What to Do With Your Possessions When Moving Abroad

There are hundreds of reasons why you might make the exciting decision to move abroad. It might be for family reasons, or for your partner. It may be to accept a job, to experience new cultures or to learn a new language. Whatever you reasoning, though, you’ll still need to take care of some formalities and responsibilities while you’re still in the UK. Perhaps chief among these is the need to take care of all your possessions as you relinquish your home in the UK. This article’s all about how to manage your possessions in advance of a move abroad.

Sorting

First, you’re going to want to sort through your possessions. You’ll be able to make three piles: items you’ll certainly want to take with you, items you’ll certainly want to leave in the UK and items that you’re not sure about. You may wish to form a fourth pile of itmes that you’re happy to give to a charity shop, to friends and family, or to attempt to sell online. As you sort through these items, you can start boxing the ones that you’d like to leave in the UK, as it’s these that you’ll need to store while you live abroad.

Storage

The items you’ve boxed for storage will eventually be ready to send off. At this point, you’ll have to choose where you store your belongings. If a friend or family member has some space in the loft, you may be able to ask them to store your belongings. But if you own furniture and larger goods, you’ll likely need to think about self storage. Find self storage units near you, and hire a van, so that you can drive all your belongings to a safe storage facility in the space of a day, taking care of the bulk of your possessions in one sweep.

Selling or Giving

Some of your other possessions may well be worth selling or giving away. Be mindful that it can take over a month to list all of your items online, to prices payments and to ensure delivery is made on those items. So if you’re looking to make some cash out of your unwanted possessions before you board your flight, this is a process you need to prioritise and begin right away. Giving items away is easier: just share pictures on social media, or take them straight to a charity shop.

Packing

Finally, let’s think about that pile of possessions that you’d like to take with you to your new home country. If it’s a large pile – the sort of pile that simply will not fit into hold luggage on a plane – then your best option is to ship your possessions. This is actually remarkably easy, and you won’t spend a great deal on getting these items to your new home. You can even ship large and expensive possessions such as your vehicle, so long as you bear in mind that you may be liable to pay an import tax or sign certain liability documents in advance.

Moving abroad is an exciting step to take in life. Making sure your possessions are accounted for before you fly will make it a stress-free move for you and your family.