Relocating to another country can often be overwhelming when thinking about all of the “stuff” you want to bring with you. I’ve heard many stories of people who have relocated several times to various locations and the way in which they handle their belongings have been different depending on their experience. For example, if you are in the military or if the company you are working for is relocating you it is likely that you will get a lot of help and have a lot of options. However most of the people that Summerland Relocation Services (SRS) sees relocating are individuals and/or families who are choosing to come to Costa Rica either for retirement, to have a second home somewhere beautiful in the world or to simply change the way and where they live. Often this means they are on their own when thinking about how to move their stuff.

SRS hopes to provide a few helpful hints with regard to this issue. First and foremost, use this as an opportunity to downsize. Moving to a bigger house here in Costa Rica? That doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t downsize and keep everything you own. If there are several boxes hanging out in your attic or garage that you haven’t thought about in years or don’t even know what they contain, now is the time to unload! This will prevent you from going through all the trouble and expense of sending them here and then realizing you have no use for what those boxes contain. Also keep in mind that there are a lot of things that you can get right here in Costa Rica. Furniture for example is often made very locally and not only is it extremely very well priced, but beautiful. For small electronics, bedding, decor and other items you might want to consider bringing them because those things tend to be made very differently in Costa Rica and you might be surprised by the difference in quality or the inability to find the brands that you are used to seeing where you live now.

Next, you should consider what your move is going to be like. Are you going to come to Costa Rica for short seasons for the next several years or are you packing up and shipping out with the determination to live here for an ongoing basis right away? If you are coming here slowly it might be best to move your things slowly. For example, pay for extra baggage with your airline. This way you can bring things that you know you want to keep here and don’t need to have at your other home. Scan the airlines, often you can get a very reasonable first class air ticket which will actually allow you 2 bags at 50-70 pounds each which is included in the airfare. Travel in style and bring your stuff at the same time!

If you are doing a one stop, move everything right away type of move then you probably want to look into shipping via cargo. Do your homework and get several quotes before doing this. It will likely mean a difference of a couple of thousand dollars and so your time spent on this will be well worth the effort. When working with cargo companies there are things to be mindful of such as freight, duty and tax costs. Not all “free quotes” will be inclusive of these costs so you need to be aware of what you are being given.

Finally if you are looking for a storage unit to use while you are making some of these decisions be very mindful about cargo costs versus storage costs over the length of time. For example you might be able to secure a low monthly cost for storage in the U.S. at about $200 per month, but in the course of the year you might be paying the equivalent of what a cargo shipment would be and that might be very helpful to you in making a decision.

Contact Summerland Relocation Services for further details on what things might cost, or who we have seen people use in the past to ship their stuff. Subscribe to our Total Management service and you will earn a free consultation on any one thing you need help with – we will walk you through step by step. When you subscribe to this service we will become an ongoing source of information for all of your relocation needs! Fill out the subscription information sheet here and send it to: info@srs-cr.com or simply click SRS Subscription Link to see the information we need and send it to us!