$$$$$

Ever wonder about just dropping everything and moving to another country?  How hard can it be, right? Find a place, ship your stuff, and fly out.  Even simpler if you already lived by yourself.  

As my husband would say, I don't mean to throw a stone at your parade, but it's a LOT of money and effort.  Unless you're a rich (or even a well off) person, you can't just wing it. Even things we've tried to save for this trip or money we've set aside weren't enough, and we needed help from the fam.  We've poured how much $$, you ask? How many hoops did we jump through? Let's see!

Our health insurance has to be paid for up front for the entire duration of our visa.  That means we had to pay for all five years of insurance at the time of our visa applications: 3,721.23 USD(each)

The actual visa application fee was for processing, photos, and fingerprints: 496.00 USD(each)

  • side note about that trip: apparently, my right ring and pinky fingers are not real.  I had come to this conclusion after spending 30 minutes at the visa application support center.  The gentleman helping me seemed like a new guy.  He hopped onto a station when he saw that the social distanced waiting area was getting a bit crowded.  He was all thorough and professional, but still seemed a bit nervous.  Though maybe that was because I came with problems.  See, Pedro has a hyphenated last name.  When we got married, he kept telling me, "Babe, get ready for trouble, especially with the government." So far, accurate. The system did not recognize my name. My passport, my state ID, my online application, all have my hyphen, but the computer wasn't having it.  He waved over a senior tech who mumbled something about "just use a space" and I believe my eyes widened over my mask.  The new guy sees me and says, "it should be fine;" not something you want to hear.  Then comes the problem with my fingerprints.  The system keeps giving me a big red X with "please scan correct fingers".  The new guy looks at me, I look at my own hand, and we look at the system again. "I promise they're real," I said, trying to lighten the mood.  He calls over the senior tech again.  The tech tries another 10 times to scan my fingers, cleaning the sensor and my fingers in-between; still a no go. Finally, he overrides the system and I'm left wondering if I'm going to be entering the country under a false name and two wooden fingers.
Our passports then had to be sent to the visa processing center in New York; not to be confused with your local support center, where they only take your picture and scan your fingerprints.  The recommendation is (of course) UPS Next Day Air (with tracking), plus a pre-paid return label: 130.85 USD(each)

Our 13+ hour international flight (that cannot touchdown in Ireland due to some relaxed boarder issues): ~948 USD

  • And since we're only taking over what we can carry in our arms, we each have a backpack, a carry on, and 2 giant checked bags.  We're probably going to break the scales with those...whatever we could squeeze in there, we did.
Baggage fees for 2 overweight suitcases: ~350 USD(each)

Securing an apartment overseas with no credit in the other country means we have to show some "good faith"...so the deposit and half the year's rent is expected.  And if you're thinking, "oh rent-free for a few months while looking for a job is nice", think again.  That 6 months only applies to the back end of the lease, so it is truly a show of good faith on both our ends.  Furthermore, a good apartment that allows a student AND a non student, in the vicinity of the University, is anywhere around 500 to 800 GBP.  Currently, the average deposit is one month's rent, so I'd say we're looking at 5250 GBP, which is 7221.59 USD.

If our current luck of applying to apartments is any indicator, we may not be successful until we actually land in Glasgow.  So let's add a week's worth of cheap hotel nights, 550 USD.  (Hey I said cheap, right?)

Have I thought about the food we'll be eating? The cab ride from the airport? Transportation for any potential apartment viewings? Nope. But so far the total is 10,629.29 USD.  Did I also forget to mention that we don't have access to Pedro's loans until after school starts? 

Since our move has a $10K price tag, I hope our family will enjoy the post cards...cause that's the only Christmas gifts we can afford.

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