Six months in and I can already see the mistakes I made in week one. If you could go back and tell your just-arrived self one thing, what would it be? Let's save the newcomers some pain.
Slow down on the big decisions in the first month — I signed a lease under jet lag and mild panic that I’d have chosen very differently with two more weeks of looking around.
Ask more “stupid” questions earlier instead of quietly working things out alone. Nobody actually judged me for asking, I just assumed they would.
bring more cash than feels necessary for the first week, learned that one the hard way
Start the paperwork you’re dreading immediately rather than easing in gently first — the dread doesn’t shrink by waiting, it just sits there.
Following, taking notes for a friend who’s moving next month.
Don’t try to replicate your old routine exactly — build a new one suited to the new place instead of forcing the old shape onto it. Fought that for months before giving in.
OP here — Kwame’s lease point especially resonates, I did something almost identical with a phone contract of all things.
Keep digital copies of every document from day one in one organised place. Sounds obvious, wasn’t obvious to me at the time and I paid for it later.