If You’re Skipping, They’re Shipping!
In 2006, 207,000 British citizens emigrated from the UK, with the five biggest destinations being Australia, New Zealand, America, Spain and France, so why do we feel the urge to move abroad? People attribute their itchy feet to anything from the weather and the people to the quality of life and job prospects.
The itch seems to set in either in the 20s when the thought of settling down or carving out a career seems like a very scary and grown up prospect, when you start a family and priorities change dramatically almost overnight or when it’s time to retire and quite frankly you deserve to be somewhere hot and exotic and far away from hum drum.
Moving abroad might seem like a great idea in theory and someone clearly does it very successfully approximately every three minutes in the UK but if you’re considering it, have you actually thought about the logistics? Of course if you’re planning to move with just the clothes that are on your back and small holdall, a la fugitive, you’ve got no concerns here, but if you’re doing it slightly more thoroughly and plan to move your life abroad, how on earth is that going to work with the 25kg weight limit?
It’s a big issue in truth and until you think about doing it and look into it, why would you know what it entails? Well, the solution is really quite simple; if you’re skipping then left baggage companies are shipping! Moving abroad can actually be just like moving to another street in the same town, both will inevitably be pretty stressful but one no more stressful from the other and that’s because door to door services are available. So it’s just like hiring delivery men or a man with a van – you pack up all your stuff and these guys collect it and deliver it to your new address.
The other options you need to consider are whether to have your belongings shipped or airmailed and as with most things in life it comes down to cost. Air freight can be the more economical because of the way cost is calculated, unlike sea freight, it’s based on size or weight, depending on which is greater. Sea freight is all about volume, in other words how much space your belongings take up in total as opposed to how much they weigh.
So while there’s a lot to think about, it’s actually fairly straightforward but it’s worth factoring in the cost before you commit to moving, you might need to save up a few extra pounds to cover it!
The other option is of course to store your luggage and ship it over as and when you need it or just leave it there if you intend to return within a few months or a year and you don’t need it. Lockers and bag wrap are available at most major UK airports and railway stations.