The five tasks expats wish they hadn't skipped before leaving.

A 12-page pre-departure checklist, drawn from 2025 expat surveys, r/digitalnomad threads, and ExpatFire forums. The order matters more than people think.

What's inside

1. 01Mail forwarding setup — the $340 mistake most US-based expats make in year one.
2. 02Establishing a tax-friendly state of residency before you leave (TX, FL, SD).
3. 03The international debit card stack that avoids $200–$400/yr in foreign transaction fees.
4. 04The "things you ship with" cancellation list — the #2 expense regret in 2025 surveys.
5. 05Brokerage accounts that allow non-resident investing (and the ones that freeze you out).

Each task is sourced. No advice without a citation. No first-person travel claims — this is a synthesis of what expats themselves have said worked or didn't.

About the source

Port de Provenance is an independent research desk covering the costs, logistics, and lived realities of full-time travel. Every claim we publish carries a footnote pointing to a public source — survey, government data, forum thread, official rate. Where the numbers come from is the brand.