You can lessen that pain by having lots of good information.

It’s completely possible to find out everything you need to online, at no charge (except your time and energy). The only problem is, it’ll take a lot of time.

Depending on how far away you are from your planned move date, you can take advantage of some resources that aren’t free, but will organize the information and save you huge amounts of time and aggravation.

If Your Overseas Move is Two Years (or more) in the Future

This is the time to become a sponge for information about your chosen new country. If you haven’t selected your expat retirement destination, you need to narrow down your choices.

Travel books and guides provide great information about the country’s culture, climate and maybe a little of its history. But living and investing overseas isn’t the same as traveling, and guidebooks aren’t so good at filling you in on what you need to know about actually living there.

There’s an excellent monthly publication, written by expats for expats, that can do that. It’s called the Overseas Retirement Letter.

Every month, they take an in-depth look at a country that’s a good choice for North American expats. Reports are written by people who actually live in the country, not by someone who’s just passed through and sampled a few local eateries and hotels.

They have no agenda to push, no axe to grind, and they’re not afraid to mention issues and problems along with the fun stuff.

I’ve met some of the folks who do the writing. Some, like Paul and Vicki Terhorst, have decades of experience living as expats. Others, like Wendy Justice, have only been living the expat lifestyle for three or four years. Some are retired. Others, like Lucy Culpepper, have school-age children.

But one thing they all have in common is a love for living where they’ve chosen to live, and a common sense approach about how you can achieve it.

Every month they’ll give you a realistic picture of what it’s like to live in a country that’s a favorable expat destination.

Click here for more information or
Click here for a video

If You’re Moving Overseas in One-Two Years

I’ve become a big fan of the convention combined with exploring the country you’re considering. I did this last year, attending a conference in Panama and then traveling around the country.

Starting with the conference gave me a chance to meet some expats already living there, and others considering the move. I learned a lot about the country before I set foot out of Panama City.

Unless you’ve got a ton of money to spend, you’ll want to narrow down your country choices to just a couple — three at the most — before you do this.

A word of caution about conferences, though: don’t get carried away by the enthusiasm and euphoria and rush out and buy property on impulse or something equally silly. Your chances of doing so are less if you choose a conference where they avoid the rose-colored glasses and give you a realistic picture of what life is like there.

Here’s a list of some upcoming conferences to consider.

If Your Move is Within Six Months

Last year, I thought I’d found a good tool, and was totally disappointed with it.

Fortunately, there’s something much better now. From the same folks who publish the Overseas Retirement Letter, it’s a 52-day program to move you from your home country to your expat destination.

Here’s what the publisher has to say about it:

 

Don´t Let Another Single Day Pass You By–Launch Your New Life Overseas Now

It took me more than 12 years to launch my live overseas adventures…

Today, 13 years later, I´ve reinvented my life from Baltimore, Maryland, to Waterford, Ireland…then from there to Paris and on to Panama City, where I´m living today…

My advice to you?

Don´t let another single day pass you by.

Leverage my experience to launch your own dream retirement overseas in as few as 52 days from today.

That´s a specific promise that I mean literally and that I take seriously.

Research and reading will get you only so far. To make your live- or retire-overseas dream come true, you need a detailed plan. Here´s mine…for you…

 

Here´s How

 

Every day for 52 days, you’ll receive a lesson in your inbox. This is a focused program, not a collection of anecdotes like the “program” I was so disappointed in.

The first step starts with identifying where in the world you’d like to go, what’s most important to you, and what limiting factors you need to account for (health problems and schools for the kids are two examples). Next you figure out how much money you’ll have to live on and prepare a budget.

Every day, you have an assignment to complete and loads of information to work with.

Kathleen recommends spending one hour per day on the program for maximum benefit.

You don’t have to complete the program in 52 days exactly — in fact, if you need to pull together financial information and such, it will probably take longer.

But the bottom line is, this program can get you from Point A (your home country) to Point B (your new overseas life) in a very short time. If you’re serious about enjoying a more affordable lifestyle in a new culture, 52 Days To Your New Life Overseas is a fantastic investment, which I can happily recommend.

We moved out, with our suitcases, dogs and laptops, one week ago. The estate sale happened on February 18. Somehow, I had visions of walking back in after the sale was over to find a completely empty house. That’s what happened when we held an estate sale after my Mom died last year, after all.

Wrong.

