What to pack?
 

Our removal firm has quoted us £110 per cubic metre.

What did you take out that was a waste and what do you wish you had spent £110 on taking.

We are trying to prune as much as we can barring a few sentimental items. Its surprising how much you can accumulate in a few short years let alone in 60 odd !
It would certainly be helpful to know what you all think.

Re: What to pack?
 

Depends very much on what your likes and dislikes are. We brought loads of craft things because we knew that we would have to travel to the city to buy more. For us there was no question about filling boxes with books. I sold, gave away and charity shopped about 400 books but brought the rest, bought loads from Amazon since too. If you are bringing table lamps with bayonet fittings remember to bring a stock of light bulbs because it is only screw fit here. Many people have said that they regret not bringing their tumble dryers, I did not have one so have not missed it.

Working out how important things are to you by evaluating whether it is worth the cost to ship it over is not easy. I had a quote for a set size and then pruned things to fit. If I had been quoted per square metre I think that I would have brought a lot less because there are a lot of things that I unpacked from boxes into cupboards and drawers that are just sitting here.

There is very little that you cannot buy in Spain.

Rosemary

Re: What to pack?
 

1 cubic metre is not a lot.

I would suggest you look for a reliable in preference to a cheap removal company. A friend of ours was heartbroken when all of her personal possessions, photos and trinkets were lost. They were insured but how can you place a value on photos of your kids?

Re: What to pack?
 

LOL I think you misunderstood. That is their rate. I think we have so far reduced to around 20 cubic metres. We have researched them and they are reliable and do regular trips from UK to Malaga. Any valuables or irreplacables will fly out in our suitcases. Photos we have put on memory sticks and got daughter to store originals for us, along with qualification certificates as they will have little use to us there.

Re: What to pack?
 

Don't bring too many coats, one each may be enough and you may never wear them, (depending where you go to I guess). Where I live we never have wind so even on a cold day it's mild. a good cardy is all we ever use, the coats sit on the back seat of the car when we go out, just in case.

This year the winter is glorious and warm, next year could be wet or colder. I have two coats I may have worn them twice in the daytime in 6 years.

Re: What to pack?
 

20 X £110 = £2,200:thumbdown:
I would suggest you look elsewhere.

Re: What to pack?
 

ooooppps, I was just going to post the opposite :o We left most of our coats behind and were freezing. My husband commuted so he brought them over with him. We even took to wearing them in the house cos there are those days when its warmer outside than in!!

Jo xxx

Re: What to pack?
 

Oh my, you should come here, I have just come in from sitting in the hot sunshine this minute in my T shirt, my neighbour gave me a straw hat to protect my head from the sun. I guess it depends where you are, here we are blessed.

Re: What to pack?
 

The winters up til this year were all horrendous where we are. We started off in Alhaurin de la Torre and it was cold, wet and flooded regularly, then down on the coast it was cold wet and very windy!!! In fact last winter two winters it started raining at the end of December and didnt seem to stop til April :( Where abouts are you???

Jo xxxx

Re: What to pack?
 

Near Cordoba, I believe it's the hottest province, tho I could be wrong, I only read that.

I reckon We have had two days rain since November the rest of the time not a cloud.

All I can tell you (IMO) it's better then the Uk's best summers day nearly every day here in winter and sometimes at midnight lol. I love it, If I want to see a little wind or some hooligans, I pop down to the coast for a day lol

Re: What to pack?
 

As for rain, it started raining here in sunny Yorkshire in July and hasn't stopped for more than a few hours since.
All through July and August we had central heating on 24/7!

Re: What to pack?
 

Too much or too little ?

Re: What to pack?
 

That is quite high - I would want something well under £100 per cm

Jo xxx

Re: What to pack?
 

We are near the town of Ecija in Sevilla province. Ecija used to be the capital of Andalucia and is known as the frying pan of Andalucia as it gets the hottest temperatures.

Re: What to pack?
 

