Transporting more than yourself can be difficult.
BY PHILL FELTHAM
Your time is up and it’s time to go home. You’ve lived abroad for a few years and you’ve decided that enough is enough and you want to go back to your host country and start working the 9 to 5. But, you have a problem. Over the years, you’ve accumulated quite a bit of furniture while overseas. You thought that you held back on the major purchases, but you had to entertain yourself—and your guests—somehow. So, the million dollar question is, “What do you do?”
1
GIVE THE STUFF AWAY
You have your date set and your plane ticket bought. You’ve given your landlord your notice and you have a month—you should give yourself at least that—to get decide what to do with your stuff. You can give it away to other expatriates or even the locals. Just arrange for them to come and pick it up so you don’t have to worry about.
2
SELL STUFF
Selling is another idea. In this case, you should post an ad on the local expat website. When someone contacts you, be sure that they give you their phone number and email address so you can make proper arrangements. Again, have them come to pick it up. Most importantly, exchange money and goods at the same time. At this point, you don’t have time to be chasing after people who owe you cash, not to mention, that if you wanted to give your stuff away, you would have given it to a friend.
3
SHIP YOUR STUFF HOME—OR ABROAD
This can be quite costly—especially if you’re going to do it via airplane. According to canuckabroad.com, it’s quite easy to find furnished accommodation in Europe, so if you’re only staying a year or two, that might be the best way to go. The most common way to ship large quantities of goods is in a container on a ship. Consider sharing the container with another person or persons because it’s unlikely that you’ll have enough baggage to take up an entire container.
Canuckabroad.com continues to say that when arranging a move, it’s best to find a reputable international mover. There is no doubt that it will cost more, but it’s worth it. Have the company give you all costs up front—particularly the hidden ones—so you know exactly how much everything is going to be. Duty, terminal charges, customs charges and sales tax in addition to the shipping charges and insurance all have to be taken into consideration. Finding a company you trust will go along way towards helping the whole move run smoothly.
4
EXERCISE CAUTION IF SHIPPING BY CAR
First off, if you bought a car while living overseas, then it’s more convenient to part ways with it and buy another one when you get back to Canada. Think carefully before you decide to ship your car. If you’re determined to take your car with you, there are a few options. A ferry is your cheapest option, but it might take a while to get to your destination because the operation might want to wait until all spaces are filled before embarking on the voyage. A more economical choice is to opt for a shared-container service. There might be a wait until there is enough cargo until the rest of the container is filled, but sharing is a good compromise between privacy and economics. iT!
(with files from canuckabroad.com)
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