Nobody’s first week in a new country should be spent on hold with a bank or hunting for a SIM card. The admin that ruins those first days is almost always the admin you could have done from your sofa a fortnight earlier. Here’s the short list we’d sort first.

01

A way to spend — and get paid

Open a multi-currency account before you leave, while you still have a stable address and good wifi. You want to land already able to spend without the markup and, if you earn abroad, already able to receive money locally. Sort this first; everything else assumes it. Our card picks are the place to start.

02

Health cover that crosses the border

A holiday travel policy is not health cover for a life abroad, and the gap only shows when you’re unwell. Decide honestly whether you need flexible nomad cover or a comprehensive plan, and have it active from the day you land. Here’s what we’d buy.

03

Connectivity for the moment you land

Install an eSIM before the flight so you have data the second you switch off airplane mode — and keep your home SIM active for the bank codes you’ll need. The arrivals-hall SIM hunt is a solved problem now. The eSIMs we’d install.

04

A roof — even a temporary one

Don’t sign a year’s lease on a place you’ve only seen in photos. Book somewhere furnished and mid-term for the first month or two, then choose properly once you know the city. It’s the difference between settling and scrambling. See Settling in for where to look.

05

The paperwork: visas and documents

Check the visa or permit you actually need early — it almost always takes longer than you expect, and the requirements are easy to get wrong from afar. Start it weeks before, not days. Our Settling in picks include help with exactly this.

“The people who settle fastest aren’t the bravest. They’re the ones who did the boring half from home.”

Do these five before the flight and your first week is free for the actual point of moving somewhere new — the place itself.