You obviously don't go out at night.;) What's the weather like currently?

Re: What to pack?
 

We didn´t bring any winter clothes - how stupid were we. You do still need them. Yes it is warm in the day but night and early morning can be frosty. We also got rid of our dining room table and chairs because we mistakenly thought we would be eating outside all the time. Gave a beautiful chair away as we thought we wouldn´t have room and we would have. If you have a tumble drier bring it. Horrendously expensive here and yes you will need it when you have a week of solid rain. Also bring settees if they are decent quality as they are expensive too and very old fashioned.

Re: What to pack?
 

Agree with everything. This year has been pretty dry but the last 2 years it rained for months in winter. I used the drier in summer too for some things eg. towels as the hot sun made them very stiff.

One thing I did bring was a lovely cozy dressing gown. Not that I thought I would be using it but my Mum had just died and it was still unopened in packaging so I brought it for sentimental reasons....used it the very first winter. I then bought some fleecy pyjamas from Dunnes stores.

Re: What to pack?
 

Dont forget some nice cosy slippers with a thick sole, as tiled floors get very cold in winter.

Re: What to pack?
 

OMG yes, the cold just leaks upwards even wearing trainers. Oh and bring central heating with you.

Re: What to pack?
 

I have to say that my first winter in Spain was a shock. We had ice on the car windscreen regularly, it was cold enough to need boots, hats, scarves, gloves, winter coats and the houses in spain are not easy to heat - few have central heating, they nearly all have tiles everywhere and damp courses arent common. the houses are built for the summers. So in the winter its very much like the olden days in the UK. You heat up one room and stay in it!!

However, the sun shines more than the UK and as I posted earlier, its often warmer outside than in. Then theres the summer and everyone moans about being too hot lol!!!!

Jo xxx

Re: What to pack?
 

The thing I regretted not bringing the most was our two very comfortable leather settees, we have replaced them here but they were expensive and the quality and comfort are nowhere near as good. :thumbdown:

The other regret is leaving all my husbands quality tools behind.
The ones you can buy here are very inferior to the UK ones, quality tools are also much harder to locate as DIY is not as popular here!

Do bring your tumble drier if you have one, you will need it when it rains without stopping for a week!
It's also the only way to get soft towels...they end up very rough with the water here and the sun!

Re: What to pack?
 

Thanks for the advice. Will definitely take dryer. I can always live in my uggs all winter even inside. We have already decided to take our leather sofas as they are only a year old and very comfy. We are also bringing our light oak and beech furniture as it is much nicer than the dark spanish style.
having seen the price of outdoor furniture, I am sorry I gave all mine to daughter when she bought her house, as we have never used it here. But such is life.
Youve all been a great help :)

Re: What to pack?
 

If you take the dryer, you can always pack the drum full of warm clothes to save on space!:D

I've got 3 winter coats of varying degrees of smartness, I reckon they will "see me out" as my Mum used to say, if I don't get sick of them first. I do wear them sometimes, though. Yes, it has been pretty warm here from about noon to 5 pm each day, good enough to sit in the sun in a T shirt and shorts, but at this time of year I am changing clothes 3 times a day. Warm stuff when I get up, change to cooler things for the afternoon and back into the warm ones when the sun starts going down.

Re: What to pack?
 

layers

that's the secret


layers :nod:

Re: What to pack?
 

So to be nosy, and suss out which of the 'Bring winter woollies' 'Don't bring winter woollies' responses is appropriate, whereabouts are you moving? Andalucia has rather a lot of variety in its weather;)

Re: What to pack?
 

We are hoping to buy a place in Tolox

Re: What to pack?
 

Buy ski suits. :)

Re: What to pack?
 

