An acquaintance of mine wants to move to Canada. Rather, her husband wants to. Naturally, I ask, if he's even from up north? I know she's from Texas, and I thought the husband was too, but I'm willing to concede if wrong... No need for me to concede...

"No, you're right, he's never really been up there. But, they have TV shows, and this is something that he seems interested in..."

At this point, I'm a little dumbfounded. Surely, this mother of two is either blowing smoke, or has some kind of strategy! The environmental changes to their lifestyle alone: it likely won't be easy to go from the fair (but warm) weather of Texas to blizzards & months of freezing. I press a little further- "So, what's the plan for actually making it the first winter?"

"Oh, that's easy! My husband's brother will let us stay in his place. I think it's a motor home, so may be a bit cramped..."

People, this is NOT a plan. This is even poor as a "solution." PLEASE, make a real plan before making moves that involve more than just yourself.

A PLAN for this experiment would include as many of these (and more) as possible:

Hours of online, phone, video, book research about Canada
- Start at a wide level (state), then narrow in to your likely housing areas (cities, counties, etc...)
- You need to know housing, special rules/laws, food & water, energy, neighbors/community, career opportunities, travel routes, and more...
Travel to the state/region & scout your moving areas. See what the land, housing, community is like in-person & compare to your research.
Talk with locals for career research and in-person networking.
- Try to schedule interviews for when you'll be up there touring/visiting.
Outline scenarios for mild, average, & harsh Winter/Summer seasons & plan for how to survive + thrive in the worst scenario(s).
Implement plan(s) to ensure that you can take care of yourself, your family, and anyone/creature that you are responsible for.

*You can probably apply this strategy (with some modifications) to any moving or relocation scenario.

That's what I think it really comes down to:

Can you take responsibility for your own life, act intelligently to survive, and manage your family/team/community to success as well?

If YES: Plan, Act, Reflect/Tweak... But, recognize that the PLAN comes first.

Hope you enjoyed the post. Let me know what you liked & think can be improved on in comments below.

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