Some tips in no particular order, about moving from one continent to another that I have learned the hard way (most are common sense, but I'm not common):
1. Trim down your belongings as soon as possible. Acquire only those that you will need between now and the day you move.
2. Anything that you are taking with you that can be easily replaced at your destination should probably not be coming with you in the first place.
3. Make a list of the things that you want rid of and offer it around your friends. It gives you a good excuse to meet them and won't hurt your friendship at all.
4. Books are heavy. Boxes of books are usually very difficult to move. Often cardboard boxes will not be strong enough, and your back will never thank you for finding this out. Spreading your books among your other, less dense items will usually help.
5. Computers often have a switch so they can take either a 110V or 220V input. Don't assume yours has this switch.
6. A great way to avoid replacing lots of electrical plugs is to take a power strip and replace the plug on its cord. Just make sure that all devices attached can handle the local power supply. Most electronics that I have bought in the last 5 years will work just fine.
7. Don't assume that you'll be allowed to bring your car. Canadian law is quite strict (and seriously dumb, if you ask me) and there is a good chance that your car will not be allowed. I could rant about this for hours, but all I'll say is that Canada is not a particularly safe country to drive in and has very restrictive laws about cars. Maybe they are focusing on the wrong things.
8. Make sure to have all and any medications that you are likely to need and the associated prescription to show if anyone inquires about them. Don't assume that the medications that you are used to getting over the counter or by prescription will be available at all at your destination. Countries differ hugely and if you are unlucky, the one drug you've found that actually works well for you will almost certainly be unavailable wherever you move to.
9. Credit cards can be very useful if you get into a tight spot, but a little cash can really help.
10. If you can help it, never use a credit card to make a phone call in another country. Actually, this didn't happen to me, but did to my fiancée once when she came to Ireland.
11. Keep a detailed inventory of everything you are taking and which box it is in. If it's not worth writing down the description of the item, it is almost certainly not worth taking.
12. Lots of things that are part of your life will change; food, the music on the radio and the programs on the TV. It's not that where you are going to will be better or worse, just different. You can accept it or try to bring it with you. The latter is made all the more possible with the internet, but for your own sanity, try to find the good in the new things. Though I would also keep the ties with home. A little extra variety is probably a good thing.
13. Expect to be asked if you know so-and-so from wherever you lived. Everyone assumes that just because they live within a 10 mile radius of wherever you came from, that you will definitely know them. As an Irishman, it is expected that I know at least 90% of adult Irish males. Canadians seem to get the same from others too. As an Irishman, I will have absolutely no problem with stringing along those who ask me such questions. Of course, I won't take it too far and I'll let them know, within a year or so.
14. Get things like a driving record, letter to state that you are in good standing with your bank, and anything else that you might find useful when you arrive. Opening a bank account is likely to be a little easier with such a letter and getting a driving license can be a real pain if you don't have details about your driving history. Canada has a graduated driving license (which I think is a good thing), which takes years to go through (which I'm not so keen about) if you don't already have a license for a few years and proof of this is essential.
15. The chances are that lots of others have gone through the exact same move that you are doing, check out the online forums. Most people are quite happy to share their experiences as if nothing else, it usually allows them to vent ;)
I'm a hoarder. I collect quite an amount of stuff, including DVDs, books, computer parts, car parts, and much much more. So, when it comes to moving, I am the world's worst for doing so. I have gathered so much that it is a pain to trim off all the excess and whittle it down to the stuff I need.
It wouldn't be a problem if I had only to move to somewhere else in Ireland, or even to another European city. I could always borrow a big car, or hire a van and move all the stuff I need. Actually, no that wouldn't work, but it would still be easy to ship all the things I want to keep. Even my little car.
Instead, I'm moving about 7,000km from the fairly busy city of Dublin in Ireland to a relatively quiet city in Northern British Columbia in Canada. The cost of shipping is a pain, but almost as difficult as that is the actual organising of it. It seems that many companies are content in ignoring requests for a quotation and those that do provide them are slow to do so. Oh, and I think that shipping 800kg of items (which includes my little car) should not cost in excess of €4000. The daft thing is that when I take the car out of the mix, the total remains pretty similar.
Okay, enough whinging. At least the Canadian system is quite good. I'll be allowed to bring my stuff in whenever I want. All I have to do is give them a list of everything I intend to bring and they'll tick it off the list when I get around to bringing it over. This means that I can put off taking over most of my belongings until a time that suits me (in other words, not during the Winter).
Thankfully my family are quite happy to look after my stuff in Ireland for a few months at least.
But, a little more about why I am moving. A few years ago I met this wonderful woman called Dyani. She lived with her two boys in Northern BC and was studying at the time. Well, I have to say that we quickly fell for each other and with time, decided to get married. That was two years ago. Since then I have been trying to complete some studies of my own and make some preparations for moving to Canada. There were ups and downs. Actually, mostly ups. The Canadian government's rules about immigration were threatening to spoil the party for a while, but that's now pretty much behind us with only a few significant hurdles left and none we are at all worried about and I will soon (less than 1 month) be moving over to live with her and our boys.
Okay, there are lots of things I could say about the process, some of which I will when I am fully finalised with it. But for now, I believe that discretion is the better part of valour.
I am truly looking forward to my life in Canada, to braving the bitterly cold winters (I'm used to -5 as the coldest I experience every year, but where I'm moving to, -20 is very common) and the scorchingly hot summers (in Ireland, the mid to high 20s are about the hottest it ever gets, where I'm going, 30 is common). It is a beautiful place, with lovely people and most importantly of all, Dyani is there and that's enough reason for me.
Good luck,
Neil
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