What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Hi, me again! In the throes of making lists of what to leave, what to bring and curious to know what people already having made the move either regret leaving behind after all or packing in the first place? Your replies may help my streamlining process!!!! Thanks.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

We regret not bringing more - work paid for a container and with hindsight we could have got much more in it at no extra cost. Don't be put off by electical goods as you can but voltage converters reasonably - its just TV and DVD that you need to think twice about. Just remember though that so many things are cheaper over here it isn't hard to replace.

I would bring things to remind you of home - pictures and ornaments etc - that helped us feel at home.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Yeah, but will they pay for your container back?

For me there are only three types of things worth bringing:
1. Things that can't be found in the US. I don't think there's much in the non-perishable sub-category (although if you're going somewhere full of Brits, a container full of Heinz beans might pay the bills for a year or two. hehe!). Your music collection might be one. Duvets are surprisingly hard to find over here, but note that the bed sizes are different.
2. Stuff of very high quality. Cheap goods are very cheap in the US, but quality goods are outrageously expensive.
3. Sentimental stuff. But leave the clutter behind. You're starting new. It would behoove you to get a pragmatist's opinion on your state of clutter.

And don't worry too much about stuff. I came here with a one-way ticket and two suitcases. Everything worked out fine.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Bring stacks of tea!! Light, inexpensive, and unavailable in the US, generally speaking (at least at a resaonable price!).

A lot depends on who's paying. If work is paying, then if in doubt, bring it (unless it's huge and/or heavy and may become a burden).

Definitely reminders of home - pictures, souvenirs, etc. Bring calendars with UK scenes, etc.

A lot also depends on how long you intend being here. If it's a fixed, short-term contract and you're sure you'll go back, then bring less. I brought old school yearbooks, and things like that. In hindsight, they're heavy and have not left the box I packed them in since I arrived.

Bring DVD collections of UK TV shows and movies - you can get a cheap DVD player and hack it to play UK DVD's.

Any UK-specific products (from places like Boots, M&S, etc.) that you can't get here.

Curry mixes (depends on where you will live, but here in eastern NC, can't get a decent curry mix)

Don't bring your skimpy shorts or Speedo swimsuits - people in the US will laugh at you wearing them. I only have to say the word Speedos in class and my students collapse in fits of giggles. :confused: Quite strange really. :rolleyes:

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

What might be handy...decent curtains and decent duvets because there hard to find here, they like shite blinds or thin curtains and lots of quilts...but then that'll depend on where you move to, but be worth bringing.

Not worth bringing electricals really, unless you've got quality stereo system, as it'll be cheaper to just get new stuff...yes you can get convertors, but decent ones aren't cheap, and you'll need decent one's to run stuff every day.

As for furniture, bring your beds, decent beds are outrageously expensive over here, and the cheap ones aren't cheap, but they are crap....other furniture, only worth bringing if it's quality stuff.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Passport, credit cards, certificates, bit of money, pack of Rothmans, lighter, change of underwear, sense of humour.

That's about it really.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Rothmans...nasty...but you can't get 'em here so why not *l*

Oh, what might be worth doing, if your really into newspapers and magazines would be to set up international subscriptions because the US versions are utterly shite...well Stuff, FHM, and any other Design mag like Design weekly, which you can't get here, and Computer Arts mags, any of those mags, cheaper to get a subscription than to buy over here, thats if you can find them over here.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I bought most of my furniture and am really pleased I did. The only things I left (aside from electrics) were my beds which killed my back and my sofas.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I bought the wife and left the in-laws ;)

Where are you moving to ? If it's Atlanta we have so much British food, Indian Restaurants now (not bad) and Irish Pubs (English Breakfast). You can order all the foods on line (bacon, sausages). The farmers market sell beans and 60 pence a pop and tons of sweets, crisps etc., as well as boddingtons, Guiness, stout etc.,

You could get a good sparky to wire you up a British plug socket (near the Oven which already carries 220v) then you can being your Kettle (else expect it to take twice as long to boil ;) ).

Quilt covers - they don't have that concept here. You have a fancy quilt over a sheet - weird !!

Mum deodrant (my wife says it's the best !!!).

Bring your sense of humor - your going to need it and get pretty lonely without it.

Suet Pudding if you like Stew and Dumplings. (Suet - they never heard of :) )..


Tis all for now, safe travels....

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

They won't let you bring your lighter on the plane anymore though. Zippo is going mad http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?n...d=444919&rfi=6

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Sheise! In a word or two: they're effing paranoid!

