We keep changing our minds about how we're going to ship our few boxes/suitcases over, particularly since we'll be spending a month with my parents in SC before going up to Canada.

We're now thinking of couriering the 3 boxes or so to my parents place, and driving them up to Canada with us. The only problem now is we're rapidly running out of room in the car! We have two options...

1. Buy a car in the US (since otherwise we'll have to buy one the second we get to Canada anyway), and pay whatever is necessary to import it and modify it for Canada, then we'll have 2 cars (ours and my parents) to transport stuff to Canada.

2. Hire a U-Haul type trailer to lug the stuff...but we're a little unsure of security, since we'll have to stop at a motel one night on the way up.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Maybe send it by post, courier (insured ofcourse if there's anything valuable) or the freight version of some airlines?

That's where we get a bit stuck...we need to send it somewhere where there is a person to accept it, who has enough room and doesn't mind storing it for a bit until we get settled. My brother in Canada could store it, but he works every day, so wouldn't be able to accept delivery (and he lives in a dodgy area, so I'd hate to see something left on a doorstep!). My parents in SC are retired, so are in, they have the space, and they are already holding some stuff for us, so we have to go there anyway (not to mention spending a month in the sun before coming up to a Canadian winter is appealing!).

On our moving day from Hell! We ended up getting a U-Haul truck (saved the day) Clutch was on it's way out but as we were only in town it didn't matter! We also sold a car to a guy in Utah, who drove to Red Deer with his family, picked up a U-Haul trailer in Red Deer, picked up the car and then drove back to Utah - not the way I'd like to spend easter weekend but there you go!

I have moved using U-Haul many times in both the US and Canada. When I moved up from Alabama to Toronto I had my car and the largest truck U-Haul has full of stuff. It was a fairly new truck so there were no problems with the move and I could return it to a U-Haul dealer in Canada. Customs never asked to look in it or even for the list of all the boxes, but better have it ready just in case. Rather than rent the trailer, I would rent the van which is very large and will hold a ton of stuff. It is automatic and much easier to drive than a truck or car pulling a trailer (you would have to have a trailer hitch installed for the trailer by the way). They lock up like any car so are quite secure. I have used the van before for moving large numbers of boxes to and from a storage room before.

I wouldn't buy a car to import as you will be hit with high taxes and possibly duty plus the paperwork is a pain in the butt. Better to just wait until you get to Canada. When you rent one-way, be sure to check out the van or truck to make sure it is road-worthy for the long distance. The US U-Hauls seem to be better about this than the Canadian ones which often have trucks on their last legs. I have seen many yanked off the road with the OPP does their vehicle safety blitz up here.

You can go online to reserve your van or to price it out. They charge by the miles as well as the vehicle size, so yours should be a lot cheaper than the $900 I paid in 2001 (for about 1000 miles and a 29 foot truck).