Having moved to Brazil almost a year ago has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done in my life.  I say this after having lived in this beautiful country for the last 10 months, experiencing a life in transition, and building a new identity as I adapt to my new home.

Changing my life story from what I have known to what I have now chosen in my new life has been a fairly lengthy process, one that I am to this day co-creating.  Moving abroad to a new country is much easier said and agreed to even, than being done.  Especially when that country speaks a different language than your own, has a very different sense of culture and style, and none of my old family and friends, other than my dear husband and daughter.  This can seriously throw even the most grounded person off balance.  In this article, I will explain what it is like to move abroad, what to expect, and how to both plan for some of the changes you will likely experience as you become settled in your new home.  I will also outline some of the challenges that I faced, along with how my commitment to change and the support of my family helped me through this time, and what I learned in the process.  It just wasn’t that common a thing for people to move abroad until recently, unless you are a diplomat or the like, making it difficult to find this information even when I lived in the metropolitan city of Los Angeles, California.  However there are more and more people who are moving abroad nowadays, with the globalization of the world.  My intention is to help others planning to move or having recently moved to South America, or going through similar life transitions involving the change of significant roles.  Included in the final chapter, Part 7, are some great exercises to apply some of these lessons I learned to your life.