I brought clothing that I did not need here - heavy winter wear. I have not used any of my lovely sweaters in the 3+ years I have been back, but if I were living in Scotland or the far reaches of England or Wales, perhaps I would use them for outdoor needs.

I scanned all but the last year of my US tax returns. I also scanned all documents as back up in case the originals were ever lost, and scanned all my photographs and family memorabilia. I digitised all my CDs onto iTunes on an external hard drive that I bought in the US, and gave all the discs to friends. I culled my book collection - hundreds of books were sold for pennies on the dollar. That is my sorrow - losing my books. If I could do it again and had the money, I would ship all the books over and leave the clothing behind!

I certainly wouldn't take the really heavy winter wear back. I have a padded coat that I only wear when it gets below -20, so that is going to the thrift shop! And the boots that go with it.

Conversely, I have several pairs of shorts that have sat in a drawer since 2006!

I agree on the clothing too. I would also think carefully about shipping things like pans and bedding. Basically anything you will need in your first 3 months to be honest. You'll likely need to sleep and eat before then, and it's fairly cheap to get basics like that there.

Oh you sound more organised than me! I've packed my tax return binders - perhaps I should retrieve them and scan them - altho' I think it would take forever on my scanner!

Throwing out the photographs for me was hard but then when I realised how little I looked at them I did wonder why I had kept them for so long. I have a small box left - and I may go through and cull that more.

With my CDs - I have gone out and bought a CD/DVD binder and am going to throw out all my CD cases and pack them in there - I was going to pack them in there cases but they will take up so much room and I don't want to digitise them all.

On a separate development, I'm now getting responses to my spare room ad but most want more than the amount I advertised for! And I'm getting responses from people who clearly haven't read my ad and what I'm asking for - which is very irritating. I asked for pet-free home (as I have some sinus issues which I think will be made worse by living around pets) - and I get a response from a devoted dog owner! Hopefully something suitable will turn up.

Oh well back to the packing! I'm getting there and determined to complete it soonest - I so want it done. I now have all my tax return stuff in order for submission to the accountant and if I can get back to the UK earlier than April it would be so nice.

I think it's part and parcel of advertising on the internet that a lot of people don't read the ad properly. All you need is one person who does, and who fits within your parameters. Something will come up eventually.

Don't forget to bring your mac and your wellies!

Re: wellies - Will do!

I may be in the process of sorting out some UK accommodation - I've got to speak by phone to an individual who contacted me on spare room this week.

He's offering a double room inclusive of all bills except council tax and the phone for 400 UK pounds a month and is okay with a rolling 3 month contract. The council tax would be about 70 UK pounds a month. He's away most of the week at his girlfriends place in Surrey so I would only see him on the weekend (with her) and maybe an occasional evening - so I would basically have the run of his house.

He sounds nice (from his email's) - works as a special needs teacher and is a similar age to me (and his girlfriend is also a similar age). The house is in Alton Hampshire (where I used to live) which would be handy for looking for work - Winchester, Guildford and London are within commuting distance.

The rent is a bit more than I budgeted for but, on the other hand, being in that area should help me with finding work (I hope). And he's offered me the room at 400 whereas he advertised it at 450 - I think being mature gave me an advantage!

The room is available from mid-April which gives me a bit more breathing space for sorting out Canadian tax paperwork, RRSP paperwork and applying for jobs in the UK - and I could still go to the UK sooner and either see if I could stay with a friend or stay in a B and B.

I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to sort the rental paperwork at a distance - I don't know yet whether he will be happy to accept a verbal commitment from me and then we sort things out once I'm in the UK.

Has anyone done anything like this? Just wondering the best way to approach all this in a fair and reasonable way. The photos of the house he posted on spare room looked nice and, as far as his emails go, he seems genuine (and has told me the name of his employer so I guess I should do a check on that) but if anyone has got any thoughts on things I could do/should do, that would be helpful.

Having seen where he lives (I know the area) and the photos, it looks like a good interim place for me and I would hate to lose the opportunity to have it - on the other hand, while I want to make a commitment, I'm wondering how to demonstrate that without sending money to him (he's not asked me for any yet but just wondering how to handle it if he does). I want to be reasonable - he doesn't know me either!

Any thoughts appreciated.

I would Google his name and address to see if anything adverse shows up.

Firstly, the paperwork is easy. I bought a house last year and then rented it out from Canada, barely using the post. You can sign documents and then scan them and send them as email attachments.

Making sure the landlord is genuine and above board is more difficult. I think it helps that you know the area. It would be easier if you were doing it through an agency, because they would have checked him out.

Before paying a deposit, I think I'd want to see some proof of ID and that the property is his to rent out. Ask him to email a copy of a household bill.

I'd also do a Land Registry check, which will cost £4. The site is here: http://www.landregistry.gov.uk/publi...erty-ownership. That will tell you if he owns the property, and he won't know that you've done it.

You say he contacted you, but he'd advertised the rental at £450. Where did he advertise it?

Comparing the rent with other properties in the area it seems good, but not "too good to be true", so he is probably genuine and it does sound a good deal.

Some great advice there

Also see this: http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_ad...etting/lodgers

and you may wish to take out contents insurance:

https://www.endsleigh.co.uk/personal...ome-insurance/

Thanks Editha - that's really helpful.

He contacted me on the spare room site - saw my ad just before he was about to list his. He sent me the details and I said it was out of my price range but then he dropped the price but said council tax and the phone would be on top. Council tax is a bit more than I bargained for but, on the other hand, he's going to be very flexible with the contract which suits me given my work situation is fluid and I may need to move somewhere else for work. Plus the area is nice - I lived there for a while and it would be nice to find work in that area again.

Of course, I don't know what he as a person will be like but he did say he would only be really around with his girlfriend at the weekends - so if I find his personality challenging then I guess I can move on and, in the interim, I would only have to see him at the weekends and would have the house to myself during the week.

That said, I did wonder whether I'm making a mistake in going back to a familiar place? But, on the other hand, I'm going through so many changes at the moment with moving there is actually something reassuring about the idea of going back to a place that I know, if only for a short time.

Alton is a small place though - so I would probably be looking elsewhere for work.

And I've not got his precise address yet nor his surname - so I really need to get those details too.

Thanks for those links.

Reading the Shelter link really makes me aware of how little protection there is for tenants in the UK compared to Canada (sigh!)

There is protection for tenants in Canada? Not in Alberta.