Go Back  British Expats > Living & Moving Abroad > USA
Reload this Page >

What did you take with you?

What did you take with you?

Old May 26th 2019, 1:31 am
  #16  
Forum Regular
 
isi16's Avatar
 
Joined: Jan 2015
Location: kelso scottish borders
Posts: 48
isi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond reputeisi16 has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

I'm waiting on my container coming over-all 40ft. No electrical items, sold the cheaper quality furniture but brought everything else. I priced up what I would get selling (buttons) against the age and sentimental value of others and to me it was worth it. If I had been told properly by the company I used that if I left out not very much I could have got a 20ft container so wasn't best pleased when the packing foreman told me.
guess you have to make up your own mind but given the style and huge sizes of furniture here I know I made the right decision for me. I also bought extra bedding, including new duvets, for both summer and winter as I brought beds. they were pretty expensive and not very old.
now if I could only find a house that isn't tiny , falling to bits or like the one I viewed today, full of cockroaches I would be even happier!!

Last edited by isi16; May 26th 2019 at 1:35 am.
isi16 is offline  
Old May 26th 2019, 1:49 am
  #17  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Just to update on my decision - I'm sitting surrounded by 10 tea chest sized boxes, and initially didn't fill those so adding a few small things here and there.

Clothes, shoes, handbags, toiletries too good to give or throw away (don't judge me, when your face cleanser costs >AUD100 a bottle you pack it), couple of good duvets, one set of bedding (one is already over there as my husband already moved, and as we have all said beds are different sizes anyway), three sets of towels, few cat things to make them feel at home (cats go next Friday), few small kitchen bits and pieces I bought in Asia.

Boxes are going by air for around AUD3k. Everything else is staying in our Sydney apartment for now. We'll review the situation when we're next in Oz, can always ship a few more boxes.
Kooky. is offline  
Old May 26th 2019, 4:12 pm
  #18  
Sasstronaut
 
livinginnyc's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2016
Location: Manhattan, NYC
Posts: 1,304
livinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by Kooky.
Just to update on my decision - I'm sitting surrounded by 10 tea chest sized boxes, and initially didn't fill those so adding a few small things here and there.
I boxed and shipped a couple of items via an international courier and bought 6(ish) cheap suitcases that I flew with that contained clothes, my laptop/imac, bedding, some momentos.etc and either trashed the rest or left stuff at my parents house for later collection (which I've since done). I flew Virgin so got 2 checked suitcases for free and paid something like 200 total for the rest? I slightly regretted the number of suitcases at the carousel.

I also bought & recommend vacuum sealed bags from Amazon to fit more stuff, but had to be mindful of the weight - as it adds up fast.

Originally Posted by Kooky.
toiletries too good to give or throw away (don't judge me, when your face cleanser costs >AUD100 a bottle you pack it),
I did something similar - just make sure those bad boys are in your checked luggage, and not carry on - on you'll have to part ways with them! (also for anything that's cheaper, be aware Ulta and Sephora exist if you've not already been to one)

Anything you do fly with, just make sure you list out/declare on the landing card!
livinginnyc is offline  
Old May 26th 2019, 9:24 pm
  #19  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by livinginnyc
I slightly regretted the number of suitcases at the carousel
That gave me a chuckle, thanks. I had considered doing similar but it was just a bit much, and I have a couple of flights plus immigration (with my shiny new visa) and a change of terminal to get through too.

I had a very helpful couple of BE posters offer to come with me and take some cases for me, to get a free holiday in Seattle, but sadly for them it worked out twice as expensive as shipping
Kooky. is offline  
Old May 29th 2019, 2:58 am
  #20  
Sasstronaut
 
livinginnyc's Avatar
 
Joined: Aug 2016
Location: Manhattan, NYC
Posts: 1,304
livinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond reputelivinginnyc has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by Kooky.
That gave me a chuckle, thanks. I had considered doing similar but it was just a bit much, and I have a couple of flights plus immigration (with my shiny new visa) and a change of terminal to get through too.
Yeah you don't want to be messing around with that if you're switching flights - good point! Honestly, I was a danger at that point to everyone around me. More so than usual... as I couldn't actually see over the suitcases stacked up - and you have to clear the second customs checkpoint, so I had a helpful TSA agent help me wheel it it to my (then) fiance to avoid killing someone knocking into something expensive. it was cool to rock up with an entourage though.