The company we hired managed to sell a lot of stuff. There’s also a fair amount left. They were willing to clean everything out for us — for an additional fee — but my do-it-yourselfer husband declined. So he’s spent every day since cleaning, organizing and otherwise finishing up what they started.

I slapped a few more ads up on Craigslist, and we were able to sell a large cabinet and my beloved piano for silly prices. We still have a desk and a Persian area rug we’d like to get something for. The rest has gone/is going to Goodwill and the Habitat for Humanity store.

In the meantime, the tenants have fallen through so we’re still looking for renters. Our agent’s continuing to show it and I’m hoping we’ll find someone to move in on March 1.

Then we’ll (finally) book our flights for Panama.

I’ve never moved in stages like this — always before we’ve packed everything up, traveled to our new destination, unpacked everything and been “home.” It’s a completely new experience and I can honestly say I’m not enjoying it one bit.

Since a picture’s worth 1,000 words, I thought I’d share a few with you, of our almost-empty house.

We’ve vacated our house in Florida. Even as I type this, the estate sales company is in there pulling everything out of cupboards and drawers, tagging it and getting ready to sell it all off on Saturday.

And, frighteningly, even though we feel as though we’re selling off everything we own, we moved a lot of stuff into the home of the friend we’re staying with temporarily while we wrap up here.

Some things are going into storage — several boxes of favorite books that are out of print and unlikely to become available in a Kindle or other e-book version, important tax and other documents we need to keep for a period of time, a handsome teak desk I’ve had since 1971, and a few other odds and ends.

We’ve also set up some very short-term storage, items we expect to retrieve when we return in a few months for a family wedding. We’ll fly back with big, nearly empty suitcases and fill them up for the return trip to Panama.

Our dogs have been busy exploring their new, temporary home. I discovered, when I let them out into the fenced back yard, that there’s a hole in the back corner. Naturally it’s in the hardest spot for humans to get to, behind the canoe and the shed. How did they know to zero right in on that spot?

As I type this the pups have finally settled down at my feet, tired from all the morning’s excitement.

We’ll hang out here for a few days while we get a few more things organized, then we’re off to Atlanta to visit my husband’s family. I’ll be on a flight to Panama shortly thereafter.

“Do you have an address there?” friends ask.

No, we have no idea where we’ll live. My task when I arrive will be to find a short-term (3-6 months) furnished rental. Once I’ve got that lined up, my husband will start the paperwork for bringing the dogs into the country, then he’ll fly down with las mascotas.

I’m exhausted just thinking about it. I think I need a nap.

There’s an old saying — “a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.” If you’re intrigued with the idea of creating a new, untethered life for yourself overseas, there’s an excellent tool for breaking the process down into single steps. Here’s my review.

Tomorrow is February 1, the day we had planned to move to Panama.

But we’re not going.

Why? Still no tenants for our Florida house. Everything else is poised and ready. Once we get the go-ahead — in the form of a signed lease agreement — we’re ready to whip into our last-minute action. Until then, we wait.

I admit, I am not good at waiting.

Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been doing, then I’ll let you know our plan for our quick getaway once we’ve got the lease.

Week of January 23

Renting the House

We showed the house a bunch of times. One couple seemed quite interested, but it turned out they had three large dogs. While we’re willing to rent to pet owners, we didn’t feel comfortable with this. If they’d had three Yorkies, we probably would have agreed.

We also have new competition in the neighborhood. Neighbors just two doors down and across the street listed for rent. They’re asking a bit more than we are, but this particular house has been completely remodeled. To stay competitive, we instructed our rental agent to drop the price.

Maintaining Our Lives

I purchased new luggage. It’s a classy set if I do say so myself, and sports an elephant motif. Those who know me know that I have a soft spot for elephants and my house used to be full of wooden, porcelain, brass, jade and other renditions of elephants.

I finished up our tax returns and started my daughter’s financial aid statements. Those will be done before the end of this week, so I’ll be able to check off another task completely.

There’s one project I have on my list before the move that’s proving more complicated than I expected.

Our middle son is getting married in April, and I need a mother-of-the-groom dress. I also need to get it before we move, because I know I’ll be too busy getting settled in Panama’s interior to spend time shopping in Panama City.

Their wedding is semi-formal, with a garden party motif. Attendants will be wearing floral sundresses. I don’t plan on wearing a sundress, but something street length in springy colors would be appropriate.

Epic fail.

