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As an introvert, or as a young adult asserting your independence, you might choose to live alone on purpose. Alternatively, you might plan to move in with siblings, cousins, friends, or acquaintances, but these potential roommates flake on you, or their lives go in a different direction. They decide to pursue a master’s degree in a different city, or they move in with their significant others instead.

In any case, you’re currently living alone in the apartment you just moved into, and you might live alone for a year or more. Even the most independent introverts suffer mentally and emotionally when they spend too much time by themselves, so you have to watch for signs of loneliness and isolation. You also need to know what to do when you feel lonely. You’ll find all this information below.

Dangers and Signs of Loneliness-Based Depression

Loneliness can make you depressed, even if you’re an introvert. If you move to a new city with no friends or no contact with your loved ones, and you live alone, then your isolation could lead to depression. Some signs of loneliness-based depression include:

• Higher stress levels even when you experience normal stressors, such as work or school
• A drained feeling after social interaction, even though you wish for human contact
• Higher blood pressure and tension throughout the body, which constricts the blood vessels and leads to less oxygen and fewer nutrients reaching your cells, which in turn lowers your immune system’s strength
• Weight gain
• Insomnia when you go to bed and lethargy or exhaustion when you wake up
• Decreased memory function and increased learning difficulties

When these symptoms wear down on you long enough, they could lead to other complications as well. Additionally, should you feel more emotionally unstable, vulnerable, or sad, these feelings can also indicate that isolation has taken its toll. So, you have to build social interaction into your regimen to boost your chances of staying mentally healthy.

Ways to Combat Loneliness When You Live Alone

Nobody deserves to feel lonely or isolated. You should do the following if you suspect your alone time has had an adverse effect on you.

1. Schedule a Time to Call or Video Chat Your Friends and Family Every Week

You might live thousands of miles and several time zones away from your friends and family, but you should still speak to them face-to-face at least once a week. You have many video chat platforms to choose from, even from social media and Internet giants like Google or Facebook. And if you can, talk to them more often, even if you bounce written messages back and forth.

2. Do Yoga, Work Out, or Go for a Run When You Wake Up Every Morning

Physical activity relieves the stress of isolation, especially if you exercise in a public place like a gym or a class. Even if you just go for a run, you’ll give your mind some respite when you pass other people on the street. Exercise also releases hormones that improve your mood, so you’ll feel happier anyway.

3. Stick to a Healthy Diet-Don’t Consume Too Many Sweets and Carbs

You might want to eat all the chocolate you can get your hands on when you feel down. However, stick to fruits and vegetables because they’ll keep your metabolism up and fill your body with health- and mood-boosting nutrients.

4. Join Clubs, Study Groups, Churches, or Other Organizations in Your Area

You can’t see your friends and family every day, so find other ways to regularly see people outside of work or school. Go to clubs and study groups if you’re a student. You can still join community groups even if you’re not a student. Find an organization to spend time with, and make friends there. Make sure you go outside to participate with a group once a week at least.

You shouldn’t feel down after a move. That move should signal the start of a new adventure and count as a positive step instead. Use the tips above to stay optimistic if you’ll live alone. And if you need more tips on making the best possible new start after a relocation, check out our other blog posts.

Tagged in: independence, living alone, loneliness

When you envision yourself earning your undergraduate or graduate degree, you don’t see yourself doing it in the United States. You want to experience new cultures. You also want access to different programs and specialties than you’d find in the States. So you’ve decided to study abroad.

However, as exciting as the prospect seems, you have to keep the following in mind before you go. If you don’t prepare properly, you could find yourself in some frustrating and difficult situations. You could even lose the opportunity to go to a foreign school. But as long as you remember the information below, you shouldn’t have any problems.

1. Find Housing Before You Leave

Most schools offer the option of on-campus housing. However, if you don’t have on-campus housing, you cannot just show up at the school and hope that things work out. Look for apartments in the area so you don’t find yourself homeless. You don’t want to use a hotel as a backup-this tactic will burn through your finances. Sign a contract with a landlord in advance so you can easily move in.

