what do you regret leaving behind?

[Deleted]

Before your move did you think "nah, I don't need that" about something only to find out that once you got to your new home you wish you had it? Or vice versa?

I think we're going to check 4-5 pieces of luggage with the absolute necessities, we get 5000lbs via air and then as much as we need by sea. I'm hoping to not bring a ton with me, but I don't want to get over ther, wish I had something and then have to rebuy it.

Thanks!

[elenetxu]

My family.
That's it.

Over the past four years, I've found substitutes for everything.

[anna7602]

We also came over with just suitcases (4 big ones and two carry-on size for a family of 3) and have somehow ended up with an apartment full of stuff purchased over the last year. It was nice to give myself a period of "can I live without this" when I found I missed something like a kitchen gadget before giving in to repurchasing it or deciding I really didn't need it.

Just about everything can either be found, brought by a relative or shipped internationally these days. Most of the things I've had people bring me are drugstore and grocery store purchases, nothing huge. And they're mostly wants, not "needs." These include certain kinds of medicines that are not sold OTC here and brands (like Goya) that simply don't exist.

[Deleted]

I don't know your history -- where you are moving if you have kids/no kids... etc. But here is my advice:

Carry-On luggage: expensive jewelry, financial documents, trust/wills, etc., photo albums. Our carry-on was insanely heavy but a must.

Checked luggage: All personal clothing items, perhaps a photo or two from home, power cords for laptops, etc.

Air shipment: Anything you want/need earlier than sea shipment. For us it was my spices, kitchen cooking utensils, lots of baby stuff, home printer.

Sea Shipment: Everything else.

** We were supposed to receive our air shipment within a week of landing in our new country but it got held up with Homeland Security for 2 weeks, even though it was being exported... so plan for that. Our sea shipment from the West Coast to Europe took 3 full months! While we rented furniture/kitchen supplies until the sea shipment arrived, it was not the stuff I was used too so if you plan to cook, bring the basics and also your US measuring cups/spoons. You will most likely buy a scale to weigh in grams where ever you move to.

Good luck! International moving can be stressful, so take it all in stride

[singingpilgrim]

Hmm. So far I haven't found a yarn shop, and I had two balls of yarn I was planning on taking that I didn't because I was terrified of going over the weight limit. But I actually WAS over the limit... and the airline guy shrugged and checked me in anyway. (I was about a pound over.) Which makes me wish I'd grabbed the yarn and a couple other things that I had to ditch for weight.

Mainly I miss my dog Sophie. But my family says she's coping with me gone, and really moving pets is dangerous, not to mention full of expenses. But my heart cries everytime I think of her. And apparently she hurt her ear, which makes me long to go take care of her, but I have to content myself with giving suggestions to my mom and hoping all is well. And she's cold without me to snuggle under the blankets with. (My mom is allergic to dogs. Not enough to keep her from having one, but enough the dogs can't go into her bedroom.)

We still haven't gotten that dog yet (supposed to be next week) and I admit I'm having guilt feelings about "replacing" Sophie. And I painted a pet portrait for Ryan's aunt's family for Christmas and I'm thinking about painting this new dog and I'm feeling guilty because my heart is chiding me saying "You should paint Sophie first!"... but I know I can't because I'd cry my head off the whole time I was painting it. But I think I will paint a portrait of Sophie... later, when the pain of leaving her has eased.

Gosh, I miss that dog.

Now I'm sad.

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2013 10:43:05 GMT -5 @switzerland said:

I don't know your history -- where you are moving if you have kids/no kids... etc. But here is my advice:

** We were supposed to receive our air shipment within a week of landing in our new country but it got held up with Homeland Security for 2 weeks, even though it was being exported... so plan for that. Our sea shipment from the West Coast to Europe took 3 full months! While we rented furniture/kitchen supplies until the sea shipment arrived, it was not the stuff I was used too so if you plan to cook, bring the basics and also your US measuring cups/spoons. You will most likely buy a scale to weigh in grams where ever you move to.

Good luck! International moving can be stressful, so take it all in stride

That's really good to know. Thank you!

We're going Seattle to London. No kids, just the dog.

I'm a little stressed thinking about the amount of stuff we need to get rid of before we go. We're going to a 2800sq ft house to whatever (small) flat we can find.