Stores here are just beginning to get their spring lines on the racks, so I have to wait.

Remember what I said at the beginning about waiting? Exactly.

The Panama End

We’ll be staying in Panama for a while on tourist visas, which means we’ll have to leave the country regularly and return to renew our visas. It also means our US drivers licenses will be valid for only 90 days each time.

I checked into whether it would be worthwhile to get the Latin American version of an international drivers license, and determined it would be a waste of time and money. So that’s one more thing I can scratch off my to-do list.

Looking Ahead. . .

Here’s the plan for when we have the signed lease agreement in hand.

1. Purchase airline ticket for me to fly to Panama City
2. Let my contacts know when I’ll be arriving
3. Start looking online for short-term rental
4. Sell my car before leaving Florida
5. Fly down, and start scouting rentals on the ground. We’ll be looking for something furnished for 3-6 months, between Penonome and Las Tablas

While I’m doing that, my husband will pack up and store the few things we’re keeping. Then he’ll set up a time for the estate sales agents to come in and start setting up the sale.

During the sale, he’ll go to Atlanta to visit his family.

Once I’ve lined up a rental in Panama, he’ll start the pet countdown by taking the dogs to the vet to get their health certificates and we’ll arrange for their flight.

I’ll go to Panama City to meet the dogs on arrival. My husband may fly with them, or may take a later flight depending on a couple of other variables. I’ll stick around to meet him when he comes in, then we’ll travel to our new base of operations.

That’ll work, won’t it?

Oh, I don’t mean their house was like some of those horrible places you see on TV shows — you didn’t have to weave your way through towering piles of old newspapers or anything like that. But they held onto stuff.

After my mother died last summer, we found bins full of the little boxes that fancy teas come in. . . Christmas cards from 20 years ago. . . checkbook stubs from accounts that were closed decades previously. . .

It inspired me to come home and be even more ruthless about getting rid of my excess stuff in preparation for our move to Panama.

Now that the move is imminent, my husband is starting to let go of things he’s been holding onto. Old report cards from elementary school. . . syllabuses (syllabi?) from some of his Master’s degree courses. . . cards, photos, books. . .

We’ve moved before. Back in 1989, we packed up our (then) four kids and a house full of stuff and moved from upstate New York to Florida. Before the move we had a huge sale and sold off a ton of stuff. After arriving in Florida, we realized we had kept way too much.

When we moved from one house to another in the Orlando area, we got rid of a ton of stuff before the move. We still kept too much.

This time, though, we can’t just put things on the truck, so keeping what we don’t need is simply not an option.

How Do You Live with a Light Footprint?

We’ll be living with a light footprint, for a while at least. We plan to rent someplace furnished for 3-6 months initially. In the meantime, my husband’s brother has offered to let us store a few things in his basement.

So we have a few boxes of books — and only those which are out of print and unlikely to become available digitally. We have one piece of furniture, a lovely teak desk which I’ve had since 1971. My guitar and my husband’s trumpet. Some (but not all, thank goodness!) of his tools.

We’ll ship them down once we’ve been somewhat settled in Panama a few months.

I know a couple who consider themselves perpetual travelers. They spend most of their time in Asia, going from Thailand to China to India to other Asian countries every few months.

They don’t have to worry about residency as they don’t stay long enough in one place for it to be an issue.

Their personal belongings are limited to clothing, a small netbook computer each, and a favorite coffee mug. Wherever the mug is, that’s home.

I don’t know if I could live a life pared down to that extent. Certainly not now, anyway, although I can see the appeal.

In the meantime, I’m looking around and thinking, “I haven’t gotten rid of nearly enough.”

photo by Orin Zebest on flickr

No, not uncertainty about whether we should go, uncertainty about the timing.

Until we have a signed lease agreement for our house, we’re not buying tickets or going anywhere.

Our rental agent had been very sanguine about finding tenants in the allotted time, but showings have been sparse and we’re getting nervous. it’s difficult to forge ahead when you’re not confident . . . tempers have flared, harsh words have been spoken. . . it hasn’t been pretty.

Week of January 9

This week has been a bit of a hodgepodge of activity. Dealing with a lot of paperwork — taxes, bills and such, and a lot of miscellaneous small details. It’s rather boring to write about, actually, so this update will be short.

Packing and Organizing

We sent more boxes of stuff to various family members. Packed up more boxes to move into our “these are the things we’ll store” area in the garage. My husband still hasn’t begun sorting through his papers and books, which is making me very nervous.