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

We regret bringing voltage converters - total crap and therefore we also regret bringing English lamps ! we never left a thing in the UK as work paid - there are still Pickfords boxes fully wrapped in out garage nearly one year later !
just don't bother bringing a single UK electrical item its all so cheap here..

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Absolutely!

You can check a gun, brass knuckles or pepper spray but not a cigarette lighter
http://www.tennessean.com/local/arch...nt_ID=68222144

What were they thinking?

You can still carry-on a set of knitting needles. I bet I could do some damage with those :)

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

can still buy 'em on most of the planes though...so well ******* stupid..

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

My main regret is leaving behind some framed posters and prints which I thought I could replace easily - and found I can't. I wish I'd brought a bigger supply of favourite toiletries, makeup, painkillers and odds and ends from Boots, to tide me over until I found alternatives here. I'm still looking for good alternatives for most , after 5 months.
Good luck, hope all goes well for you.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Leave everything, bring nothing.

Well, almost.

Furniture, electrical, etc. just sell it and re-buy when you get here. The cost to ship over electricals and adapt them to here isn't worth it.

The only I brought over were personal items. CD collection, books. Stuff like that.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I think it's a very personal decision.

I also think it depends on who's paying for the shipping, how much money you have to spend on new stuff here in the US, and many other factors.

Our shipping was paid for by the company I was joining... sort of. They gave me money to fund the relocation, but I was left to set up the actual shipping. As a result, we tried to save money where we could.

We had Pickfords pack many of our belongings into half a shipping container. We brought beds and any higher quality furniture. We did not bring Ikea stuff. We brought everything we had which was of real sentimental value, but not junk. We brought a good dinner service but not the crap stuff.

We also packed around 300 books, but gave around 700 to charity. That was our one real bad move, in retrospect. We should have brought them all. It's never good to get rid of books.

We did not bring any electrical goods at all. I hate voltage transformers, and wouldn't have them in my house.

I think we got the balance more-or-less right. I would say we shipped 30% of our belongings at the time. The rest went to the charity shop if it was good enough, or into one of 6 skips if it wasn't.

All that to say... it's up to you. If you think you may regret not taking something, then take it. If it's junk, bin it. Everything else? Depends who's paying for the move :)

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Definitely, definitely bring as much bedding as you can. I have never been able to buy a decent duvet cover over here. I managed to buy a double (UK king) duvet at Macy's. Each time I have been back to England I have brought either bedding or curtains back with me. Do not bring any small electrical appliances just go to Target when you first get here, they will have everything you need and cheaper than UK.

We decided to have a full container rather than a half container and by the time we had finished it was full. We even managed to get the bikes in. There wasn't much difference in price and apparently a full container is guaranteed to go straight to port. Whereas if your container is only half full it could end up waiting to be filled at the depot for weeks. Shipping companies are reluctant to ship half full containers. Our shipment took 3 1/2 weeks from leaving our address in England to getting to our house here. Friends of ours decided on the half container and it took nearly 2 months to arrive here.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

duvets + covers, definitely.

and if it's a choice btw clothes and books, go with the books.

overall, take less rather than more.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Bring a metric tape measure.
Football shirts
Andrews Liver Salts
and a home brew kit

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Yup, I'd forgotten about that. Our half-container took 2 months because it had to wait to be paired up with another half-container shipping to Dallas.

...which was perfect for us, because we rented all our furnishings and housewares for the first 6 months in an apartment, and didn't have Pickfords deliver most of our belongings until we were in our own home.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

And remember the world is now much smaller.

You can order almost anything from the UK and have it shipped to the USA...... and if you go for the slow boat shipments, it's not that expensive either.

Heck at Christmas, I ordered from a British company shipping food from Tesco's to expats around the world. She even let me order stuff from Tescos that wasn't on her site :)

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

oh, and another thing: thrift store finds are great for bridging the gap btw U arriving and your stuff arriving. if you're only used to Oxfam, think again! This is a great way of benefiting from the great American "lets-buy-it + replace-it-in-6-months" ethic...

We furnished our 1st, temporary apartment almost entirely courtesy of the Salvation Army. Actually, some of the stuff is still with us nearly 4 years later!

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

All my furniture came with me but it was all quality stuff. I have never regretted bringing it all over because I have not found things even on a parr with mine.It is rather nice too because people come in the house and comment on my furniture, it is a great conversation starter.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

"Oh my, what a darling commode you have there! That's what y'all still use over in Europe, isn't it?"

I can just imagine ;)

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I arrived with a tesco's bag ..with a change of clothes...a pair of slippers...and a small radio.... leaving all the accumulated junk behind...
10 years later ..back to having a house full of different junk...

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I know exactly what you mean by that because the other day I was asked..."Do you have TV's in England". I replied yes and running water!