2. Finish Your Visa Before You Book Your Flight

If you, like most people, like to buy your airfare in advance, make sure you finish your student visa in advance as well. If you show up in a foreign country with an unfinished student visa, the border agents will send you straight home. Even if you have partially finished your visa, and even if you have a valid passport, you will need a completed visa-usually glued into your passport-to enter the country.

3. Arrange to Stay in Touch with Your Friends Back Home

When you go to school abroad, you’ll have to maintain long-distance relationships with everyone you care about. And these people still have to worry about their everyday schedules, so they might not have time to catch up with you if you don’t prepare beforehand. Arrange to keep in touch by phone or by email. Establish a regular schedule for calls and emails too.

4. Study Different Cultures’ Etiquette

What passes for polite or allowable in America may not have the same reception in other countries. For example, some cultures may feel offended if you chew gum in class. Others may feel uncomfortable if you wear clothes that expose your shoulders or show the bottom of your shoe. Research cultural faux pas in your new country to make sure you don’t rub anyone the wrong way.

5. Pay Attention to Exchange Rates So You Know How Much Money to Save

An American dollar isn’t worth the same as a British pound. When you travel to a foreign country, you have to pay attention to the exchange rate, or the worth your national currency has against money in the country where you’ll study. The dollar usually has less worth than a pound or a euro, but it often has more worth than other currencies. Keep the exchange rate in mind as you plan your budget.

6. Find Out if You Need a Foreign Bank Account

In some countries, the university gives you a student account, so you do not have to worry about this step. However, others require you to have a local bank account in addition to your US one before you can receive loans and scholarships. Ask your school which policy they use.

7. Look Into Other Unexpected Costs, Like TV Licenses

Do you have a subscription to Netflix and other online TV services? If so, you might have to get a TV license before you can watch videos in a foreign country. These licenses do not cost much, nor will you have to deal with them in every nation. Research the laws in your school’s country to learn more.

Before you let your excitement overwhelm you, make sure you’ve considered everything in the list above. Additionally, don’t think that you have to relocate your belongings all by yourself. If you have several items to move and no idea how to get them overseas, talk to a moving company for advice.

Tagged in: Abroad, Overseas, school, study abroad

There’ s a saying in the office that the real heavy lifting starts before the movers arrive. From forwarding your mail to finding home service providers in your area, there are countless tasks you have to complete in preparation for making your new house (or apartment!) a home.

To save you pre-moving stress and headaches, Wheaton World Wide Moving offers Updater to our customers! If you haven’t heard of it, Updater is a web app that simplifies the moving process. Whether it’s quickly finding utilities providers in your area or updating your magazine subscriptions with the click of a button, Updater will save you hours during your move.

Here’s what you can do with your Updater account:

Update your accounts and records

Frequent flyer accounts, alumni associations, magazine subscriptions —Updater makes it easy to notify the businesses and organizations you care about of your new address.

Forward Your Mail

Save the trip to the Post Office by filling out your official USPS mail forwarding form directly within Updater. Connect

Utilities & Home Services

Updater connects you to the utilities providers you need to set up in your new home. Additionally, Updater’s personalized Moving Concierge helps you find the best deals on Internet, cable, phone, and other home services in your area. It can even schedule installation on your behalf!

Claim Exclusive Moving Deals

Looking to save money on moving supplies, furniture, and more? Updater offers deals at local retailers to help make your wallet happy.

Send Moving Announcements

Don’t forget to keep friends and family in the loop! Updater’s digital moving announcements let you add a personal message and even link to your new address on Google Maps.

Tagged in: address update, tools for moving, Updater, web app

New job has you relocating to a city near snow-capped mountains. Here’s the tough part: you’ve never lived near a mountain range. What are you supposed to bring? What should you leave behind? Will you need new clothes, new shoes, or a new car? In the following tips, we answer all of those questions and other related queries. Read on to learn everything you need to know before you move.

1. Weed out Unseasonable Clothing

Every mountainous region is different, and so are the cities near them. People who live in Scottsdale, Arizona may get to wear flip-flops and shorts a good chunk of the year. People who live in Denver, Colorado, however, may only get 8 or 10 weeks of summer weather.