Maintaining Our Lives

Spent the week pulling together information for taxes, and I did start our tax return this week. It’s more complicated than what you file if you’re working for someone else and get a W-2 form at the end of the year. Thank goodness for Turbo Tax.

I also realized there were some bills we only pay twice a year (life insurance!) that I hadn’t switched over to electronic payments, so I dealt with that. One of them was easy. I could go online and switch it over on the website, and set it up to draft our account automatically.

The other required me to download, fill out and mail a paper form. In this day and age, why is that necessary? Anyway, it’s done.

Now, back to those pesky tax returns. . .

New Year is a time when people take stock of their lot, with many pondering “would I be better off somewhere else?” Millions of Brits live abroad both temporarily and permanently, and if you are considering joining them for an exciting new life in the sun — or just an exciting new life — there’s a lot of not-so-exciting planning that needs to be done.

Some people move because they are offered a career opportunity that’s too good to turn down, while others pack their lives up into boxes and hop, skip and jump towards what they hope will be a better lifestyle for them and their families. Of course, many hope to bag both.

You’ll Need Enough Cash (or Income)

Whatever your reasons are for heading overseas, ensuring you have enough cash to enjoy the life you want when you get there is extremely important.

In recent years, some retired ex-pats have found themselves struggling financially due to inflation in the Eurozone where they’ve resettled, highlighting the need to plan for every eventuality.

If you’ve been offered a job you’ll need to check the wage you’ve been offered and see if you have the purchasing power or potential rent money to get the pad you want. Or, if you are retired, you ought to make sure everything is in place for you to collect your pension or other investments while you are abroad.

The current state of the UK housing market could put a real spanner in the works for anyone wanting to access the cash invested in their home, and playing a waiting game to find a buyer can put paid to even the best laid plans. One possible solution is to sell your house fast with a property buyer.

For those with school-age children a bit of good honest research is required. You’ll need to investigate whether the kids can go to public or private school in the area and if that is within your means. Your employer or future colleagues are likely to be the best people to go to for advice on this, but don’t dismiss review resources available on the web.

Once you’ve made sure you can afford the lifestyle you have, or want to become accustomed to, there are a few other things to put in order.

You’ll Settle in Faster if you Learn the Language

Take the responsibility to learn the local lingo ahead of arriving in your new home and you will be able to settle in far faster, so plan time to practice; don’t be afraid to put what you are learning to the test on any pre-move visits. Spend as much time as you can getting a feel for the place before you relocate and you’ll find it far less of a culture shock and hopefully meet some friends to help you when you arrive.

Tie Up Loose Ends

Finally, before you ship out, tie up any loose ends and notify people of your move. This should include your relatives and bank and also the likes of HMRC (That’s the UK version of the IRS for my American readers.)

Be ruthless about what you take with you — shipping does not come cheap, though if you get a series of quotes you are likely to net a better deal. It’s also worth remembering a lot of electrical goods won’t work outside of the UK, so it’s better to buy afresh when you get there, giving you a chance to practice your conversation skills.

There is a lot involved with planning a move, but ultimately, when you see the plan coming together and you are safely in your new home or starting the job of your dreams, dealing with all of those little things along the way will have been worth it.

Steve Harris works for Gateway Homes, who help people in the UK sell their house to follow their dreams of moving abroad.

It seems just last week When I started this weekly recount of all the preparation steps we’d taken toward our upcoming Panama move. But actually, it was two months ago!

Now we’re within 30 days of our projected move date, and stress levels are rising.

Hopefully, by seeing what we’re doing, you’ll be able to avoid some of the pitfalls that seem to be an inherent part of a big move like this.

Weeks of December 26 and January 2

Quite honestly, I didn’t do anything about our upcoming move during the week between Christmas and New Year. We were visiting our children in the northeast, and I took some time to chill — literally and figuratively. We saw temperatures in the single digits more than once during our stay. (Actually down to zero one night, and a couple hours after we flew out the temperature dropped into the minus numbers.)

Since returning home on the 3rd, though, it’s been pretty busy.

House Repair

We thought we were done with this category, but a couple things came up this week. We had to replace a ceiling fan that conked out unexpectedly — better now than after we’re in Panama with tenants in the house! We also had to call the Roto Rooter folks to clear out a clog in the line from the washing machine. Both pretty small compared to some of our earlier projects, thank goodness.

