We knew we were getting a furnished apartment which included a 5'x5' shipment. Our situation was really complicated as we were living in CA, but I was moving to MI before I moved to Shanghai. So everything we wanted to keep but not bring to Shanghai had to fit in 2 car loads that could be driven to MI from CA. We sold all of our furniture (2 bedroom apartment worth) and a lot of other random stuff. We kept our wedding gifts and some art work and moved that to MI. The stuff we brought to Shanghai includes: almost all of our clothes, towels, toiletries (lots of them), some picture frames and a few other small decorative items, glass mixing bowls, OXO storage containers, baking sheets, some old glassware, glass pans, some older cooking pans, knives and some other small kitchen utensils, plastic bins for storing items, our laptop and other small electronics (hard drives, cameras, router, headphones) and camping gear (2 sleeping bags, sleeping pads, tent, and a bag of other random camping items, and some board games and puzzles. There aren't many things that we wish we would have brought with us, and we are enjoy living more minimally. We bought a couple appliances here: iron, toaster, rice cooker, vacuum, hair dryer, and we haven't missed the other ones.
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".
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".
Truth.
Sent from the future.
I will second the makeup purchases. Hair colour in the US is CHEAP. Down here it is $18 a box and in France it was between 10-15 Euros.