Take a good, long look at the weather in your new town. How long is the summer? Depending on where you move to, the summer could be fairly marginal. Many mountainous areas experience cool weather in the summer, spring, and fall. You may need to weed out your sundress and cargo shorts collection in favor of more weather-appropriate clothing.

2. Purchase Weather-Resistant Clothing

Mountain areas experience many different kinds of weather: snow, wind, rain, hail, cold, and extreme sun. If you’re moving to a city at the base of a mountain range, you’ll experience this varying climate. You’ll need a raincoat for wet days. You’ll need a soft shell, mid-weight jacket, for cool fall and spring days. You’ll also need a winter jacket and, likely, snow pants. To stay comfortable, your apparel should keep you dry and warm.

3. Get Appropriate Footwear and Micro spikes

Because it snows and rains, sometimes without much warning, living in a city near the mountains means you need appropriate footwear. You’ll want sturdy boots for the winter and galoshes for the muddy spring.

Consider buying micro spikes if you’re moving to a cold, humid region like Anchorage, Alaska, where there are a lot of icy sidewalks and roads. Come summertime, you can forgo the micro spikes and wear your favorite shoes around town.

4. Adjust to a New Lifestyle

If you’re relocating to a mountain region, you might experience a shock. Depending on where you move to, the mail may take longer to arrive. The more remote you are, the longer the delays-especially if there’s inclement weather. Some businesses may even close after dinner because cold temperatures drastically reduce foot traffic.

5. Be Prepared for Outside Fun

Cities near the mountains do not have the same bustling nightlife of major cities like Los Angeles or New York. Professionals and families in these areas spend their disposable income pursuing outdoor adventures like mountain biking, rock climbing, and skiing.

Even if you aren’t particularly athletic, you might find you love wildlife photography, national park visits, and other outdoor endeavors.

6. Buy a Car With Four-Wheel Drive

When you add precipitation to a mountain road, you get potentially perilous road conditions. A car with four-wheel drive is a necessary part of mountain travel.

In winter, snow tires are also important. The rest of the year you’ll still need tires with tread to make it up hilly road when they are slick. Without four-wheel drive and appropriate tires, you put yourself at risk for getting stuck.

Before you start packing, consider hiring a professional mover for your relocation. Professional movers can guarantee that your belongings will arrive at your new home, regardless of weather and driving conditions.

You’ll feel relieved when you show up at your new home and all of your possessions have arrived safely and on time. Contact a moving company and get guidance through the ins and outs of your relocation to the mountains.

Tagged in: Mountains, moving, Outdoors

You’re in love. After years of balancing your dating and professional lives, you and your significant other are finally moving in together–and you’re delighted.

Despite your excitement, you are about to merge all of the items in your apartment with all of the items from your spouse’s apartment into a combined space. If you don’t plan this transition efficiently, it could be a logistical nightmare.

Before you put strain on your relationship and add tension to your living situation, review our top three tips for moving in together. Read on to learn more.

1.) Choose a Home That Meets Both Your Needs

So many factors come into play when you choose to live in a new place. With couples, the two most important factors are space and price. You’ll want to know you have enough space for both of your items, and that you’ll both be able to afford the rent or mortgage.

Money puts pressure on every relationship. If you make more money than your spouse, try to choose a home that’s within his or her price range.

One person often moves into the home the other person already lives in. While this type of move may be temporarily convenient and cost effective, it may make organization within a combined living space very challenging. For example, if your boyfriend lives in a one-bedroom apartment, then you’ll be combining both his and your stuff into a space that’s ideally suited for one person.

It may be better to wait until you both sell your homes, or until your respective leases are up. As you wait, you can both weigh in on your new living space. You’ll be able to rent or purchase a new home with sufficient space and the amenities you both require.

2.) Create an Inventory of Both of Your Items, and Eliminate Redundancies

Let’s say you and your significant other love to cook. Your passion for all things culinary is what brought you two together.