There were also several big tree limbs that needed to come down, so my husband’s spent some time this past week working on that.

Packing and Organizing

We’re clearing out more stuff. I’m shipping a couple of boxes to my sister in Virginia and another to my son in LA. Now that I’m home from the frozen north, I’ve packed up my heaviest winter clothes to dispose of. I’ll keep a couple of sweaters, but all the other sweaters, sweatshirts, etc., are going. I’m trying to get my clothes, shoes and personal items whittled down so they’ll fit into two suitcases. . . I’ll let you know how that plays out.

We’ve also designated an area in the garage for boxes that will go into storage. We’re gradually getting more out of the house and into that storage area.

My husband, the avid cyclist, has been researching bicycle options. He currently has two road bikes. He’ll sell one and ship the other to Panama. He’s decided a mountain bike would be a good choice for riding in Panama, so he’s researching to see whether it’s better to buy one here and ship it down, or buy one there.

Selling Stuff

We had another estate sales agent come to the house last week. She was much more encouraging than the first one, and was pleased that she’d be able to work us into her busy schedule because the house is small and clean. I liked her attitude — instead of seeing obstacles she saw opportunities. She understands that we can’t set a date until we have a signed lease in our hot little hands, and she’s willing to work with us practically any time as long as we give her a week’s notice.

I think we’ll be able to deal with her.

At this point the tentative plan — and again, it’s contingent on having a signed lease — is to set up the sale for just before the tenants’ move-in date. While the estate company is here setting up and conducting the sale, we’ll head up to my in-laws’ place for a visit with them before we take off.

Renting the House

Still nothing definite, but more activity. If you know anyone who might be interested in a charming 3-bedroom, 2-bath home in lovely Winter Park, FL, let me know!

Remember those stress levels I mentioned? We don’t have a definite move date yet, and won’t until we’ve found tenants for the house and signed a lease. I’m confident we’ll have someone in here by February 1, but the extra uncertainty isn’t helping.

Moving the Pets

Nothing particular to report in this category. The dogs are healthy, they’ve adjusted to their new kennels, and there’s nothing else we can do until it’s time to take them to the vet for their final checkup and the start of the paperwork race.

Maintaining Our Lives

So far the auto bill pay I set up through the credit union is working without a hitch.

Last week my husband finished collating all his paperwork that I’ll need to do tax returns. So this week I’ll be starting the tax returns and the financial aid paperwork for our daughter.

The Panama End

I found another Panama forum last week, on Reddit. Got some new leads on places to rent. . .

Somehow, when I write it down, it doesn’t look like much. But I assure you, we’ve been very busy this past week preparing for our Panama adventure.

At this point, I’m wondering seriously why we thought moving a month after Christmas was a good idea. . .

Weeks of December 11 and 18

House Repair

Fortunately, we’re pretty well done with this category. We don’t have any more repair projects, although we do have a few things left on the list. They include items like spackling and touch-up painting over holes in walls where we’ve pulled out picture hooks and such.

Of course there’s always more cleaning. . .

Packing and Organizing

My husband has finally started organizing his stuff. I’m relieved, because I can’t do all of it for him. He’s going through work-related papers, books and — most importantly for him — his tools.

The tools are proving to be a big stumbling block. He can’t imagine a life where he won’t need them, so he wants to bring them with us somehow. I don’t see it happening, at least during our initial move. Maybe later when we ship the few things that we want to keep.

Another issue is his bicycle. He’s an avid cyclist, and wants to take his good road bike with him. I think he’d do better to just replace it down there. I’ll let you know how that plays out.

Selling Stuff

I called a half dozen estate sales agents last week. One of them came to the house, and told us our house was too small for a worthwhile sale. I got the impression if we’d had it stuffed to the rafters with antiques or original art she wouldn’t have found the size a problem. Nevertheless, she did put us in touch with someone who will buy the entire contents outright, then transport it to his warehouse and sell it at auction.

If we don’t find a better solution, it’s a reasonable fallback.

Renting the House

People are starting to come look. According to the rental agent, we can expect activity to increase after the first week in January.

Moving the Pets

Last week the dogs went to the vet for their regular checkups and dental cleaning. We wanted to get it done well in advance of the move. Unless one of them gets sick between now and February, we should be able to take them in for their health certificates and not have to worry about any other pet health issues.

