I've come down with a case of list-itis again, undoubtedly brought on by having our passports out for visa approval. It's the final contingency to clear before our one-way flights are booked and our pack-out is scheduled. We won't get much warning; maybe six weeks after our visas are granted if we're lucky, though I feel like we need to prepare for only three or four.
Hence, the to-do list (in progress):
- figure out our tax issues around non-residency
- sell our house
- sell our car (maybe)
- notify the schools, home security company, my gym, my mobile phone provider
- buy suitcases or boxes for the stuff we'll take on the plane
- close-out our safety deposit boxes at the bank
- find a storage facility for the stuff we're leaving in Canada
- paint the basement
- take the e-waste and hazardous waste items to their proper disposal facilities
- schedule tuberculosis tests for the kids
- give away a bunch of stuff???
- set up bank account at HSBC
The to-buy list:
- back-to-school clothes for a summery climate (this mainly affects our oldest kid)
- everyday dishes
- back-to-school supplies for the next school
- new mattress for us
The packing lists (details to follow)
- suitcase stuff
- air shipment stuff
- sea shipment stuff
- store-in-Canada stuff
There's a lot of stuff that we won't know for sure until we're in the company housing. Our new home may be wired for 110V electricity but it might be 220V. We'll take our 110V stuff and our heavy transformers, and I won't dwell on the fact that I gave away an awesome 220V food processor/blender only eighteen short months ago. We might be in a place with temporary furniture, or we may have permanent stuff and then most of our shipment will go into storage until we are able to move into different company housing.
I'm supporting this overseas move because the big picture is that we'll have a better quality of life than we do here in Calgary, but the short term is looking pretty crazy.
Transition craziness, for sure!
Posted by: Sues | November 07, 2014 at 05:39 PM