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Hi.
I've been reading this thread with interest because we are now making lists.
This might be a silly question.....can you pack food items in your container? I know nothing perishable but stuff like teabags,marmite,chocolate etc and also toiletries. What about alchohol. My dad collected whiskey and after he died I ended up with it. There's quite a lot. Can we just pack it in a box?

Thanks

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Food - I don't know whether you're supposed to or not but we did. I forgot to buy the Marmite so on the way to the airport we stopped at Sainsburys and bought the biggest jar I could find and put it in my hand luggage, nobody even bothered about it.

As for alcohol, I wouldn't if I were you as customs can open the container and if they find anything untoward they will do a thorough search which can result it them not releasing the container indefinitely.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I wouldn't put alcohol or food in your container as customs will probably open it.I just shipped a small container after my dad died and the man from Pickfords told me if customs opened your container you have to pay them for the priviledge.Get all your teabags ,chocolate ,crisps in your luggage ,it's amazing how much you can get in there :D

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

If you like to have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, do remember to pack a Yorkshire pudding tin, also if you like things like jam tarts, fairy cakes or mince pies at Christmastime bring some of those little 'patty tins'...they only have muffin tins here which are much deeper and larger.

Actually if you want to make any British dishes in general don't forget a good cookery book...if you only bring one, bring Delia Smith's 'Complete Cookery Course' even if it's only to remember how to make the (thin) pancakes on Shrove Tuesday which is something only we Brits seem make before Lent!!!. I had one of Delia's books as a wedding gift and still often refer to it many years later! Again - bring a UK jug with imperial and metric measurements if you're going to use British recipes and definitely bring kitchen scales - all measurements for US recipes are in cups, not grammes or ounces.

You will have to learn to weigh yourself in pounds only...they don't have 'stones' or kilogrammes in the US...you're bound to put on weight when you first arrive as food portions are so large....if it's important/of interest to you, bring some UK scales.

Also agree with all the comments about duvet covers...not so easy to find here and all the ones I've seen are either horrible or/and are an extortionate price.

I think a trip to Argos is in order LOL! (They have nothing like Argos stores in the US...).

PS. Bring gravy granules (or Bisto powder) and bottles of orange squash...unheard of over here. Maybe also some Angel Delight/Instant Whip packets too.

PPS. A St.George's flag if you're English, or the Welsh or Scottish equivalent. Or/and a Union flag. Perhaps even a book or tourist guide of your town or some postcards so you don't forget your 'roots'.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

If you have children bring plenty of underwear and nightwear. I don't know why but girls' socks, knickers, vests and nightwear over here are nowhere near as good. My husband also buys himself a supply of cotton rich socks when we go back.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

I think they have a law here that stipulates that children's sleepwear has to be made of 'flame-retardant material' - which rules out cotton. So bring plenty of cotton PJs for the little ones!

But you can get good quality black cotton-rich socks from Costco.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

All the nightwear here is seems to be made of man made material with labels warning about the danger of fire. I remember as a child my cousin's (nylon?) nightie melting when she sat near the fire but luckily my Aunty noticed and ripped it off her before it melted to her skin. So the stuff here may be flame retardent but maybe not "melt proof". I think I have been emotionally scarred by it and have always bought cotton nightwear for my kids.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

No to the alchohol we were told, and as for food items I wouldn't put them in the container. There are actually very strict guidelines about what can go in the container.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Our shippers supplied us with a ring binder full of useful information about moving to the USA. It contained a list of what foods you can actually put in the container and we stuck within those guidelines.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

We were told by Allied Pickfords not to put any food stuff in our container, under any circumstances, I even had to empty my spice rack and wash it out otherwise they wouldn't pack it! Alcohol was a definite no no as well. Be very careful if you bring garden furniture or garden tools, clean them well, any sign of dirt and you'll be in big trouble, again Allied told us that they'd had someones container sent back because of this!
Leave your bed behind, buy a king size when you get here, its bliss, don't know how I ever managed to sleep in a double bed!

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Do they allow gardening tools in at all? I mean, surely these could be used as weapons!!! :eek: :D

Agree about the bed - when they say king they really mean king (not queen...) ;) :zzz:

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

Perhaps the rules have changed but I bought new packets of herbs and spices and those went in the container. As long as every food item on the list was factory sealed we were told it was OK to ship.

We had to thoroughly clean and disinfect all our garden equipment, outdoor toys and bikes and they were then completely wrapped in clingfilm before going in the container.

Re: What to leave, what to bring?!!!
 

bedding is horrendously expensive though for such a big bed, no more buying a 30 quid duvet cover from Next.. :(