rincewind

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.

dbj1000

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

mandpete

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.

Elvira

duvets + covers, definitely.

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

overall, take less rather than more.

erkydooks

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

dbj1000

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.

franc111s

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

Elvira

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!

peacelover

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.

dbj1000

"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

Ray

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...

peacelover

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!

jumping doris

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

mandpete

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.

clydegirl

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