And they seem to be adapting quite contentedly to their new kennel arrangements. They’re all going into the right kennel each evening, and we’re not hearing any more complaining.

Maintaining Our Lives

Now that Christmas is over, one of the larger hurdles I’m facing is our taxes and the financial aid forms for our college student daughter. I need to have them all done before we move, so I’m starting the preliminary organizing now.

My plan is to get everything done early in January, even before we have all the proper IRS forms (1099s in our case, since we’re both technically self employed). As soon as we have the official forms everything should be ready to go.

I’ve also switched all the house-related bills (mortgage, electric, water, etc.) to an auto bill pay offered through our credit union. I still need to set up electronic billing for a couple of them so we don’t need to rely on postal mail for any house-related bills once we’ve moved.

Just before the holidays we had a nice visit with a friend from out of state. We hadn’t seen him in several years, but he was visiting family in North Florida and drove down to spend a few days.

We’re currently in the northeast with three of our five children. I figure it’s the last Christmas we’ll spend in the cold for quite a while, and it has been cold, for sure. Zero degrees when I went to bed the other night. . . Right now we’ve got big, fluffy flakes drifting lazily down and accumulating on the roads.

We have plans to visit the in-laws next month and during January we’ll also spend as much time as possible with local friends.

The Panama End

Last week I made contact with someone who can help us find a furnished house or apartment in Panama. Next week I plan to get back in touch with some of the people we met last year, and ask them to start keeping their eyes and ears open for furnished rentals in the area.

I feel like the juggling act is going to get much more challenging once we get home from this Christmas break. . .

When we got within the 90-day window for our move to Panama, I started this weekly recount of all the preparation steps we’d taken during the week. Any move is a big undertaking, but the first overseas move is ginormous, so I thought it might be helpful to future expats see what someone else is doing, step by tottering step.

You can find the previous Countdown! posts here.

Week of December 4

House Repair

Last week I announced happily that our last big repair project was finished. That was the bathroom retiling, and what a relief it was to be done. Now there’s just a lot of smallish stuff. We have a ceiling fan to replace (not a big job for my electrician husband), some painting touch-up, spackling and touching up holes where picture hooks used to be, and so on.

We did list our house with the rental agent this week, and there’s now a sign in our front yard. It doesn’t sound like much, but it was really a very significant step since we won’t leave until we have tenants in the house.

Packing and Organizing

I took another bag of clothes to Goodwill. I think it’s multiplying on its own. . . I don’t know where it’s all coming from.

Frenzy of cleaning in the leadup to listing the house. . .

I’ve been de-cluttering the house for showing. Taking the family pictures off the walls, packing away the handful of items from my grandparents’ home that I plan to keep and that sort of thing.

I’ve also been going through files, disposing of reams of old ones we don’t need to keep. I’ve started making copies of the most important documents so we can bring originals with us (for things like the pensionado visa application) while storing copies with a relative in case someone here needs access to that information.

Selling Stuff

I meant to contact estate sales agents this week, but didn’t get to it. Will do it next week. Really.

Moving the Pets

I’m happy to report that the kennel rearrangement worked. We’ve put the oldest dog in the smaller kennel by himself, and the whiner together with the youngest. Since then, we’ve been able to enjoy a quiet night’s sleep every night. And the dogs are getting used to the arrangement. They now trot happily into their appropriate kennels each night.

This week they go to the vet for their regular 6-month checkups and routine shots. Hopefully, when we take them for their pre-departure physicals they’ll be good to go without anything additional.

Maintaining Our Lives

I knew this would get more complicated. . .

We had a dinner on Friday with friends and former coworkers. Had a lovely time, but it felt like the first of many “goodbye” parties. We have another party this evening, the annual Christmas do for an organization of avid bicyclists that my husband belongs to. I’m not sure I’m really ready for this.

Spent a long time on the phone yesterday with a friend I don’t see often enough. They’ve known for a long time we were planning on moving out of the country, but when I shared our plans with her yesterday the shock coming through the phone lines was almost palpable. We planned a time to get together after Christmas, as both our calendars are too full to do it before.

And, finally, my husband spent a long time on Skype last night with his parents. He shared our timetable for the first time, and they were very unhappy but seemed to accept it. Considering how strongly his mother has attacked the idea in the past, she took it well. (Although I don’t think for a minute we’ve heard the end of it.)

Do you have any funny moving stories to share? I could use some laughs right about now. . .