This is How You Pack

How hard can it be to move when the State Department sends movers to pack all your stuff, anyway?

Hard.

I've talked about the logistics before. If you have read my blog, you will have become familiar with HHE, UAB, POV...it is all there. So, dear reader, what is it that you could possibly be missing? The movers come, they take your stuff, it is all good, right?

But before the movers come, you need to sort, and you need to pack your checked luggage.

What? But I'm sending my HHE and UAB out two weeks before I move. Why would I pack my checked luggage first?

Because, dear reader, you don't know how much stuff is going to fit in your checked luggage until you actually pack it. If you send away your HHE and UAB shipments, and not everything fits into your two checked suitcases, one carry-on suitcase, and personal item (in my family, it is a backpack), you will have to decide whether to sell what is left, mail it home, or pay for extra luggage on the airplane.

In addition, if your suitcases have all of the stuff you don't want packed by the movers in them, and you lock them all away in one room, the movers won't take the stuff you want to keep. Make sure your purse, wallet, laptop, etc., all make it into that locked room. Keep your phone in your pocket if you need it, and don't even THINK of leaving it on your kitchen counter. Take all of the keys from the entire house and put them in that room. Except for the one to that room, of course, which you are going to attach to yourself.

Also, take out the trash. You don't want the movers to pack that. And they will, if you don't throw it out.

In addition to the things you want to take on the plane, you will also need to hide away your welcome kit. That's the linens and kitchen stuff, broom, mop and and maybe even a vacuum, that your post or extended stay place lent you (some posts make you keep it the whole time you are there - if not, you can ask for it to be delivered after you pack out, I would think). You will also want some basic cleaning supplies, so don't send them all away. Keep some dish soap, dishwasher detergent, sponges, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner and all-purpose cleaner locked away, or you will have to go shopping for some to replace it.

Any other items, like furniture and lamps, need to be marked or separated by whether they are yours or post's. I like little round stickers. Red is Don't Touch, green is UAB, yellow is HHE, and blue is Storage. I start marking things a couple of weeks in advance, and then I move all of my UAB into one room (not a bedroom, you'll see why later) before the pack-out, and all of my stuff going to storage in another room.

Sometimes, movers tell you they are going to pack out your HHE first, then your UAB. Oh, no, they will not. You are the boss, and your UAB gets packed first, so tell them so. You want to use all of your UAB weight allocation before you start packing HHE, and this is how you will do it:

As I said, you put your UAB all in one room. The living room would be great for this. You put the things you want most in the area of the room that is where boxes will most easily be loaded. You then place your stuff in order by how much you want it in UAB behind the box-loading area. You explain it to the movers, and then you check on them to make sure they are doing it your way every five minutes while they pack. Then, know what you might want if you happen to have extra space available for UAB.

HHE going back to storage (all of those wrong voltage appliances that you don't want to run on transformers, and clothing inappropriate for the ongoing post) get to go into another room with space for packing. If you have any furniture going back to storage, maybe it would be good to put this stuff near or on that furniture. For us, we have a loft with a dining set that will go back to storage, as we won't have room for it next post. Stuff going to storage will go on that table. I'll put all of my appliances in their boxes, which I saved, so they don't get broken. Then, I'll ask my mover to pack the appliances together with "110v appliances" listed on the outside of the box. I'll ask him to keep the clothing together in another box. I'll ask him not to combine them, no matter how much he wants to pad one appliance that doesn't have a box with my clothing. I may not want that 110v crock pot in the same country as my snowpants, so I certainly don't want them packed together, or in order to get one, I'll have to take the other (I may have learned this because of the snowboard sitting here in my storage room in Brasilia, that came boxed with the Rollerblades from MN).

HHE going to post, on the other hand, is best left in the corresponding room that it should go in when you arrive at post. That way, it can be boxed up together and labeled appropriately. When we left MN, we had emptied our house out and put things in storage rooms, so when we received all of our stuff, it was all labled "storage" and was all mixed together. As the boxes were unloaded, those of us at home had to run everything to its proper place. It was tiring. It is better to have the boxes go to their proper rooms, then be unpacked. You don't want to use a bedroom for separating your UAB or storage things, because the stuff in the bedrooms should be packed out from the bedrooms, and could get mixed up with the UAB or shipped off to the warehouse.

Don't forget to clean each room thoroughly before packing out, and making sure everything in each room belongs in that room.

One tip for when you receive your shipment at post - the movers are paid to unpack your boxes and take the empty boxes and paper away with them. Sometimes, they will try to leave after unloading it all, but all you have to do is smile and tell them it is time to start unpacking, and they will know they have been caught and will be very helpful. Figure out how to say that in the language of the country you are living in before they arrive, or have someone write it down for you.

I may not have a lot of experience with moves yet, but I have done it twice in the past two and a half years. I know what has worked and not worked from that, and from reading Trailing Houses, the private diplomat Facebook page. This is the wisdom that comes from the whole community, for those people who like to organize and be in control. I hope it helps!