When we realized we would be moving from a 1,600 square foot/150 square meter, 4 bedroom, full basement home, the question became: How? Clearly we CAN’T take everything with us. Well, we guess we could, but it would be prohibitively expensive, and, as we’ve talked about before we are nothing if not
Don't worry! We did a combo of the two methods and, when our crate arrived, after weeks and weeks of our worrying what their "curbside pickup" would look like when our curbside was on a busy city street (it all worked out fine), we realized that we'd brought things we wouldn't have brought had we known, and hadn't packed things we wished we had (like guitars). Still, it was a good choice. Now, we've bought a new place and all of those things we scrambled to buy when we first got here are all there, included in the price of the house, and 10X nicer than what we'd purchased on Facebook Marketplace or at the Continente. :-) Time for a garage sale!!!!! Come on down!
PS - For all of your readers who are getting ready to move, we spent 3 years "NOT in acquisition mode." No buying anything new that wasn't critical to survival on the planet.
We went the UPakWeShip route, primarily because we had art work and signed first edition books that could not be replaced. But still we now realize that other things we thought would be easily replaced, like cooling racks were very hard to find. Aldi finally came through this week!
I remember your story about missing some Christmas items and how you wished you would have brought them. Although I know it is just stuff, some stuff (especially keepsakes) just have to come along for the ride (on a pallet).
This was thought-provoking, and I'm using it to justify the storage unit we're maintaining as nomads. 😁 Even though we might settle down permanently in the U.S. again, it's a real drag to shop for all the housewares that have withstood our cross-country moves and various downsizing binges. It seems that goods are just not made as well as they were a decade (or more) ago.
Aw, thank you Rosemarie! There are lots of other ways to do it. The easiest is to get one of the companies that comes in and does an estate sale. You pick out what you want to keep, and they have the estate sale in your home.
Yes, I was thinking that might be the easiest way. I used this service when my mother passed away. By the way, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. We have decided not to move to Portugal, but I still read your post every time it’s published. Your sense of humor (both of you) resonates. Thank you for writing
It is, unfortunately. One thing that makes it worse is the fact that everything you own has to come out of where it is stored, so you're living in them midst of mess, and it's all emotional stuff that makes it so hard.
Buy Nothing was our friend. We did do a combo Garage Sale/Buy Nothing. Day One was garage sale. We bluntly told people anything we didn't sell, we would be giving away the next day. We sold almost everything--and what we tried to give away the next day, people still gave us money for. It was actually a lovely way to meet people--that we would never see again.
when I did my research, there was several options, from UpackweShip to container, part of container and even door to door airline shipping, of course very expensive!
I ended up rest a 150 CuFt on shipping container and bring 2 suite case (lots of office stuff for my work) I heard cost of container shipping has gone down to fifth of what it was 2 years ago.
Funny part if when my stuff arrived 6 month later, I really didn't need any of it and had a new problem of what to do with them :-)
Don't worry! We did a combo of the two methods and, when our crate arrived, after weeks and weeks of our worrying what their "curbside pickup" would look like when our curbside was on a busy city street (it all worked out fine), we realized that we'd brought things we wouldn't have brought had we known, and hadn't packed things we wished we had (like guitars). Still, it was a good choice. Now, we've bought a new place and all of those things we scrambled to buy when we first got here are all there, included in the price of the house, and 10X nicer than what we'd purchased on Facebook Marketplace or at the Continente. :-) Time for a garage sale!!!!! Come on down!
It sounds like there's no win! So whatever you do is ok.
PS - For all of your readers who are getting ready to move, we spent 3 years "NOT in acquisition mode." No buying anything new that wasn't critical to survival on the planet.
We went the UPakWeShip route, primarily because we had art work and signed first edition books that could not be replaced. But still we now realize that other things we thought would be easily replaced, like cooling racks were very hard to find. Aldi finally came through this week!
Good to know - I'll check Aldi!
I remember your story about missing some Christmas items and how you wished you would have brought them. Although I know it is just stuff, some stuff (especially keepsakes) just have to come along for the ride (on a pallet).
And, yes, I'm finding more ornaments at last - at El Corte Ingles to my surprise. So far I've not found much at the Christmas markets.
They definitely would have been on the pallet. But hopefully so would have been a TON of cooking stuff.
This was thought-provoking, and I'm using it to justify the storage unit we're maintaining as nomads. 😁 Even though we might settle down permanently in the U.S. again, it's a real drag to shop for all the housewares that have withstood our cross-country moves and various downsizing binges. It seems that goods are just not made as well as they were a decade (or more) ago.
I always enjoy reading your posts, and this one is very helpful. Trying to empty out a house after 18 years is daunting.
Aw, thank you Rosemarie! There are lots of other ways to do it. The easiest is to get one of the companies that comes in and does an estate sale. You pick out what you want to keep, and they have the estate sale in your home.
Yes, I was thinking that might be the easiest way. I used this service when my mother passed away. By the way, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your blog. We have decided not to move to Portugal, but I still read your post every time it’s published. Your sense of humor (both of you) resonates. Thank you for writing
This was such a helpful post. We are in the packing/donating phase now and it’s so overwhelming.
It is, unfortunately. One thing that makes it worse is the fact that everything you own has to come out of where it is stored, so you're living in them midst of mess, and it's all emotional stuff that makes it so hard.
I love this and will lean into it in my own life: "we made a rule: nothing could come in the house unless something got moved to the tag sale pile."
This is a really helpful cost comparison. Thank you for sharing the details.
I keep walking around our house and asking myself, "Is this something I'd pay to take with me to Portugal?" The answers have been interesting.
Exactly!
Buy Nothing was our friend. We did do a combo Garage Sale/Buy Nothing. Day One was garage sale. We bluntly told people anything we didn't sell, we would be giving away the next day. We sold almost everything--and what we tried to give away the next day, people still gave us money for. It was actually a lovely way to meet people--that we would never see again.
I LOVE it!
Good story! Thank you :)
when I did my research, there was several options, from UpackweShip to container, part of container and even door to door airline shipping, of course very expensive!
I ended up rest a 150 CuFt on shipping container and bring 2 suite case (lots of office stuff for my work) I heard cost of container shipping has gone down to fifth of what it was 2 years ago.
Funny part if when my stuff arrived 6 month later, I really didn't need any of it and had a new problem of what to do with them :-)
Cheers,
Ha! It proves that no matter how much we plan, it's only when you're actually here that you know what you need.
I'm so glad! I hope it will be helpful!