Friendships came easy after constant relocation

Moving the family from Australia to Switzerland to the United States tested everything from housing and healthcare to mental load—but making friends turned out to be less exhausting than expected, especially once pressure eased.

When the family arrived in Switzerland, Naomi Tsvirko had already rehearsed a version of the new life. She pictured easy conversations in charming cafés. weekend adventures. and finding people who “got it.” What she didn’t anticipate was how quickly the real work of starting over would show up—not in who she could meet. but in the invisible systems that govern daily life.

Across three moves—from Australia to Switzerland to the United States—Tsvirko says she romanticized what “beginning again” would look like. In practice, the harder challenges weren’t the social ones. Making friends, she found, was often the easier part. The stress came from navigating unfamiliar healthcare systems. securing suitable housing. and carrying the mental load of rebuilding everyday routines from scratch.

Before the Switzerland move, Tsvirko worried that loneliness and fitting in would be the toughest hurdle, especially for her children. When they arrived, she tried to force momentum. She “said yes to everything,” introduced herself to everyone, and pushed friendships to form quickly. In her telling, it felt awkward—closeness without the time for closeness to grow naturally.

The tone changed only after she stepped back. Friendships became easier when she stopped treating connection like a task with a deadline and focused instead on building a life. She joined writing groups, took classes, found work, and met people through hobbies and interests. Those friendships, she says, lasted because they were built on common ground, kindness, and shared experiences.

Even now, living in different time zones, Tsvirko says checking in with some of those friends has been worth the effort, and that a portion of them remain close friends today.

Housing, by contrast, carried emotional weight in both countries. In Switzerland, finding an apartment initially seemed manageable. Tsvirko’s family relied heavily on Google Translate to understand listings and create applications. They had to decide which neighborhoods would feel most comfortable for English speakers. then discovered small cultural details they hadn’t considered before.

One example stood out: in Switzerland. it is common for rental apartments not to include light fixtures. meaning they would need to purchase and install their own. In-unit washing machines were also harder to find than expected. For Tsvirko’s family. laundry wasn’t a side detail—it was a major consideration because they have two children playing ice hockey. which meant endless amounts of washing.

Later in the United States, the housing hunt looked different, but Tsvirko describes the same sense of stakes. Instead of seeking out English-speaking communities, she and her family searched for a town aligned with their values. They wanted strong schools that supported both academics and the arts. along with access to competitive sports programs for their children. They eventually found a community that matched those priorities, but it took time. They rented for two years before buying a home.

Healthcare brought its own kind of uncertainty, shaped by the differences between the two countries. In Switzerland, language was a complicating factor even for straightforward medical appointments. Tsvirko says they found an excellent pediatrician. but she and her husband often avoided scheduling appointments unless absolutely necessary because they worried about misunderstandings. They also initially struggled to understand how insurance and billing systems worked.

In the United States, she described the challenge as almost the opposite. There was an overwhelming amount of information online about doctors and healthcare networks. Every physician seemed to have hundreds of reviews, rankings, and conflicting opinions attached to them. For Tsvirko’s family, that abundance didn’t make choices easier—it increased uncertainty. Ultimately, the recommendations that mattered most came through word of mouth. Conversations with other parents and local families helped far more than online review platforms ever did.

The hardest lesson, Tsvirko says, was learning not to rush anything. It was okay, she explains, to choose a doctor and then realize later they weren’t the right fit. It was okay to rent in a town that didn’t ultimately suit the family. It was also okay for some friendships to remain acquaintances while other relationships deepened slowly over time. During adjustment periods, she says, giving themselves grace mattered more than expecting immediate certainty.

Living abroad also forced the family to communicate more openly. When everything around you feels unfamiliar, Tsvirko writes that even small frustrations can feel magnified. She describes moments when homesickness and exhaustion clouded perspective, making challenges feel larger than they really were. Over time. she says they became better at grounding each other and focusing on what was working rather than what felt wrong.

Once the family stopped trying to recreate their old lives perfectly. Tsvirko says they became more open to appreciating where they were. Now. she describes the ingredients of a successful relocation as patience. humor. flexibility. and teamwork—and argues that with those tools. it is possible to create a sense of belonging almost anywhere.

relocation moving countries Switzerland United States housing search healthcare systems making friends insurance and billing parenting abroad community building