[daveintaiwan]

I have moved countries several times and it is always a challenge.
The first time I moved I was saddled with an unsecured loan of £15,000, £5,000 in student loans and a credit card with a limit of £1,500 of which I had just used £800 to buy the plane ticket (my safety net was that it was a return ticket!), and I had about £300 in cash. Ten years on and several moves later, and my finances are looking a lot healthier for my move to Australia, but having said that, money has never been the biggest challenge of moving.
My most recent move was to Taiwan, and in the area where I live, 99% of the population do not speak any English at all. In the beginning, I spoke no Mandarin either, so trying to rent a place to live, organise the utility companies, buy food and any other number of normal everyday tasks soon became a comic performance of mime and crazy scribblings on pieces of paper. I feel my move to Australia will be a little simpler!
I think the three things that make for a successful move are planning, felixibility and attitude. It is rare that a move goes exactly to plan, so be ready to compromise and even think completely 'out of the box', and if people see things as a challenge rather than setback/problem then they'll probably fare better.