Thanks again!

[Deleted]

Jan 2, 2013 10:18:38 GMT -5 elenetxu said:

My family.
That's it.

Over the past four years, I've found substitutes for everything.

Same.

We sold most of our belongings and furniture before the move. Sent 14 small boxes by freight and brought 3 big suitcases on our flight over. Most of what we brought was housewares like our good knives and pots and pans, some baby clothing (hoping for #2), some toys, winter clothes and odds and ends like our good Scrabble set, some books

Of course, we knew we were going to rent a furnished flat. And I hated most of our furniture (DH's from before we were married) so was happy to see it go.

The only things we left behind at my MILs were: Kitchen Aid mixer and food processor, Nespresso machine, some framed photos that wouldn't pack well, our wedding china and Christmas ornaments (too fragile to ship).

Electronics would've been beat up by the voltage difference even with converters. The only thing we rebought over here was a UK Nespresso machine.

re: downsizing. Purge, purge, purge! It'll be hard going from 2800 sq ft to a flat but well worth it to let go of things before the move. So annoying to get to the other side and deal with boxes of things you don't need.

Plus you'll probably make some good coin Craigslist-ing things.

[GilliC]

We never got the chance to leave stuff behind. It went into storge during our short move to China, and then straight fom storage to Norway! We were lucky we managed to get the US washer/dryer and 110V vacuum left behind! Anything in a box came to Oslo, so we had so much junk to get rid of in a foreign country!

Honestly, I've moved twice just since getting to Norway, and both times were to smaller places. I love being forced to get rid of stuff, and I'm envious of my friends who move in two suitcases. The best was getting divorced and leaving XH with our Texas-sized furniture while I bought tiny Europe-sized things from Ikea.

[GilliC]

One thing I'll add... I'm with singingpilgrim on the hobbies. If there's something you like to do that will fit in your checked luggage, consider bringing it. Until you find your way around, you might find yourself a bit more of a homebody than you're used to, and if you're in temporary housing or waiting on a shipment, you might find yourself stretched for things to do.

[clogged]

cookie sheets, and 3,456 bottles of nyquil.

[dorothyinAus]

Easy to get, BIG bottles of OTC drugs like Excedrin, Neosporin, Tums, and Afrin.
And as of this trip -- cheap books and clothes. I went a bit wild with 22 new books and four new outfits. DH has been just as bad.

[alleinesein]

Jan 2, 2013 11:49:06 GMT -5 singingpilgrim said:

Hmm. So far I haven't found a yarn shop, and I had two balls of yarn I was planning on taking that I didn't because I was terrified of going over the weight limit. But I actually WAS over the limit... and the airline guy shrugged and checked me in anyway. (I was about a pound over.) Which makes me wish I'd grabbed the yarn and a couple other things that I had to ditch for weight.

Any chance that you might make it down to Mumbai this spring?? My work visa just got approved (yay!) and I will be heading back to our Mumbai lab within the next few months. I can totally bring along some skeins of yarn and other small items in my luggage

[mrsukyankee]

The one thing I was happy about to have was my measuring equipment - teaspoons, measuring cups, etc. In London, now, you can buy things that have both US & UK measurements, so it's not as much an issue. Otherwise, I wish I could have brought my friends and family.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2013 1:59:28 GMT -5 neeps said:

Jan 2, 2013 15:44:27 GMT -5 @bandwife said:

Electronics would've been beat up by the voltage difference even with converters. The only thing we rebought over here was a UK Nespresso machine.

It's always the people who don't do this that say this. 7 years I've been living abroad with US appliances on voltage converters and my US Kitchen Aid mixer still works perfectly fine. It even went back to the states for a year and worked fine there too. The same for my Cuisinart food processor (although that sadly didn't make this move so only has 5 years of international experience under it's belt). If your voltage converter is the right size for your appliances then it's really not a problem.

Some things like a hair dryer or iron are not worth the massive converter to use a US one and they're fairly cheap to buy, but expensive kitchen stuff on a short term assignment is totally doable and cheaper on a converter.

Don't tell me this now! How am I going to get those items over here??!! :-(

Yeah, that's what others told me: don't bring expensive electronics because they'll get fried even with a good voltage converter. So the only things were brought were our Mac laptops (power chord easily converted to UK) and our external hard drives.

