Hi friends,

I've been thinking about confidence lately.

When I told people I was leaving my career to move abroad, I either got the response of "you're so brave" or "I could never". A lot of people said "I wish I had your confidence".

The funny thing is, I don't think confidence works the way most people think it does.

I wasn't confident this move would work out. Things like how we would find a good place to live or how my kid would settle into an entirely new school system genuinely terrified me.

Since we've been here, we've had the luxury of traveling to Europe often. But it was still scary to visit places where my language skills were sometimes laughably thin, or I didn't know the local transportation routes.

During our move and when we've traveled, I have run into many situations that I did not handle gracefully. But all of these "failures" have made me way more confident.

The thing is, screwing up made me realize how much I can figure out even after I've failed at it.

Every time you navigate a foreign airport, order food in a language you don't know well, or recover from taking the wrong train, you're gathering evidence that you're capable.

These days I rely on that evidence when I'm feeling low or doubting myself.

I'm pretty sure if you're reading this, you have some pretty good evidence too. So remember that you don't need confidence before you try something new. You're going to find it along the way.

The Travel Hack I Want to Try

I recently saw a video clip of a woman who tied a scarf around her headrest on an airplane and stuffed in the travel pillow that was provided for her long-haul flight. Voila, cheap instant travel sleep setup.

I initially thought she must be blocking the video screen for the person behind her, but those are typically lower than the headrest.

The idea kind of reminds me of the TRTL travel pillow that uses a scarf-like approach to propping your head up to sleep on the plane. I have one of these and it's the best solution I've found for comfortable sleep on a plane.

If you want that tried and true solution, the TRTL pillows are actually on sale right now with Amazon's Prime Days event.

​Click here to check out the Amazon sale​

Have you tried any travel hacks like this? I'm packing a scarf in my travel bag on my upcoming trip to the US, so I'll report back on how this scarf hack stands up against my TRTL pillow.

Get Your Move Abroad Readiness Score

Have you pondered the idea of moving abroad yourself? I know well how far the distance can be from "I'd love to move" to "I am moving". It can take a LOT of research to get prepared.

I recently created a short quiz to help people sort out how prepared they are for a move to the UK. It's sent automatically to new subscribers who have an interest in moving to the UK, but I thought some of you may find it interesting as well.

If finding your own move readiness score is appealing, you can access the quiz with this link.

That's all for now, but I'll see you next week!

Victoria

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