Hi Suejee,

We moved from Yorkshire to Costa Blanca a little over 5 years ago, I didn't bring the tumble drier and haven't really missed it, but did bring the leather sofas and I personally hate them. Warm and sticky when its hot in the summer and very cold until they suck out your (tiny bit) of body heat during the winter evenings!! Best thing I brought (stuffed with bedding) was the fridge freezer as they were so very expensive here. It "died" last new years eve and cost me more than double to replace here and not as good as the original in value and space!
The floors are freezing in the winter so you will need bedside rugs and some for the lounge under your feet. Sheepskin slippers (or Ugg boots) are a must at this time of year.
Having said all that, as I sit here in 3 layers with a thick dressing gown and sheepskin boots, I ponder the fact that as a smoker with at least 2-3 winter chest infections in UK, I have had none since moving here so I conclude that the lack of central heating and thick pile carpets has actually improved my health!!
Hope you get here soon and enjoy your retirement here, we live 7 km inland, tiny village, quiet, pretty scenery, good neighbours and almost no traffic. Would have been bored stiff when I was younger but all things considered, it suits just fine now.:thumbup:

Re: What to pack?
 

Oh, forgot to mention, we used Atlantis Forwarding based in Leeds for our removal to Spain. They were very competitive on price at the time and we had really outstanding service. Our property was a new build and the notary date kept changing and I had (stupidly) ordered lots of large items in the sales to take with us. They suggested we had them delivered directly to their warehouse, and ended up storing it all for around 9 months!! Charged us very little for it and delivered (finally) to Spain without even a teacup damaged, unpacked large items and took all packing materials with them so didn't even have to go to the bins.
I am not advertising for them, just passing on my experience.

Re: What to pack?
 

Books. Books and magazines are heavy, take up room and you can get them here. Books that you will never use and paperwork you will never need. I.e. wage slips from 16 years ago that will never come in handy but you keep for years anyway for some reason. English plugs too. Don't bring them. I would bring cushions as they are (or seem) expensive here. I have never purchased a cushion in England.

Re: What to pack?
 

You cannot buy books in English everywhere in Spain. I certainly cannot in my area.

Rosemary

Re: What to pack?
 

They are freely available here, there are book exchanges, places where you give one euro for a book and then just keep exchanging book for book when you have read it. Also shops that sell books. Where do you live? Are there no shops of that sort near you?

Re: What to pack?
 

Lack of English people so no call for shops such as those you speak of. As for new books I know that our nearest Carrefour used to sell about half a dozen popular titles but have not seen any for some time. Also a newsagent in Cullera sells a few books in English, a few in German and a few in French but apart from that I have not seen any others.

The problem is that when telling people what is and is not possible here we all have different experiences according to what area we have chosen and that is why we all have such a variety of opinions on things.

Rosemary

Re: What to pack?
 

Of course for the newcomers who don't know.....

You can buy your books from Amazon both in book form and for your Kindle, there is no problem with doing that and for the books you will get free delivery for orders of £25 or over. :thumbup:

Re: What to pack?
 

I have a massive collection of books that we got over here on the markets all about a euro each and even where people rent holiday lets and holiday makers leave books there for exchanges for the next time they come over.

Re: What to pack?
 

As Rosemary has said it's not that easy out in the campo.

In our own case there is one charity shop some distance away in Alora, as many of the Brits have now gone back or use Kindles the books on offer are very limited.
It's the reason my husband bought a Kindle, our infrequent visits to the coast are for other things, we don't want to spend time searching for books so Amazon is the answer. :)

Re: What to pack?
 

I don't know much about kindle but I presume it would be cheaper to get one of those and then download the books from tinternet then it would be to fork out for the transport company to cart over a load of books. You could use that space for other stuff. Garden tools maybe. Lol.

Re: What to pack?
 

My main MRW delivery guy comes to my house so often with an Amazon delivery that he now asks how my OH is and jokes with me.

Rosemary

Re: What to pack?
 

Well, I'm still sunbathing again today after it tried to rain yesterday:p No coats needed here

Re: What to pack?
 

Don't forget to wrap up if you go out tonight, could be frosty.;)