Interesting to hear that you've been fine for 7 years on the voltage converters. May I ask how many you have? Were they expensive? I looked at some high end ones that were £100 and that also scared me off a bit.

I may sell some the Nespresso machine next time we are in Canada. They just discontinued the model we have.

I do miss my food processor but I haven't been baking much since we moved (avoiding grains) so not gutted over no mixer.

[pittpurple]

Are you moving permanently?
We were planning a 3 year move and just brought suitcases. We have been here 7 years and counting! We have piles of stuff at our parents houses. Sigh.

The only thing I've picked up is photos. I missed having the older ones so I grabbed a shoebox full. And I wish we knew where to find our knife set, we have stayed in furnished flats since moving here and the knives re awful!

[Cheesecake]

What neeps says, converters are awesome, just make sure it can handle the wattage you're trying to pull. I bought a brand new sewing machine in the US to take home with me. With the added expense of the converter, it was still tons cheaper than if I'd have to buy an equal one (even second hand) in NL.
I debated kitchen equipment, but since I already had the most expensive things I needed on Dutch voltage, I sucked it up for the cheaper stuff as I didn't want to deal with dragging it to NL and having to haul my converters all over the house (I also have 1 high and 1 low wattage converter). Low is used for some chargers and things that aren't dual voltage, high is for sewing machine and has an extension cord attached so I can put whatever I want in there and lives in my craft room.

[allibally]

Jan 3, 2013 1:59:28 GMT -5 neeps said:

Some things like a hair dryer or iron are not worth the massive converter to use a US one and they're fairly cheap to buy, but expensive kitchen stuff on a short term assignment is totally doable and cheaper on a converter.

My straighter is dual voltage. Best investment ever and the price was comparable to the normal models.

Hair appliances in the UK are probably on par with the US prices. But in Switzerland this was not the case. I also brought over a medium priced travel hair dryer that was dual voltage from Revlon. I probably ruined it more allowing H to use it to start the grill then the change in volts.

[anna7602]

Re: big kitchen gadgets. My main issue was storage here, not the voltage. I can't think of where in this apartment we would ever store a slow cooker or full-sized food processor. It was already a stretch in NY, but at least we had more closets in that apartment than we do here.

Do you already have a flat lined up?

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2013 4:33:55 GMT -5 neeps said:

Jan 3, 2013 3:41:29 GMT -5 @bandwife said:

Interesting to hear that you've been fine for 7 years on the voltage converters. May I ask how many you have? Were they expensive? I looked at some high end ones that were £100 and that also scared me off a bit.

I do miss my food processor but I haven't been baking much since we moved (avoiding grains) so not gutted over no mixer.

We have 3 with us now. One is 2000w, one is 1500w, the other is 100w.

When we had our full kitchen setup (the first 5 years we were abroad) we used the 2000w transformer with a US surge protector and had all the US appliances plugged into that - worked fine. It wasn't expensive. Pretty sure it was less than $100 and more like $60, but we got it at a local store back home that specializes in this stuff - adapters, converters, 220 appliances, etc. where we stocked up before our original move.

The 1500w I bought a few months into our first move from someone who was moving back to the US. Again not expensive. I think I paid £30 for it. I used it for all the office stuff - router, printer, paper shredder, etc - again on a US surge protector. Now I only use it when I'm using the iron press.

The mini converter I rarely use.

I started avoiding grains in March which is why I lament that I don't have my food processor and instead have my mixer. I was a big baker before and at the time we moved the mixer got way more use than the processor; now that's reversed. Ah well.

Good info here. Thanks.

We are going back to Canada in a few months and if I can fit it with weight/space I may bring the food processor back. It would be really handy.

I spend an hour + a week cutting all our veg and some fruit up in advance to make meal prep faster. Food processor would halve that even with washing. Would also be handy for slicing cabbage for slaws.

When you aren't eating rice, pasta and such with meals you really go through the veg fast.

[aMrsin09]

Neeps, since you have the KA with you, can you get the food processor attachments for it?

[Deleted]

'm more worried about the space than the actual shipments. I love to cook, but I fear that the new kitchen won't be able to all of my wants. The move would be permanent, but we can move back any time we want to.

