I was so nervous that I would fall flat on my face or that I would have to come back to LA with my tail between my legs begging for my sub-par job back. I don't know if you believe in prayer, but as someone who loves Jesus and believes in the power of God's word, I knew that I needed to pray and figure out my feelings before fear had a chance to steal this opportunity from me. So, on January 29th, 2024 right before bed, I prayed and ask God to give me a sign or show me that I was making the right decision. When I fell asleep, I had a dream that I was on a bus and the actor Ice Cube was on the bus with me. (random, I know haha) I remember that the bus ride was very bumpy and I was afraid and nervous about falling. As I was standing next to Mr. Cube, the bus suddenly jerked and I stumbled and fell over onto him. He grabbed me and said in a sure tone, "I got you." And I remember thinking, "Wow... he really isn't going to let me fall." Because when I fell into him, I remembered how STRONG he was--he didn't budge or even move. He was SOLID. When I woke up, I felt SO much peace. I immediately recorded the dream in my voice notes app on my phone and this is what I said:

"I feel like this is God's way of telling me that He's my rock, He's not going to budge. Like, God is not gonna let me fall and He's not gonna let me fail with this next decision. I feel so blessed about that."

From that day on, I made a choice to BELIEVE that God was going to work out every part of this journey. I was already in the habit of worrying and living a life of anxiety and I no longer wanted that to be my "normal." So, I took the peace I felt that night and walked in it EVERYDAY. (Luke 1:37 is real.)

People suck sometimes, and that's okay.

Now, I know this sounds harsh, but hear me out. I am the queen of giving people the benefit of the doubt. I am constantly trying to make things easier for others, but I often neglect myself in the process. This sabbatical, I'm learning, is so much more about how I treat/love myself than traveling or moving out of the country. One of the biggest things I've noticed as I made my decision to move was how many "friends" I lost. People who called me their "best friend" and people who swore they would always be there for me were nowhere to be found. I found myself dealing with all of my emotions, feelings, and dreams of this new journey ALONE. They aren't bad people by any means, but I came to realize that a big part of why I was unhappy was because I placed too much value on friendships and relationships that weren't pouring into me or reciprocating my effort. I gave and gave and tried and initiated and was never really poured back into the same way.

This "revelation" was crucial because I also had people (friends) who thought I was crazy and spoke against my decision. Many people in your circle simply won't know how to support you when you're doing something that most consider to be unorthodox. Most of the fear they expressed was simply their own fear projected onto me, so I didn't allow it to affect me. I did also realize that their opinions and words held no weight because we weren't as close of friends as I once thought we were. This helped me to stay focused and realize that this journey was going to be mine alone. 99% of my friends & family (even the good ones) wouldn't be able to relate to me in this particular season of my life, and that was okay. Knowing this freed me up from trying to share this journey with people that weren't supposed to experience it with me. I just had to keep myself aware of who my true friends were and pour into them however I was able. So, people will let you down, disappoint you, claim you as a friend even when they don't truly care about you, and tell you that you're crazy for your leaps of faith. Just trust yourself and your decision and you'll be fine. At least, that's what worked for me.

Transition Procrastination is REAL...

Okay, I don't know if this is even a real term, but it's the best way I could describe it. I began feeling so overwhelmed by everything (packing, quitting, moving, etc) that I began procrastinating. The logic of this really makes no sense because I was causing MORE stress to myself by putting things off until the last minute. What I found was that the fear I felt about my big move often made me feel undeserving of the success I might have if the move went well. So, to combat this... I wrote a checklist for every day of the week, (as well as bought THIS DAILY PLANNER to help me get organized and tackle things one by one.) My advice would be to split your tasks into daily to-do lists and focus on one thing at a time. No matter how big the task, you'll get it done if it's broken into smaller pieces. :)

THE PRACTICAL STUFF

I wish I could tell you that moving across the world was one- dimensional, but I'd be lying. Beyond the emotional and psychological preparations one must take to ready themselves for a journey like this, there are practical things that MUST be done in order to ensure that your trip is as stress free as possible.

The travel influencer in me LOVES to pack, but this is normally for short trips. Packing for the year, (or indefinitely,) is a totally different story. Packing in this case included donating heaps of things to Goodwill, throwing away things that I no longer used or needed, and being honest with myself about what things I wanted to return to once my journey was over. Start packing AS SOON AS you make your decision. It'll help you to feel more grounded in your choice and keeps you aware that you're about to make MOVES! :)

Check out my Amazon Store for my go-to travel must haves!

LOOSE ENDS

Along with packing, I had to begin tying up the loose ends that would otherwise cause issues for me while I was abroad. This includes things like:

Securing an international phone plan
Checking in with your bank to make sure your cards can be used abroad

Asking for a reference from your former employer (Good for future)
Setting up auto-pay for bills you still have in your home country
Getting prescriptions filled for medications (3-6 months worth)
Getting a digital address (if you're leaving for more than 6 months.)
Making copies of ALL your important documents
Getting a storage unit for your belongings.
Throw a "going away" party-- CELEBRATE this new chapter!
Start looking for an apartment in your next country.
Set your email to "away" for the first 2 months of your trip (This gives you time to acclimate to your new environment without feeling pressured to get back to everyone right away. TAKE YOUR TIME.)
Return anything borrowed. (In my case, this was library books) haha

MY FIRST MONTH IN THAILAND!!

This wonderful journey is ongoing for the entire year of 2024 and 2025. If you want to see how I ended up swimming on a beautiful Island in Italy or jumping for joy in Dubai, please continue reading.

I post (2) new blogs every week, as well as videos on YouTube and TikTok. I can't wait to share every step of this journey with you! If you have specific questions, shoot me a DM on INSTAGRAM.

Would love to hear from you!

Until our next adventure,

You're LOVED & CAPABLE of living the life of your dreams.

-Joza

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