Moving within a city is a snap. It’s a lot of work, yes, but logistically it’s not a big deal. You disconnect some services, sign them up at a new location, move your phone numbers, arrange your mail, and then move your crap from one place to another.
Even within a country it’s not too bad. Similar logistics, but the distances are longer and you usually have to give up the phone numbers you had.
Moving between countries? Even harder. Never done that one before, and I’m about to find out how bad it can be.
Today, I sat down with Veronique, who is officially kicking off the relocation program for those of us going to Costa Rica. We’re engaging a company that specialises in moving things across borders (they move the Mona Lisa when it’s necessary). They’re going to help us find a place to live, get us oriented, help us move furniture, etc. But there’s still a lot on our table that has to be covered.
This is partly a list for myself. I don’t want to forget. But if anyone out there has some suggestions for stuff that we shouldn’t forget, I’d love to know!
- Sell the Mini (sniff, I have to)
- Sell the Jetta (too expensive to leave lying around)
- Talk to a tax consultant (or suffer the financial consequences)
- Find a property management company to handle renting the house while we’re gone
- Cancel the cell phone contracts (and pay the penalties, the rat bastards!)
- Cancel the internet and TV service
- Determine if we have to cancel gas, water, and electricity
- Make sure the renovations are done to our satisfaction
- Decide what specifically is going to Costa Rica
- Have our stuff packed and put in storage
- Decide where we’re storing our stuff (and consolidate with our existing stuff)
- Sell the TVs (yes, even my much-beloved 50″ projection)
- Maybe sell the audio and visual equipment (need to debate that one)
- Buy a laptop (we’re not hauling down the desktop computer)
- Find a place to live in Costa Rica
- Determine when exactly Alex and the Wee One will move down
- Say goodbye to everyone I’ve met over the last few years at CM — they might not be there when I get back
- Brace myself for the cultural shock
Oh, this is gonna be fun…
