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Moving away - do you take your stuff?

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 Edradour 05 Feb 2013
There is potential that I could be moving across the Atlantic for a couple of years, although this hasn't been confirmed yet.

I've been looking into the logistics of it all and am stuck on one particular dilemma - whether to take the majority of my belongings with me or simply to go with the essentials. Inevitably I will build up things over the next couple of years anyway.

I will qualify this with the fact that I am pretty ruthless about getting rid of things that I don't use so I'm not worried about taking a lot of books with me, for example, but I have a number of framed photographs / certificates etc which are very dear to me and a few things that I like to have around me wherever I live (eg. a reindeer skin rug).

I also have a fair amount of outdoor kit which would be expensive to replace, climbing kit, skis etc and although I suspect I will do less of this stuff over the next couple of years than I would usually I can't imagine giving it up entirely.

I guess my real question is how much value do you place on your possessions and having them with you?
Sarah G 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:
I would look into storage and the relative costs- pack up the stuff you really don't want to ditch (but don't need to take with you) in such a way that either a professional storage co can firstly store them for you and then if required send them on or a relative/friend can easily store/send on your stuff.

I know it feels daft hanging onto 'stuff' but as you say, some of it is expensive to replace.

Sxx

PS good luck with whatever the venture is in the US. (tell us! we're a nosy lot on here!)
 Kimono 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:
i have lived abroad on a few occasions and have always just taken the minimum and then collected stuff wherever i am.
Am about to leave my current home to come back to the uk for a while and so will have to start selling all that i cant carry on the plane...not sure what to do with my cat though

 Caralynh 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:

I lived in Spain in my early 20s and just took clothes, a few books, and my computer. When I wanted to go skiing I had my stuff posted out to me. Can you sell most stuff and store things that may be useful, like some books and kit, and then if you need them or want them, someone can send them on to you?
How much you keep will depend on the likelihood of returning here in a year or so. I know if I were to go somewhere temporary, I could easily live with the minimum, but I'd be a bit peed off at having to replace everything else when I returned, when it could all have been kept in storage.
OP Edradour 05 Feb 2013
In reply to Caralynh:
> (In reply to Edradour)
>
> I lived in Spain in my early 20s and just took clothes, a few books, and my computer. When I wanted to go skiing I had my stuff posted out to me. Can you sell most stuff and store things that may be useful, like some books and kit, and then if you need them or want them, someone can send them on to you?

Yeah I reckon that's probably the best plan. A few boxes of important stuff in my mum's loft or something and sell everything else. Kit can always be sent out as you say.

To Sarah - the opportunity in the states is doing some studying. Pretty excited about it all really though feel a bit old to be going back to school!

cb294 06 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:

Essentials only. I have not moved in ten years (three academic posts in the same city), and it shows: Junk just accumulates. Hopefully we can move again next year, great opportunity to look at every item and honestly decide whether you really need it.

Moving three times counts as house on fire once.

CB
 Brev 06 Feb 2013
In reply to cb294:

'd take a mix of essentials + a few of the things that are dear to you. Having moved around quite a lot in recent years, it's the personal items (photos, maybe even your rug) that will turn wherever you live into a home.

If I remember correctly some (most?) airlines will let you take 2x23kg + handluggage when flying to the US. When I moved I think my stuff was split 50/50: 1 large backpack for essentials, 1 suitcase for personal items + outdoor gear.
ice.solo 06 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:

other than your favourite teddy bear, take nothing youre not prepared to lose.
 Nathan Adam 06 Feb 2013
In reply to kieran b: Cat Stew, it would be a memorable send off !
In reply to Edradour:

A mate of mine sold his house and went to NZ. He got his stuff shipped over in a container (or half container). It's not actually that expensive, IIRC.

That included most of the content of his house, including map collection, railway book collection, etc. His partner might have been happier if some of these items had been 'lost'...
New POD 07 Feb 2013
It brings out memories of moving as a child and my mother's ruthless, and sentimentless approach, which lead me to believe she has no soul.

Basically, aged 9 I was packed off to granny for a week, whilst they moved house.
Gets to my new room, to find that all my favorite toys have been given to charity, because "I never saw you playing with them, so I assumed you didn't want them"
I particular am angered by my collection of Dinky Toys disappearing. Of course I played with them, but in the privacy of my own space.

So every time I've moved as an adult I've taken all sorts of crap with me, including boxes I haven't opened since 1994.
 Kimono 07 Feb 2013
In reply to Nath93:
> (In reply to kieran b) Cat Stew, it would be a memorable send off !

wow, that was funny....not

 Nathan Adam 08 Feb 2013
In reply to kieran b: Never realised you were so close to your cat, please accept my apologies.
 Helen R 08 Feb 2013
In reply to Edradour:

I'm going to take a different tack to most of the posters here. I came out here (NZ) with not much (and no plans to stay). Then I stayed. I found that I bought a lot of crap - low quality cheap stuff - to get along (work clothes, shoes, kitchen and household stuff, mostly), but after 2 years I moved out a lot of my stuff from the UK out here.

While I understand you might not want to be weighed down with all your possessions, I really like having things around me i've owned for years. Since i have my stuff here, I now feel like I live here properly. Before it felt a bit like I was just on a long holiday. I also am building up quality stuff, and if i'd had it all from the start I'd have saved a lot of money and gone through a lot less cheap crap. I only spent a few hundred pounds to send my things out by sea (including loads of books), and I wish I'd done it earlier.

However, if you like the idea of living out of a suitcase (and I have done this for a year a couple of times before) then it's perfectly possible, but a lot more expensive (but that maybe depends on what country you're moving too and the cost of eating out v cooking, types of accom etc).

If you'd asked me 5 years ago I'd have said leave it all - you can find everything you need, who needs to be weighed down. But not now. Maybe it's the experience of emigrating, maybe it's age


 pandaling 09 Feb 2013
In reply to kieran b: If you can't find a happy home for your cat, then there are other options http://www.jets4pets.com/
 Lurking Dave 11 Feb 2013
In reply to Helen R: What she said.

If I was doing it again... I would use a storage firm and prepack the boxes so I knew what was in them. Keep a listing then you can instruct the storage company to send the required boxes to you by sea.

Cheers
LD

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