Freak outs and reassurance

Lest anyone think this is the greatest Adventure ever and we never question or doubt our decision  to move back abroad, let me tell you about my day yesterday . I woke up to 3 different emails, all from the relocation people, needing tons of paperwork from us. We had to pick our date that the movers will come pack everything and load. This is also the date we will leave Texas and head to Missouri. I think the actual timeline (of just over 2 weeks!)was a huge wake up call. Cue freakout.

For most of the process, once we actually made the decision, I have felt a peace about it and like it is the right decision. In fact, I've been surprised how non-stressed I've been about it. I should've known it was coming though. I'm pretty proud of myself that it happened only a month before we leave. That's progress! 

So today consisted of me asking myself questions like, "are we ruining our kids' academic career" ( the elementary schools are one of the reasons we wanted to move there). " What if they never learn the language, are lonely at school and never make friends?" (They already know a little bit and are picking it up fast when we practice). " Do I really want to walk/bike in the rain to get my groceries/home goods/insert anything that is outside of my house?" (really all I got here is that it's good exercise). "What if I drive myself and my kids into the canal while manuevering my big bike with a giant box on the front?"(let the record show that I have never fallen completely off my bike before and only one time did I mostly lay it down while doing a right turn).

Although the majority​ of my fears are unwarranted, the truth is, it's scary to uproot your family for any move, let alone an international move to a different country and culture. We had to weigh a lot of things before making our final decision, not the least was how far away we'd be from family. There are so many factors that go into making a decision like this, ones that can alter the course of your career (for good or bad), will change the way your family lives, thinks, and interacts with the rest of the world. We will miss out on typical milestone moments, like taking pictures of each of my kids climbing on the school bus for Kindergarten (does anyone even ride the bus anymore??!). We will miss out on family birthdays and BBQs . Last time we were abroad, my dad passed away unexpectedly and while we were fortunate to get to come back for a few weeks, it was stilldifficult not to get to be around family for an extended period of time afterwards. There are a lot of tough things you miss when you choose to move abroad and prior to this move, all those things have come rushing back. 

Moving abroad is an amazing experience and despite my momentary freakouts, I think anyone who has the opportunity should hop on the next plane out of the country. It will change you. It will change your perspective on the world. It will be tough and you will miss out on things but what you will gain is immeasurable. 

And now that I've reminded myself why we are doing this, it's back to filling out relocating paperwork.