Because of this shared activity, you both own food processors, pizza stones, bottle openers, wine racks, and other cooking utensils. Therefore, when you move in together, you’ll be combining two kitchens’ worth of items and trying to pack those items into one kitchen. This is a recipe for disaster.

Mitigate item overflow by creating an inventory of you and your spouse’s items. Note what you have that your spouse also has. If you have the same items, decide which item you are going to keep and what you’re going to do with redundant items. You may want to get a storage space. Or, you may want to have a garage sale and get some extra cash for that food processor.

Repeat this process for your furniture, linens, window treatments, books, and bedding sets. The more meticulous you are, the fewer redundancies you’ll have in your new home.

In addition to reducing redundancies, a written inventory lets you see what your new home will need. Figure out what your new home won’t have, and shop for those items together.

3.) Hire a Professional Moving Company

Nobody likes moving. It’s physically strenuous. It’s stressful. It’s mentally draining. You want your new life with your spouse to be fun, caring, and serene. You don’t want to be fighting over who packed the mirrors and where they are. You don’t want to hassle over the cost of the moving truck. You don’t want to pack, load, and unload two homes-full of belongings, and then unpack them in a new place.

Instead of doing it all together, hire a professional moving company to pack, load, unload, and unpack you and your spouse’s things. An experienced international moving company will know how to quickly and efficiently relocate you, your significant other, and both of your possessions.

Tagged in: Cohabitation, Moving In, relationships

You know you need a passport and a visa to move to a foreign country. But what about your family members with fur, feathers, or scales? Do they need a permit to cross international borders as well?

Wild and stray animals freely cross borders all the time, so it may seem counterintuitive that your healthy, domesticated animals would require paperwork of any kind. However, your pets will require documentation, and the amount of documentation will depend on the country you move to.

This blog post can’t cover the pet relocation requirements for every country in the world, but it can give you an overview of the basics so you know what to expect. Remember that you should start the documentation process for your pet several months in advance, just like you would do for your own documentation. Read below to learn more.

1. See If You Can Legally Bring Your Animals into the New Country

If you have a fairly common pet, like a cat or dog from a popular breed, then you won’t have any trouble taking it to a new country as long as you follow the steps in this post. However, if you have a more exotic pet, you might have trouble moving it across borders. You’ll have a particularly difficult time if your animal comes from an endangered species.

You may also have trouble if you have a cat or dog from a dangerous breed. Some countries restrict dogs and cats from breeds that have a reputation for violent temperaments. Even if your pets are sweet and well-behaved, you may have trouble getting them into the country. Explore your options beforehand.

2. Research Permits and Pet Passports for Your New Country-Even If You’ll Live on a Base

No matter what, you will need permits and pet passports for your furry, feathery, or scaly pets. The type of permit or passport depends on the country, so make sure you do your research long before you leave. Keep in mind that you may need this documentation even if you’ll live on a military base. After all, you’ll likely take your animal off the base during outings.

3. Schedule a Checkup with Your Veterinarian and Solve Health Problems Beforehand

Many countries require that people have medical examinations before they travel. The same goes for animals, so take your pets in to see the vet before you leave. The vet may need to give your animals more vaccinations before travel, especially if you move to a country with lax health restrictions or more pet diseases. Keep all the documents from your vet as proof of vaccination and other treatments.

4. Move during Non-Restrictive Temperatures

Some countries may restrict you from bringing your pets during seasons with severely cold or hot temperatures. These polices are meant to help your pets, since some animals don’t acclimatize well if they suddenly experience extreme temperature. If possible, plan your move around seasons when the new country will have similar temperatures to your current residence.

5. Determine If Your Pet Will Face Quarantine

Usually, if you have a pet passport, arrive during the right season, and take your pet to the vet for all the necessary preparations, your pet will completely or partially avoid quarantine. However, quarantine measures vary from country to country, so you may still face separation from your animal family members for a time. Research quarantine times in your new country so you can prepare in advance.

International moves often prove tricky, even when you don’t have pets. Learn how to navigate them with ease by reading other posts on our blog. You’ll start your international adventure on a good note instead of a stressful one, and that can make all the difference when you adjust to a new culture.

Tagged in: International Moves, Pets, relocation