We don't have a flat lined up yet, we'll be over there sometime in feb or early march to find a place. We've also been given up to 3 months corportate housing, if we need it. I hate to move twice, but if we don't have to pay rent for 3 months, that's a huge chunk of change.

So many of you mentionbringing nyquil, excedrine, etc... is it that you can't get it or its ridiculously expensive?

[Cioccolato]

You really can't get nyquil in Europe.


There's certain things I "miss" from the US but not anything I can't live without. Bring some food items that you really like and think you won't be able to find abroad (ex: your favorite peanut butter or some boxes of mac and cheese) to get you through the first couple months of transitioning.

Buy extra makeup, it's more expensive in Europe. Pack your favorite deodorant/lotion/shampoo/etc until you find something you like in your new home.

Honestly, don't think too much about what you are missing and try to integrate yourself as much as you can into your new culture. I find that the ex-pats who spend too much time in "American bubble" have a much harder time living abroad than those that just "go local".

[clogged]

I blew up a mixer, blender, food processor, hair dryer, sewing machine, and bread maker. With the correct convertor. I have a dvd player and a scentsy burner that survived. I have expat friends who have and have not blown applances up. It's more in favor of them not surviving. I say proceed at your own risk with electrical items.

and blown up is figuritive. there weren't actual explosions. oh, wait, ok. there was one friend who blew up a coffee maker. It did actually explode.

[Deleted]

Jan 3, 2013 10:44:06 GMT -5 Cioccolato said:

Honestly, don't think too much about what you are missing and try to integrate yourself as much as you can into your new culture. I find that the ex-pats who spend too much time in "American bubble" have a much harder time living abroad than those that just "go local".

:Y:

The most unhappy ex-pats I know are, not surprisingly, the ones that complain about the local culture/shopping/weather/etc the most.

Of course, I tend to think most of them were unhappy in their home land too. It's just now they can blame it all on location instead of themselves.

[Deleted]

Hmmm I remember needing some baking yeast from Italy the first few months we were here that my family shipped to me. Had I had an iPhone back then I'd have appreciated the unit converting apps I find so handy. Other than that I have personal things still at my old place that I carry over little by little when I travel, but we're here for the long haul so that changes things.
We adjusted to everything in our new environment relatively quickly, so much so that I mostly miss things from NY when I'm in Italy, rather than the other way around.

[clogged]

Jan 3, 2013 11:39:33 GMT -5 neeps said:

Jan 3, 2013 11:14:12 GMT -5 clogged said:

I blew up a mixer, blender, food processor, hair dryer, sewing machine, and bread maker. With the correct convertor. I have a dvd player and a scentsy burner that survived. I have expat friends who have and have not blown applances up. It's more in favor of them not surviving. I say proceed at your own risk with electrical items.

and blown up is figuritive. there weren't actual explosions. oh, wait, ok. there was one friend who blew up a coffee maker. It did actually explode.

Were the appliances on a surge protector to the transformer? I've killed a surge protector with crappy inconsistent Russian power supply, but the appliances were all fine.

Good question. Mine were not, but we didn't have any surge issues with UK/EU appliances. Now you have me thinking. We need to have surge protectors AND transformers? I was told just the big heavy brick was all you needed. Would explain my appliance graveyard though.

[GilliC]

I only ever converted electronics (nothing with a motor) and nothing ever died. These days most things are dual voltage anyway, but we had to convert older gaming systems, a printer, a DVD player, and a Skype phone.

[oneslybookworm]

I brought my KA with me, and the proper converter/surge protectors. I've only used to a couple dozen times, and it's nearly fried. I am not thrilled.

[oneslybookworm]

I also brought 4 years worth of tampons (because "applicator free" just isn't my style), 20+ tubes of toothpaste (Crest or bust, baby), and Naproxen Sodium like it was going off the market.

[jrabbit]

When I moved to the NL, I didn't listen to my nestie friends... I laoded a container.

We found we could live without just about everything we brought. I found an amazing apt that was furnished, plus, my American furniture was too big for a Euro apt so I gave away my leather sofa to our movers.

If we move to CH, we are bringing our favorite clothes, some family photos and that's it. Everything else will go in storage.