I am not shy about blowing my own trumpet when it comes to packing up the family and moving country. I shouldn’t be. After all, we have done it 6 times in the last 13 years. However, I must admit that my skills have not come from me being one of those incredibly organised and together people. Instead, much of my learning has come from those “oh sh!t, won’t do that again” moments. In this post we will share tips from our tried and tested guide to relocating abroad. While I am sure most of you have an idea what needs to be done, hopefully we will assist in filling any gaps you may have.
Three key ingredients to relocating abroad
Moving home is considered to be one of the most stressful life changes we can experience. Moving country is no more stressful but does come with added hoop jumping for those pesky bureaucrats. As with anything, being prepared is the best way to streamline the process.
Relocating also involves a WHOLE LOT of hurry up and wait. If you are a Zimbo (Zimbabwean) or have a Zimbo in your life you will be familiar with the phrase “just now”. This phrase is PERFECT to describe the relocation process. Everything will happen anytime between now and whenever it happens, aka “just now”. So, along with prepared you will need to add patience.
The final ingredient is a sense of humour. There is a high possibility your carefully laid plans will fall apart at some point. When that happens take a moment, breathe and do your best to see the funny side. This may take an hour, a day, a week or a month. Don’t be too hard on yourself if/when you do lose your sh!t. We have all been there.
Becoming an Expat
If you are not yet on your way to becoming an Expat, you need to figure out a few things before moving on to the relocation. An easy way to do this is to start with the 5WTF & 1HTF.
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
Rudyard Kipling
Why do you want to live overseas? Where do you want to go? What are you going to do there? Who are you going to go with? When are you going to go? How are you going to get there? These questions are also a great way to get older kids involved so they feel like they are part of the process. Read this post to find out my kids pro’s and con’s about living abroad.
There are a number of ways to get temporary residence abroad – Ancestry, Student, Tourist, Retirement, Job, Investing in property or the Digital Nomad Visa. The Digital Nomad Visa has opened up a whole new nomadic opportunity for families. If you are able to work remotely, this is a great option to look into. Once you have worked out the best visa for you and have the family on board, it is time to tackle the boring stuff.
The boring stuff – preparing for relocation
1. Documentation
You will need originals of EVERYTHING. Birth/Marriage/Uni Certificates, Drivers License and Passport to name a few. Some countries will accept copies or certified copies. Others might ask for originals or for documents to be Apostilled. (Apostille documents can only be done in the documents country of origin). After all the countries we have lived in, you would think I have everything already. But nope! When moving to Russia I had to get documents from Zim (Zimbabwe), while in Australia, in the midst of world chaos! Ugh! Luckily, us Zimbo’s are always able to “make a plan”.
Another consideration is the minimum six months validity requirement on passports. Don’t be daft! It takes you six months to work out which way is up when you move to a new country. The last thing you need to worry about is an expiring passport. We work on a minimum of 18 months validity from D-day and at least four free pages.
If you intend to drive overseas it is a good idea to get an International Drivers Licence before you leave your country. Some countries require you get a local license if you stay longer than three months. This is how I came to have Australian and Mongolian Drivers Licenses to add to my Zimbabwean Birth Certificate and Irish Passport. Nothing like variety in ones life!
2. Visa
Once you have all your documents in order, it is time to apply for visas. We like a challenge, and have picked countries with more hoops to jump through than most. If you are moving with a company they often assign a Relocation Specialist. They are like Accountants to Tax Returns and will save hours of your life you would otherwise lose to mind numbing bureaucracy.
With our move to Russia, the company provided us with a specialist who told us what to do and provide to whom, when. Streamlining the whole process and leaving us to get on with saying our goodbyes and then finding our feet in our new homeland. If things do go tits up at any point, you have someone to send ALL CAPS emails to. Do your research though as not all relocation specialists are made equal.
As all your documents are finalised put them in a “Travel Folder” and keep this with your passport wallet. It is also a good idea to take photos of everything and keep these on your phone … Just in case the folder decides to pack itself into your container. While on the subject of photos, you can never have too many passport sized photos when relocating. I have at least four of each family member in our passport wallet and a digital copy.
3. Air freight or Shipping?
Air freight is great if you have the budget for it, are not packing up your whole house and want your belongings arriving shortly after you. If a company is doing this for you, you will often get a limit of 500kg. Note that airfreight cannot leave your home base until you have arrived in country. With customs and immigration you can expect it to take couple of weeks to get to you. Our get around this is sending Hubby ahead to get the lay of the land. When we airfreighted to Madagascar and Mongolia we were unpacking our boxes in our new home as soon as we arrived.
The downside to airfreight is needing storage for the stuff you leave behind. Personally, I don’t recommend storage. We had things in storage before Madagascar. Six years later we were doing a whole lot of “what were we thinking” when we unpacked it all. It doesn’t matter how good the storage place is, things just don’t age well sitting in boxes for years on end. If you can go without something for a couple of years, chances are you can go without it!
