What am I going to do from now? This is the main question an expat spouse asks herself once the move is over, the furniture is in place, the kids are happy to go to their new school and the husband is on a business trip. Yes, because you moved to be closer to his new job, but in fact, he is never at home.
Never mind. You decided nothing can put you down and you start a lot of activities: yoga of course, but also the choir -even if you sing like a duck-, and you join most of the social activities of the kids’ school. You meet a lot of people, different people. You realize some of them could become your friend... like the nice lady you met at the last class meeting - even if she told you she was leaving next year... And the other lady? Oh too bad, she is working full time...
Realizing you need to learn the language to find a job - even if you do not really intend to work here - you start intensive classes; it is true knowing at least the basics helps for meeting the locals... that you actually never meet because your life is built around expats. But you still go for it. It keeps your brain in action... And it impresses your husband too!
So, at some point, when the honey moon period with your new country is over, you enter a routine, you have a "schedule" but still, something is missing: A PURPOSE. You start asking yourself: "What am I going to do during those next three years I have ahead that would really make me happy?"
On the dozen social media's groups you joined since you arrived, you've read about those women who decided to start their own activity or business while they were expats... So would that be a solution? Freelance work, e-commerce, blogging, coaching, teaching, consulting... There are tons of opportunities to start your own activity; the difficult part is to decide what to do, and to make sure your project is portable so, when you move, you do not have to start it all over again!
Actually, expatriation is THE best time to start a personal project or even a business, or at least to think about it. Why? You are in a kind of cocooning period: you have time to think about something new you would love to do without people around you sabotaging your ideas. It is also the period when you get used to leave your comfort zone: you are not afraid of challenges anymore. You are living in a new environment, and that brings you new ideas. But most of all: you are worth it and you feel you need to do something that makes sense.
From expat spouse, you will become expat entrepreneur, a far more rewarding process.
ECD-Expats in Gothenburg Sweden was created to give expat accompanying spouses the opportunity to explore their entrepreneurship skills and to start a project. If you consider this is a plus for the expat spouses' community,please comment or contact us !
