After a decade in the US, we moved abroad to be closer to my husband's family. I wasn't prepared for my family's response.
· Business Insider
Courtesy of Angela Kingdon
- When my husband and I announced our move to the UK, I was surprised that my family felt surprised.
- My British husband had spent years in the US for me, and I'd always wanted to live abroad.
- I made a presentation explaining our choice to move, which helped us spark honest conversations.
In the spring of 2024, my husband, Paul, and I bought a house in England and were preparing to move that summer.
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We'd been talking about leaving the US since we started dating a decade prior, but now that it was happening, several of my family members seemed shocked. I kept hearing our decision to move was "weird."
The idea that my loved ones considered this decision "weird" stressed me out and left me feeling confused.
I've wanted to live abroad since I was an exchange student in Australia in 1989. Over the decades that followed, I considered moving to Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Serbia, Vietnam, and Canada, but life kept getting in the way.
When Paul and I got together, I had a shared custody arrangement and moving wasn't possible, so Paul, who is British, sacrificed and made his home in America. We agreed that when my son graduated from high school in 2024, we'd reconsider where we wanted to live.
In 2022, we began seriously exploring our options. We house-hunted in Ireland and Oxford before discovering Portishead, a seaside town near Bristol that reminded us of our former home on Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.
By then, Paul had spent roughly a decade away from his family. His mother had died, he'd suffered a major heart attack, and his adult son was settling down in England. We wanted to be closer to him as he started his own family.
I didn't think I needed to explain to my family why we were leaving
At first, I was surprised by my family's reaction to the move.Courtesy of Angela Kingdon
As moving day approached, I began to feel increasingly misunderstood.
I'd spent years talking about living overseas, and Paul had spent a decade away from his family to be with me. I knew our decision would be emotional for everyone, but I hadn't expected to feel as though I needed to justify it.
I was sad that I didn't feel I had everyone's full support.
I wanted to find a way to clearly explain myself to all of my family members at once, but I assumed they wouldn't read a long letter or text. That's when I got the idea for a photo-heavy presentation to refresh their memories and reframe the story.
I spent an entire weekend making a 33-slide PowerPoint presentation titled "Is It Weird That I'm Moving to the UK?"