#AskAmirah: What Made You Want to Move Abroad?

Michael Moore.

That’s the short answer. I actually based a lot, probably too much, of my life on Michael Moore documentaries growing up. But Sicko, his documentary about the American healthcare system really blew my mind and left me decided I was going to move abroad.

I was obsessed with this documentary. I thought it was groundbreaking to learn how different cultures around the world live, and the privileges they enjoy. I literally used to carry the DVD around (that sounds so ancient when everything is streamed now) and pressure people to watch it. I definitely brought it to a date night with Jarrell when we were in college. 

I’d never considered the details of other societies. Like, healthcare. I’d never thought of comparing destinations to live on a global scale. This opened things up for me. It put (don’t ask me why) London on my life plan.

I’d decided in middle school, I was going to go to Howard after Attilah told me about it. I basically wanted to do everything she wanted to do, so I was an easy sell. In high school, I decided I was going to leave my hometown after graduation and never return. In college, I decided after graduating from Howard, I was going to move to Los Angeles, then New York, then London.

When I decide things, they’re in my life plan. I write them as necessary, but there is always room for adjustment. Two years after I moved to LA, I hated my job and no longer felt the need to live in New York. I wanted to skip that step and go straight to living abroad. However, I was no longer set on London. 

I googled moving abroad and got an effective ad campaign for some service that would help you move to Australia with a work visa for $500. In retrospect I know that this was completely unnecessary. With my citizenship and age, I automatically qualified for a work visa in Australia. But for someone who had never traveled abroad, $500 was a cheap price for a little reassurance.

I was decided. I was going to quit my job and move to Australia, find a job, and live abroad. I was throwing Attilah a baby shower in our hometown, so I flew to Columbus for the weekend, and told my family the news. I told everyone. My parents nodded, quietly concerned because I seemed to do everything I claimed I would, and this was a bit radical. 

Jarrell picked me up from my parents to take me out to the movies, our forever favorite date, and I told him about my plan. We hadn’t seen each other in years. He was so excited for me. I was taken aback by how well he responded to the news.

For the entire weekend, he kept telling me how cool of an idea it was. Eventually, I asked if he wanted to go with me.

If you’re been following me for a while, you know this story. I did not return to LA at the end of the weekend as planned. I quit my job. We were married 2-months later. And we left to live abroad a year later. I’ll write more about our story in future posts.

Honestly, I was preparing for bed and realized I hadn’t written anything today. So, I picked a question from my Q&A on Instagram for this post. Thanks for the inspo! That’s what made me want to move abroad. A documentary. About healthcare. That should tell you everything you need to know about the randomness of me. Ha!

XOXO