Choices To Make When Moving Abroad

Posted on 23/04/2014

When it comes to an international move due to work opportunities or out of a desire to change your life circumstances and living situation, then things can get fairly costly fairly quickly and there can be a few hoops to jump through before you can breathe a sigh of relief. The further you go, the more complicated things can become so it’s worth getting some sound advice from forums set up by expats, friends or relatives who have lived abroad for considerable amounts of time, and/or agencies with the right contacts and network of support for this kind of move. A move the other side of the world can be even more daunting. And with Australia being a popular destination for a lot of English citizens, the process of moving to the other side of the globe can sometimes need some thorough explaining and guidance to dispel any worry or confusion. Rather than jumping straight in the deep end like a baptism of fire, it’s worth taking some time to check your options and prepare well. First off you want to find a suitable removal service to provide the travel of your chosen possessions that you want to move with you. Obviously you want to make use of professionals with a wealth of experience but this can be ridiculously expensive, so it is a case of balancing your budget whilst maximising the options available to get the best out of the move. The cheapest way of sending your belongings is to get them shipped by carrier boat but this can take up to eight to twelve weeks. So to ease the move of your goods, try and gage the time schedule with your travel expected, to arrive to coincide in time, with the arrival of your container. Tying in a deadline with the timing of independently travelling to the destination separately with the items in the shipment arriving means you can have more of a smooth transition. International firms are best prepared to help post items to any location, with the added benefit that they will be the ones unpacking everything when it reaches its destination! The majority of other firms are going to be partnered with local companies of your destination, so you are putting your trust in people you may not have met in person. But the advantage is competitive prices because of reduced overheads. To help make your destination, it’s best to get recommendations from the British Association of Removers and companies listed on the country’s registry. Shipping items overseas is invoiced based on bulk (how much everything takes up space physically) rather than weight. Items will then need to fit into standard shipping containers which clock in at twenty feet or forty feet. You are paying for the space that you need for your items; be that half a container or a whole one. The least pricey option is to book your own container, which will normally arrive via lorry at your doorstep to be packed, sealed and then shipped. On arrival it will be delivered to your new home straightaway. If you are unable to fill a whole container, then you have the chance to share one as a partial load. The downside being that as you will need to partner up with someone else in to load up the whole container, it can take a while extra as you wait (which can have an impact on scheduling everything else based around the shipment of your goods). However, the less you bring the less it costs, so keep that in mind when packing your container up!