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Overseas ?s
We are leaving in October to go to Iwakuni, Japan for 3 years and DH isn't really finding out too much information about the move, what to expect, what to bring/not bring. I have googled and found a bunch of different websites, but they all say different things. I have tried looking for websites or forums for people already there with no luck. There was one, but no activity on it, so it wasn't very helpful. He has yet to go to TMO, which I keep bugging him about, but his work is being weird about him leaving during the day to get things done.
For those that have gone overseas what did you bring and what did you leave in the states? I know we have to downsize, since right now we have a 3 bedroom/2.5 bath for us and our daughter and our place there will be considerably smaller.
Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Re: Overseas ?s
My best advice is write down every question that pops into your head now, then when your H gets assigned a sponsor, throw them all at him/her (or his/her spouse, if possible).
When we PCSed OCONUS, we left all of our electrical appliances because we figured we wouldn't be able to use them anyway. Turns out, our apartment came with a bunch of transformers to adapt the plugs and voltage, so we could have brought it all. Definitely ask about that.
Are you thinking of shipping a POV? If so, ask the sponsor if most people bring theirs or not. We chose not to ship ours because our sponsor told us that most people don't. Turns out many of them did, but we ended up not needing it anyway - we took cabs and the metro.
Ask about local customs RE dress and such. It's probably not as relevant in Japan, but we were in Egypt and shorts/short skirts/ tank tops were not appropriate attire, so we left them in storage (except for a few to wear around the house).
I assume you'll have a commissary, but double check. If not, I'd bring a supply of over the counter meds like Advil, cold meds, anti-diahrreals vitamins, etc...
Also consider what things you may want for your DD in the time you're there - should you bring clothes in bigger sizes or will you be able to buy them there? Same for toys, etc...
I have gotten the paperwork to get all the medical and dental clearance taken care of, and I have appointments to get all that done but that so far is anything we have done for the move.
Baby items are very limited overseas so purchase items that you want for your LO now and have them shipped. Even items that she will need at 1/2/3, such as Highchair, booster seat even a toodler bed.
As per finding groups search Facebook!
I'm not sure I would buy all of those things for the kid now. You can always have them shipped to you and the local exchanges (px and bx) are decent. Baby items are everywhere here, on and off base. Yes, sometimes they may be sold out of a certain highchair you "just have to have" but then, like I mentioned you have it shipped to you.
Yes, some items the BX won't have on stock so you find alternates or you purchase them online and have them shipped. Trust me when I say this because I live here. So many people bring things "just because" and end up immediately selling things or throwing them away because they don't have room in their homes.
Yep, APO shipping is a wonderful (but sometimes slow) process. My MIL sent all kinds of crap that she "just knew" we would need. Got rid of most of it. We simply don't have room for random crap in Europe, our house is tiny. Check about voltage/transformers for appliances, figure out if you want to/are allowed to ship your POV, and take a deep breath. Get your medical clearance/command sponsorship done ASAP, I'm not sure if Asia requires a visa but if they do you want that business done so you and your child can fly with your husband as easily as possible.
The biggest thing I can emphasize about APO shipping is ALWAYS choose priority. I don't care if they say it "only takes a couple extra days." It doesn't. It takes an extra month. If you use apobox.com to get goods that aren't shipped to APO addresses (larger items of furniture, for instance or a Macbook) then make sure you pay extra for shipping so it goes priority.
Signed,
A girl who waited 45 days for a Macbook once. And 32 for a shelf. That was sent priority. Go figure.
lol Priority is a must! Don't let them ship FedEx to USPS either! It will get here in a few months. Hahahaha. Patience is definitely part of the deal when living overseas.
ETA: If you are command sponsored you will receive SOFA which is our visa to be here and is stamped into your SOFA passport once you arrive. There is debate among the services here whether you should just use your tourist passport but I was told I had to have a special govt issued passport. At first glance they look the same but the info inside is different.
Moving Overseas helpful hints.
1) Voltage - if you are going to live on base, check to see if they have 110 volt plugs. If so, then bring the basic electronics you want, like coffee pot, vacuums, irons, kitchen stuff. HOWEVER, space will always be an issue, so unless you are weekly baker - the kitchenaid is probably not necessary.
2) Decor - go through your house and decide what you really want and what you can live without. We are blessed with our non-characteristic German house with walls that we can hang things from. Not to mention, we have bought some beautiful things that we had to replace with the stuff from the states. That is now in storage.
3) If you have kids, buy clothes and shoes in the next 2-3 sizes up and bring with you. I cannot even begin to go into how expensive it is to buy on the economy (even though we get a suppliment for being overseas, the thought that I am spending $50 on shoes my DD will only wear for 6 months sickens me) and how limited the stock is at the BX.
I am not kidding when I tell you that there is a black market in kids clothes/shoes here. There are moms who go to the BX every day around shipment time and they will buy two of everything in each size and then sell it to their friends or online. I have been here 20 months and have only been able to buy DD's shoes once.
4) As for the SOFA stamp and traveling out of country. While I always bring my personal passport, as long as I provide a copy of my Military ID and DH's orders, I get through just fine. I want to keep my travel stamps on my SOFA passport so I can keep it as a momento.
5) As YOUR specific TMO packing company what they are going to pack up for you. Ours said no to ANYTHING liquid, to include shampoos, even if the bottle was unopened. But there are others who brought everything and anything under the sun. That will help you figure out what you may want to bring.
6) Do look at your living space to determin what furniture you are brining. We knew we were not living on base, so that opened us to more stuff. The base housing did not have a dinning room, so that would have meant leaving the dinning room set behind.
We also knew that we were going to buy a Belgium bedroom set, so we sold our cheap bedroom set before we left, using DD's dresser until we bought our set. Same thing for our living room set. We sold off the endtables and coffee table. That is our next purchase (along with DH's new bar set).
The ONLY thing we left behind by mistake was our patio set. We ended up buying a new one...but that we will sell before we leave.
In the end, I really wish I had brought 1/2 less of the carp we did, from clothes (not the kids stuff) to decor, etc. I just look at packing it all up, along with the new stuff and see them telling us we are over....
The things you absolutely will need are bedding, linens, kitchen stuff (pots, pans, dishes, silverware, gadgets), and mattresses. Definitely bring your mattress and bed if you have a queen. If it's a king, leave it at home. It might not fit.
Whether you bring furniture is up to you. Try to find out if most places come furnished or if you need to bring your own. If you're going to bring any furniture, it should probably be comfortable living room furniture (couch, chair) and maybe children's furniture. While you can ship things APO, there are size limitations.
Don't bother with drapes or rugs - your decor will probably be different. Don't bother with too many things to hang on the walls. The walls can be different material so they may or may not be easy to hang things on.
It probably doesn't hurt to pack a microwave and vacuum. Even if you don't end up using them they don't take up that much room.
And remember - the less you bring over, the more weight allowance you have to work with when you're taking stuff back!
Check out your current base's Relocation office. They have classes for OCONUS moves. They will go over everything and give you tips for the move.
Also, when your Dh goes to meet with TMO go with him. They will also go over everything. I know that they suggest certain things depending on what location you are going to. Mainland Japan has different rules than Oki.
We went to Yokosuka, Japan and we were able to take about everything. Now, I wish we had taken less, but that's how it goes.
Do you have pets? If you do, you need to start the quarantine process now.