Depending on which visa you're entering with (its worth double checking), some items can be shipped to yourself tax free also within a certain grace period. (IIRC on mine [K1], it was tax free prior to AOS taking effect which helped when deciding what to pack in a case vs ship vs trash).

Last edited by livinginnyc; May 29th 2019 at 3:01 am.
livinginnyc is offline  
Old May 29th 2019, 5:28 am
  #21  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by livinginnyc
Yeah you don't want to be messing around with that if you're switching flights - good point! Honestly, I was a danger at that point to everyone around me. More so than usual... as I couldn't actually see over the suitcases stacked up - and you have to clear the second customs checkpoint, so I had a helpful TSA agent help me wheel it it to my (then) fiance to avoid killing someone knocking into something expensive. it was cool to rock up with an entourage though.

Depending on which visa you're entering with (its worth double checking), some items can be shipped to yourself tax free also within a certain grace period. (IIRC on mine [K1], it was tax free prior to AOS taking effect which helped when deciding what to pack in a case vs ship vs trash).
Yes I have completed a declaration in the hope of getting it all tax free. It's genuinely all used items, so fingers crossed please!

I could take more luggage to San Fran due to FF status but that doesn't help me on the Alaska Airlines shuttle, so I'm just taking two checked cases - I could take less but I have 3 weeks here after the boxes go, and part of that in a hotel while my place is painted so I can't just slob around
Kooky. is offline  
Old May 29th 2019, 5:55 pm
  #22  
Turning into a PA gal!
 
lizzyq's Avatar
 
Joined: Feb 2013
Location: State College PA, finally!
Posts: 3,563
lizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond reputelizzyq has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

We brought over a 20ft container of books and household stuff, a 40 foot container of mostly machine tools & workshop stuff and a 40 foot container of land rovers!

I did bring much of my kitchenware, but not the electrical. All the clothing and bedding was stuffed into cheap "immigrant bags" and wedged into the container. We flat packed our beds, the futon, chests of drawers etc. Steveq and the boys flew out in early August 2014 with a suitcase each and I stayed back for "a few weeks" to finish packing the house so my daughter and family could move into it before the start of school (we did manage that) and tying up loose ends. The household container shipped out in September and arrived in October just after I left from a 10 day trip to deliver the cats and see the new home. By this point we had realised that packing up a whole factory and disposing of unneeded items from there would take some time and I finally shipped the land rovers in the late spring and the last container in July 2015! I moved over properly in August 2015.

For the household stuff I went onto the USA IKEA website and priced up what it would cost to replace with new for every room (furniture, bedding, pots and pans, cutlery, crockery, other cookware, curtains, towels, teatowels, other linens etc etc). When I looked at everything the cost was significant so we decided to ship over as much as we could. If your employer is paying the shipping costs I would stuff that container as full as possible. Our unfurnished rented house did have some items left in it - a dining table, but no chairs, crockery but no cutlery, a couple of chests of drawers, a large sofa in the basement that wouldn't come out to go upstairs without cutting away some stud wall (when we discovered that was how it had been finagled into the basement in the first place!)

Good luck with however you decide to do it.

BTW our household container took about 3 weeks door to door, Lancashire UK to central Pennsylvania USA
lizzyq is offline  
Old May 29th 2019, 5:57 pm
  #23  
 
Pulaski's Avatar
 
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,397
Pulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond reputePulaski has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by lizzyq
…. and a 40 foot container of land rovers! ….

Pulaski is offline  
Old May 30th 2019, 9:00 pm
  #24  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 129
hutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

we had a nice vintage tea set 'professionally' packed and shipped, among a 20' container of other goods, when the shipment turned up 3 months later, the tea pot was missing, the milk jug was broken, it was my Wife's favorite homely item. The Milk jug had been wrapped well, but, put in a box of garden tools including spades and forks by the packers and it broke in transit. The teapot location? who knows. We tried claiming against the marine insurance we purchased, and the underwriter that handled the case undervalued the tea set such that the monies we would have got back would not cover the $150 excess on the policy and we would owe them $50 if we went ahead.

If you have valuables, make sure you watch them pack.

