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Howdy folks,

So, the wife and I have decided to move house. Long story short, she's Brazilian and just can't acclimatise in cold, rainy, and in the winters pretty dark Netherlands. The language doesn't help either.
So we're moving to Portugal. We've already found a house that we love, and are in the process of getting quotes for a (new) mortgage, but there's still a lot of things to do. Deciding what to bring, how to ship it, finding a decent school for the kids, etc.

Anyone have any experience with moving to another country and any tips on do's and don'ts?

Well, being in the EU takes care of a lot of the usual international problems. And I presume you're at least passably fluent in Portugese.

The one I always, ALWAYS recommend before a move is to ensure at least one, and preferably both, of you have jobs lined up in the new location. Moving is stressful enough without adding the need to start a job search IMMEDIATELY to the mix as well.

Of course, if you one or both of you work remotely that simplifies things enormously.

If your budget runs to it, HIRE HELP. Moving a household is an enormous amount of work, and bringing in a couple pros goes a long way. And the pros do this every day; they likely know tricks about moving that you've never heard of.

A trick from my own moves. If you have a chest freezer, pack your breakables in it, ideally wrapped in clean bedding and other such padding.

Work is not a problem, I work on- and offshore on various pipeline projects throughout the world. As long as there's an airport rrasonably nearby, I'll be fine.

And yes, my Portuguese is fine, though the Brazilian accent is very different from the Portuguese one; that'll take some getting used to.
No chest freezer sadly...

Not done an international move myself,but I did move home a couple of years back, and once inheritance comes through (probably next year), I’ll be moving into what should be my own forever home.

And when it comes to moving? Be ruthless. Use it as motivation to properly declutter.

For me, that was a few trips to the tip, and a couple of bulky item collections by the council. I was no Marie Kondo like, but anything furniture wise which was just a fancy clothes horse.

Also consider your existing gubbins when finding a new home of course. I currently live in a two bedroom flat. Being Edwardian, it’s quite spacious, but the spare room is really just a box room and not particularly usable living space.

In semi-idle browsing to suss out what sort of place I’ll be able to buy, I’m looking for more room, so I can be confident all my existing furniture will fit comfortably, and I’ll have a decent amount of floor space to boot.

In retrospect after various moves. Find the wargames club, live near there.

As someone who has moved 16 times in the past 12 years, I can honestly say hiring someone to help move is well worth the cost. As Vulcan says couple of movers doing it as their job are much better at it than you having to.

 Olthannon wrote:
As someone who has moved 16 times in the past 12 years, I can honestly say hiring someone to help move is well worth the cost. As Vulcan says couple of movers doing it as their job are much better at it than you having to.

Moving 16 times in 12 years makes you a professional mover yourself!

@MDG: Yeah, we're already busy putting lots of things on the Dutch version of Craigslist.
The real question is, will I sell my Oldhammer Dwarf army or take it with me to try to get back into the hobby.
Problem with hiring a mover here is that it'll cost about €2,500 at minimum just to ship the stuff, and that's with me packing the container myself.
That's money I could be spending on other stuff like furniture I won't be taking.
Might be a lot cheaper to just hire a small truck or and drive back and forth myself. Though the toll roads in France are going to be a PITA.

Don’t Sell Your Stunties.

Trust me. Better to keep hold of them for now, as should you not be able to get back to gaming, you can always sell them later. But, if you sell now, and find a thriving gaming community? You’d rue that day more. Rue more than a collection of French roads.

I would say keep your stuff, and when you get it shipped, if possible, bring any rare or delicate minis with you personally.

I got my armies shipped to Germany when I moved and a lot of my metals unfortunately were broken when they arrived - shipping companies treat "Fragile" as a vague suggestion.

Bran Dawri wrote:

The real question is, will I sell my Oldhammer Dwarf army or take it with me to try to get back into the hobby.

You should never ever sell an army in the same way as you should never sell a Lego, Meccano or Brio collection - your descendants should be the ones who decide to sell those after they are done with them.

Its not about what small change you can aquire during a firesale, its about how much you can be gouged for at a later date when you want them back.

When you have them, you dont have to wait for someone else to die before the right numbers of a certain model in good enough condition become available.

Buying back always costs and if you've got a whole army I'd hang onto it as much as possible.
In general I take this approach with all hobby things because hobby stuff only ever goes up in price.

New things cost more than old and anything out of production can often skyrocket over time.
So you REALLY want to make sure you want rid of it before you get it gone. Sometimes I find it helpful to create a "potential throwing out" box/pile and then put that to one side for a period of time. Like a dry run of not having it. Weeks/months later you can decide again on if its really a good choice or not. Doesn't mean you had to engage with it during that time, just that you've put it to one side for a bit and mentally/formally started seriously considering losing it.

I find that far better than swift "its going cause I'm moving/tidying up" choices where you can often get more impulsive about other priorities (eg cutting down on boxes;packing mess etc)



As for moving whilst I've not moved internationally a Geography trip or two to Spain has taught me that you want to make sure you are up to date with any local registries/registrations/signons or other official paperwork and such that is required when moving.

Another one, that sounds like you're likely well on top of, is making sure that you've seen the house; that its actually for sale and all legit. Which isn't to say that overseas are any more risky, but just that if it does go belly-up the fallout for you is all the more difficult than if it happens in your own country where you're at least familiar with processes and where you've likely got more chance of family/friends to fall back on in the short term.

I think within the EU moving stuff's fairly hassle-free, but I'll look into it.
As for the stunties - I have way more than any sane person will ever need.
Maybe I'll just sell a bunch of the old plastic stuff and the metal stuff that I have in overabundance, but keep ye olde Throne of Power, Anvil of Doom, and assorted characters and regiments. Though I might do away with some of my metal Bugman's Rangers - I doubt I'll need 40 of them anytime soon.

Yes, we've seen the house. It was love at first sight. Excellent state of maintenance, no need to do anything. Just straight up move in.