Shipping is more cost effective than air freight but can take 3 months or longer to arrive. You can take a 20/40ft container or share part of a container. If you are packing up your entire house or if you have a smaller budget, this is the option for you. The downside? It can take a lot longer than three months. I spent a month tracking a random ship only to find out our container had not even left Australia! Breathe. It eventually arrived … two months after its due date.
4. To pack or to get packed?
Do you need to ask? GET PACKED! Who wants to spend days wrapping their world in paper? People do this for a living and can turn your home into an orderly pile of boxes within a day. It’s an extra expense but unless you plan on putting your life on hold for a week, it is worth it.
Packers know what you can and cannot pack. Such as no batteries over a certain size on airfreight. Which means no Playstation! Also, no booze and food. Having said that, I sneak the essentials, such as gluten free Vegemite, into the toiletry or laundry boxes! Slow down on buying groceries about three months before departure. It will mean fewer perishables to dump on D-Day. Plus, as food stocks dwindle you have an excuse to get last orders of your favourite take-aways.
Get organised BEFORE the packers arrive. Empty drawers and open cupboards. Gather like with like ie books together, sporting goods together. I also pack by room ie “kid room 1”, “bathroom”, “office”. Being organised on this end makes for easier unpacking on the other side. If the company has arranged the whole service, I get everything unpacked. The place looks like a container vomited up its contents but I need to see everything to figure out where it will go.
Again, DOWNSIZE! Most places have semi or fully furnished rentals. If you don’t need it, don’t pack it. For our first move we had a 40ft container, babies and toddlers require heaps more stuff than tweens. With our last move we used around 15ft of a 20ft container, with nothing in storage. We are getting closer to the dream of “grab your two suitcases and let’s go”.
More on packing
What are your plans for packing day? Where will the kids be? Separate what you are taking on the flight so it doesn’t end up being packed. We usually get a local Airbnb and move out of the house the day before the packers come. If the kids aren’t in school I ship them out to a friend or dump them at the Airbnb. When they were smaller we claimed a section of the house and tried keep out of the way.
I have found the packers who have passed through our lives to be helpful and tolerant people and happy to go above and beyond. When we were leaving Melbourne for Brisbane in Australia, we heard rumours the borders were about to shut – AGAIN! Not wanting to be trapped any longer, I threw the kids into the car and did a border dash at 3pm in the afternoon leaving the packers to finish the job and lock up the house.
Each time we move we also do a massive cull on the kids toys, clothing and sports equipment. Giving away things we have outgrown is appreciated more in the less developed countries. When there are so many memories attached to my kids toys and clothes it is easier to let go when I know they will be used and loved over being tossed. For all the “green” talk the Western world does they do not come close to the repurposing you see in the rest of the world.
5. Mode of transport
We generally move continent as well as country so air travel is our first choice. We did drive from Melbourne to Brisbane in 2021 and made it a fun road-trip stopping off to see family in Scone, NSW. Relocating is also the only time we fly Business Class, much to the horror of our kids. Along with comfy seats and better food, comes the extra baggage allowance and a lounge for tired kids when there are multiple stops. When we relocated to Madagascar we had FOUR flights before we reached our destination. My kids are some of the few in this world totally unimpressed with planes and pilots.
Start looking at route options and prices early so you are ready to go once that visa is approved. We look for the least number of stops first and shorter layover times second. Don’t forget to include any dietary requirements and your frequent flyer numbers!
Where possible stick to airlines linked with your frequent flyer numbers or airlines that will be easiest out of your new location. For example when we were in Madagascar we used South African Airways, when in Laos we picked Thai Airways. Thai Airways is the BEST airline when travelling with small kids. There were many flights I was solo with two bubs and the Hosties were attentive and patient and always made sure we got first dibs on free seats/rows.
6. School for kids
If you have school aged kids and don’t intend to homeschool them, start researching schools. Pick out a few and arrange site visits the first week you arrive in country. Schools pressuring you to pay fees prior to a site visit should be put at the bottom of your list. And don’t commit to a school until you have seen it in person, they look very different on a screen. Take into account that the first year of school fees will include a joining/admin fee which is non-refundable.
7. Pets
With pet transportation, size matters. Our Rhodesian Ridgeback weighed 60kgs and required a custom built crate for our move to Laos. The size was problematic for most airplane doors and it took a while before we found a company (Pets) to get him all the way to Vientiane. Pets also turned out to be a third of the price of other companies who wanted to leave him in Bangkok so it is worth hunting around when looking for a decent pet transporter.
Side story: When Riggs was due to arrive in Vientiane, a contact within Customs and Immigration took Hubby to collect him, rocking up in his new VW Toureg. He clearly had no idea what a Ridgeback was! As is the Laos way, all involved had a few Beer Laos’ as they waited for the plane to arrive. When it did and they opened up the crate, the tipsy crowd scattered in a panic when a very large and excited Riggs raced out to greet Hubby.
Again, take photos and have a folder on your phone with all documents. The originals will be with your pet. You will also want to take stopovers into consideration. Some airlines leave pets on the tarmac so you need to think about climate and how long the stopover is.
