Preplanning for an International Relocation
Making an international move is exciting. You will experience a new culture, cuisine, and language. You will make new friends. However, the moving process can be overwhelming without appropriate plans in place. We have compiled a few tips to make your international relocation a smooth as possible.
Moving to a new home is never easy. Moving abroad adds a more complex dimension to the process. And the farther away your new country is from your current home, the greater your challenges will be in preparation for moving day. Let’s take a look at the 3 most common hurdles to moving overseas and how to handle them.
Do You Have a Home Lined Up?
If you are making a corporate move for work, you may already have at least a temporary home lined up for when you arrive in your new country. If you haven’t visited your new home town, you most likely don’t have a permanent residence and maybe not a temporary one either. Regardless, pack lightly and plan to purchase large items like furniture after you arrive and have a permanent home. If you can manage to rent or buy a place that comes pre-furnished, that would be ideal.
Objectively Estimate How Much You Own
It’s easy to overlook items in the garage or buried deep in a hall closet. Be realistic about what you own and what you will take with you. Since you’ll be shipping most of your belongings, instead of loading up a truck, most of the cost of taking your belongings with you will depend on their weight, rather than a flat fee for a moving truck. For instance, if you have a large book collection, you most likely won’t want to pay to ship them overseas. Perhaps a family member or friend can store them, or you may need to sell or donate them.
How to Pack
If you’re moving for a job, your employer will likely assist and hire professional movers. Still, you should be sure to keep it reasonable. Most employers have a limit as to how much they’ll pay in relocation costs, so verify that with your employer. In general, it’s a good idea to have a yard sale to get rid of as much of your stuff as you can bear to part with, especially the larger and heavier items. Anything you can’t sell and can’t take with you should either go into storage or be donated.
When moving locally, you can just pack up your car and/or a moving truck, drive it to your new home, and unpack everything at once. That doesn’t happen when you relocate internationally. Most of your items will be on a container ship. You will be able to take several suitcases with you depending on what the airlines will allow. Pack your essentials like a change of clothes, personal care products, medications, etc. You won’t have to worry about waiting for those to arrive at your new home.
You should also check the weather in your new hometown before leaving. If it’s going to be significantly warmer or colder than where you are now, you’ll need to pack accordingly. Wear to the airport whatever makes sense for your current weather conditions, but make sure your suitcase is packed with clothes that are suitable for the weather you’ll encounter when you land.
If you need assistance with packing and moving, give us a call for a free quote. You can let us do the work while you learn your new language and brush up on your new culture.