What’s being moved and what is being left behind?
Whether you’re moving overseas permanently or short-term, the first step you need to take is to go through everything you own and decide what to keep and what to get rid of. It is important that you do this before you arrange for the moving company to come in and make a quote. If there are items you will use up to the last minute but will not take with you, mark them clearly, so your moving consultant knows not to include them in the space requirements or quotation.
The next stage depends on whether you are moving permanently or on a temporary basis.
- Temporary moves may mean that you can leave items behind in self storage facilities. However, it is always important to consider what items are time-relevant (i.e. if you’re storing your children’s toys and they will be three years older when you return, it’s not really worth the expense of storing these items).
- Permanent moves will require a good hard look at what you own, love and don’t really need anymore. You can save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars by taking a realistic approach when sorting through your belongings. After a few overseas moves and quite some domestic, I take the approach that if it’s not sentimental and I haven’t used it for more than two years – it’s time to say goodbye.
When deciding what to take with you, you will need to get a good idea of the type of accommodation that will be available to you in your destination country. You may be leaving a house with good square footage to move into a much smaller apartment. In Europe, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and parts of the Middle East, accommodation rates are at a premium and you may not have the budget to acquire the same space you have now....
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Author: Jason Kay