As much as they are part of the family, pets can be a huge cost when you relocate so be 100% sure this is for you. You will need to find somewhere or someone to leave them with when you are off travelling. Taking all this into account, we have decided to go the expating with a pet route again. This time around we have gone with a Basenji, which is a whole lot more transportable than a Ridgeback!
The REALLY boring stuff – relocation checklists
Once the big ticket items are underway, you can put them out of mind until the relevant due dates arrive. Put these dates in your calendar with suitable alerts. Now you need to tie up loose ends. This is when you notify those who need notifying and cancel things that need cancelling. If you are leaving Australia, this can be one of the most stressful things a human ever has to do!
We have learned NEVER to do Direct Debits for our utilities. Even when you cancel and everyone agrees, without doubt there will be one or two that “forget” and you will have the looooonnng back and forth from a foreign location trying to get refunds and cancel again. Nearly a year later, I still have Optus threatening to cut off my internet! Seriously? Just do it already and p!ss off! I recommend you keep cancellation confirmations for at least 3 months after you have left … just in case you end up with the person from the Optus cancellation department.
Pre-depature Admin checklist
- Cancel utilities (set the cancellation date for AFTER the final clean).
- Notify your Accountant or check what needs to be done now your residency status is changing.
- Update Wills and other legal bits and bobs.
- Notify your bank and research banks in your new location. We usually arrange a USD and local currency account in our new location.
- Book medical and dental check-ups and pick up a First Aid Kit with the usual drugs and antibiotics. We have been grateful for these kits when in the middle of nowhere and someone has gone down with something.
- Research and arrange international healthcare. We have used Cigna in the last two countries and they have been far superior to others we have used.
- Buy good quality luggage. Think of something that can survive being drop-kicked from the back of the airplane onto the tarmac. Stick with medium size, the large suitcases are hard to pack without going over allocated weight limits.
- Check voltage and plug requirements where you are going. I have adapters for all electronic devices as I can’t be bothered changing plugs in each new location.
- Book temporary accommodation if you are not able to go straight into your new home.
- Download the Duolingo App if you are moving to a country with a new language and get started on the basics. To help with motivation, you can turn it into a family competition. It also wouldn’t hurt to research the history of your new home country to help with understanding the culture.
- Look up “things to do with kids” and get out of the apartment/hotel and explore while you settle in.
Pre-Flight checklist
- Have your travel folder with all original documentation, anything you have been advised to provide to immigration and your passport sized photos easily accessible.
- Check Covid requirements.
- What else are you taking on the flight? We take Theodora the Thermomix everywhere and have to account for lugging her around in her non-travel friendly bag. We also have tennis racquets, school backpacks and a stash of gluten free snacks.
- Arrange transport to the airport. Give yourself plenty of time to sit and regroup on the other side of immigration. I hate rushing! I like to arrive and find a quiet spot to have a coffee before being trapped with a bunch of strangers and my family in a tin can.
- Book in a hair appointment and spa morning a day or two before your flight. No point arriving into your new country looking frazzled!
- Arrange the coffee dates and goodbye lunches/dinners with friends and family. I love a good excuse to eat out and spend our last weeks revisiting our favourite spots.
Departure day checklist
- Passports & Travel Folder. Have I said this enough?
- Luggage plus any sports bags or buggies/carseats.
- Carry-on – the boys will pack a few of toys each including a favourite soft toy, a few card games (essential for those times your flight gets stuck on a random tarmac in China for 6hrs while they de-ice the runway in Ulaanbaatar).
- Electronics – make sure all devices are charged and you have cables to charge in-flight and some good quality headphones for everyone. These days, this is also a good time to check all devices have your preferred VPN downloaded.
- A change of clothes or two. On our way to Russia, Casey projectile vomited 4 times and made it to the bathroom zero out of all four times!
Arrival Checklist
- Unpack! No need to live out of a suitcase indefinitely. If in your full-time home get paintings/photos on walls and get some plants.
- Get SIM cards and update phone numbers with country codes.
- Find someone who speaks the language to have on speed dial for emergencies.
- Start house/apartment hunting. Don’t settle if it does not feel right. Rather take your time and find the right spot.
- Get acquainted with the location of the local clinics and what number to dial for emergencies.
- Confirm school visits and if you/the kids have a favourite sport of hobby, check out facilities in the area.
- Test out a few different supermarkets and see which you like best. We love the world of online shopping that Moscow has introduced us to. Definitely a step up for us going to a supermarket that doesn’t have a dirt floor.
- Find your local post office for the care packages that will surely arrive and enquire as to any local facilities you need to sign up for. In Russia they have Gosuslugi which gives you access to a number of government services.
- Decide on the best mode of transport for you in your new home. We have driven in every country we have been in with only one mishap so far but in Moscow we decided to take advantage of the convenient Yandex taxi service.
- Just in case it all goes to sh!t in your new homeland, register with your embassy/consulate.
It is a whole lot to take in but I highly recommend expat life. Head over to this post for just some of the why’s. I could not begin to imagine a “forever home” now after all our travels. It is a different life yes, but we have the same goals – raise happy, mostly well adjusted children and find the fun in living.