98% of our parts shipped remained in good condition, which was fair.
Credit to them we also had a box of samurai swords and paintings, and a bow and arrow successfully delivered , undamaged!, which was fantastic, if they had been ours we would have been even more pleased.

A good tip to weed out what you really should bring, decent furniture IS expensive over here.
hutchison is offline  
Old May 30th 2019, 9:49 pm
  #25  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

We had no breakages when we had a full service move from Singapore to Sydney. We had a couple with a full service move over the Harbour Bridge I suspect things sometimes go missing if they are broken so it takes you a while to notice.

My boxes got picked up yesterday and my husband was on the verge of telling the courier to keep them all upright, until I pointed out that we have no control once they leave our premises so stop stressing. I've only included a few small breakable items I bought in Asia and, if they end up broken, nobody will die. Losing my handbag collection, another story entirely.
Kooky. is offline  
Old Jul 16th 2019, 4:53 pm
  #26  
Just Joined
 
Joined: Jan 2019
Location: Old Windsor, Berkshire
Posts: 24
OldWindsor is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Hiya, Anyone happy to share what they paid to ship a 40ft container load from the UK to the USA? Getting some funny prices at the moment.
OldWindsor is offline  
Old Jul 16th 2019, 6:41 pm
  #27  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Originally Posted by OldWindsor
Hiya, Anyone happy to share what they paid to ship a 40ft container load from the UK to the USA? Getting some funny prices at the moment.
Surely that would only work if you're ending up in the same city? Might be worth a separate and specific thread.

Just to update on my move, in case it's helpful - ten tea chest sized boxes self-packed with personal effects and some bedding and small bits of kitchen stuff, sent air freight, all arrived intact with no breakages (shipper was Pack&Send from Sydney to Seattle so very specific and probably not much help to anyone, but confirming self-packing can work out very cost effective). Very pleased and I might even ship a few more things when I go back for a visit.

Of course with hindsight I wish I'd shipped more bedding as quilt cover sizes are very different here - and I brought 3 good quilts to cover all seasons so not keen to start again

(livinginnyc - I had to take all my cases (3) on the train from international to domestic at SFO because baggage re-check was closed, and I was delayed getting there (3.5 hours late out of SYD), and it nearly killed me, so very glad I restricted it to that number.)
Kooky. is offline  
Old Dec 4th 2019, 5:27 pm
  #28  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Jun 2009
Location: Orlando Florida
Posts: 251
nikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond reputenikkif99uk has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

[QUOTE=Pulaski;12683168]

We shipped a couple of trunks airfreight (you should ask for that, it doesn't cost much) with basic kitchen utensils, a few plates, glasses and mugs, and some extra clothes, to tide us over until our container arrived.

hey what kind of trunks did you use? Also who did you ship with? I'm only just applying for my K1 visa but when its approved I only want to take DVD's Books and collectables mainly so not requiring a shipping container.
nikkif99uk is offline  
Old Dec 4th 2019, 8:46 pm
  #29  
Auntie Fa
 
Joined: Nov 2006
Location: Seattle
Posts: 7,344
Kooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond reputeKooky. has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

Funny this thread should get resurrected today as I'm back in Oz clearing out the apartment for rental. We're putting most things into storage but do have a few more small things we want to move, so employing livinginnyc's tactic of an extra case. Husband might get away with it (as he did when he first moved) due to his FF status being Platinum; if we have to pay for it, it will still be cheaper than a single tea chest.

nikkif99uk, see my post 17 above - we just used tea chest sized packing boxes supplied by our shipping company. We had a few breakables tucked in the bedding and all survived.
Kooky. is offline  
Old Dec 4th 2019, 8:52 pm
  #30  
Forum Regular
 
Joined: Jun 2008
Location: Virginia
Posts: 129
hutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond reputehutchison has a reputation beyond repute
Default Re: What did you take with you?

[QUOTE=nikkif99uk;12773994]
Originally Posted by Pulaski

We shipped a couple of trunks airfreight (you should ask for that, it doesn't cost much) with basic kitchen utensils, a few plates, glasses and mugs, and some extra clothes, to tide us over until our container arrived.

hey what kind of trunks did you use? Also who did you ship with? I'm only just applying for my K1 visa but when its approved I only want to take DVD's Books and collectables mainly so not requiring a shipping container.
you may need to get a multi region player when you land. you can get them off net.
hutchison is offline  

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.