Moving Abroad: How to Safely Transport Your Belongings

Moving in general can be an absolutely harrowing experience, and the pain is exponentially increased when you are moving abroad, to another country, or even to another continent. So when you are going to move, chances are that is not going to happen with you not even carrying a suitcase. You have stuff; everyone has stuff. And said stuff has to go with us when we move, and today we are going to give you some tips on how to transport all your belongings without family heirlooms breaking in the process.

The Right Company

You obviously can’t carry all your stuff by hand to your new country, so finding the right moving company is imperative. You want to go through this process as smoothly as possible, and the folks over at https://www.sevenseasworldwide.com/moving/international-relocation/ recommend you do all your research about where you are moving, regulations, and so on. The international relocation services provided by these businesses enable you to focus on more important matters, like locating your ideal home, while they handle the logistics of your belongings’ international relocation.

Don’t Advertise

This one seems really out of left field, but it can prove extremely important. While preparing to move, you are going to want to keep your move as incognito as possible. Don’t publicize it, especially on social media. You do not know who sees your posts, even if you think your account is limited to just friends. You do not want strangers to know exactly when and where a lot of stuff will be conveniently boxed up and ready for anyone to just pick up and take away. We don’t want you to become paranoid now, but a little caution certainly won’t hurt. Save the housewarming party for when you are all settled in and ready to welcome your friends. Until then, try to keep it under wraps.

Get Organized

Organization is the first and vital step when taking on anything of any substantial size, but when it comes to moving, it is almost vital to first get organized. You want to make a moving checklist that details all the steps you are going to take, budget details, a list of items and places they are going to go, learning custom regulations, and so on. Not only are lists in general proven to help with focus and productivity if you need a little push, but they are far more manageable when you can physically cross items off the list and move on to the next.

When taking on something as huge as moving abroad, you really cannot afford to lose sight of important details that got lost in all the chaos because you got overwhelmed. So, just get as organized as you possibly can before starting out on the journey of moving yourself and all your stuff across borders.

Labeling and Packing

You might not have to pack everything, but you might want to label the boxes yourself, and when you are labeling them, instead of saying what is in them, label them with the name of the room they are destined for, again, to dissuade any would-be box-nappers. So for example, instead of writing “Xbox and Gaming PC” on the box, just write “Family Room,” perhaps, or “Recreation. You also want to choose the right packing materials because you really don’t want your precious chinaware to shatter like old bones just because you didn’t get the right bubble wrap.

Make sure to get double-walled cardboard boxes, and try not to leave empty spaces in the box, as that gives the things inside the room enough space to shift and break. Blankets, towels, linen, and packaging paper all make good padding and protection. Things like silver or other metals should not be wrapped in paper or plastic, as they scratch easily. There is a special silver cloth for sterling silver and antiques that you can use, as it is a tarnish-resistant material made from 100% cotton flannel.

For electronics, it is best if you can pack them in their original packaging and then put them into the box; this is the optimal solution. Failing that, again, plenty of cushioning will be required.

Keep Valuables with You

It is likely a bit obvious, but it is important enough to bear repeating, that you should definitely keep your valuables on your person through the whole journey, until your hopefully safe and sound arrival. So if you have valuable papers, like passports, medicine, jewelry, phones, laptops, and the like, keep them in a bag and on your person. If you put them in a portable safe, even then, you should still keep them safe with you as much as you can. You can ask the company helping you move for other options when dealing with expensive things, like artwork or the like, and they should be able to help you out.

Of course, you should still keep the baggage limit in mind when preparing all this and check customs regulations so you don’t end up getting ambushed by some anomaly in the security system and maybe even miss your flight.

6 Months Planning

Give yourself at least 6 months in advance to plan everything out and iron out the small details you might have missed if you were under a lot of stress and had to hurry, because no matter how meticulously you plan, surprises always pop up somewhere, especially in an undertaking as big as moving to another country. Giving yourself this cushion of time to fall back on will let you take care of any hiccups you encounter in this process. If your move is even more complex, like moving to another country, maybe overseas, or to a permanent location, you may even want to start planning even earlier.

Moving to another nation can be a brutal, soul-draining, energy-sapping, torturous process that may end up breaking your spirit for a while. But it does not necessarily have to be if you plan ahead carefully, contact the right people to help you pack and move your stuff, and organize everything down to the little details. There are, of course, many more things you want to do, be on the lookout for, and avoid, but once you have the basics, you have a solid basis to get started.