The Moth

It has been a week since I used a one way ticket to move from the UK to the USA. Closing down my life in the UK was a strainful experience and now I need to open a new one in the US.

There are tons of things to do in order to settle in – it is what I call "getting a life". I am sharing this list below partly for my tracking, partly because it may be of interest to anyone else going through the same relocation and partly so those of you that interact with me in person know where the stress is coming from:

1. Rent a mailbox for a year (redirecting mail from UK)
2. Move into temporary accommodation for a couple of months
3. Rent a car for a month
4. Communicate with legal parties to finalise the L1 Visa process
5. Get acquainted with area e.g. grocery stores, how to drive to work etc
6. Receive the AIR shipment of personal belongings (10 large boxes) and unpack
7. Get a new mobile phone (number + device)
8. Open a bank account
9. Apply to get pre-approved for a mortgage
10. Start house hunting, make offer, buy, move (this can be a whole list on its own)
11. Get a Social Security Number (SSN)
12. Get a credit card
13. Have driving lessons
14. Take driving written test (after learning some new road signs)
15. Take driving test and hence driving licence
16. Buy car (do this via a loan in order to build some US credit history)

And last but not least:
17. Settle into new job / role

Another reason I am sharing the above is so those of you staying tuned on the RSS feed know why it is going to be a quiet summer... I can't wait to get through to the other side of all that and start sharing with you the coolest stuff coming in the next version of Visual Studio ;)