A few weeks ago, I posted about the experience of packing things up in the US for shipping. I'm happy to report that the US shipment has arrived in Bristol and is in storage (until we find a place to live). The shipment came A LOT faster than expected!
Once I returned to Abu Dhabi, it was time to do the whole thing over again, but even worse, as it wasn't all in a storage locker, but scattered around our 3 bedroom villa. Man, the stuff you accumulate! And I really thought we had done pretty well. When you're an expat on a 'short term' assignment, you often say to yourself "I don't need that, I won't be here that long." or "Is this something I want to keep forever?" Still, we end up with a villa full of stuff.
So, the same process of packing, sorting, selling and shipping started in earnest on this side of the world. One nice thing is that the For Sale/ To Buy page here was for the community and I wasn't working, so people could pop over any time to look at things and pick them up.
I again worked with a shipping company for some items to go from UAE to Bristol. This shipment was a lot smaller than the US one so in some ways easier to manage. The local guys showed up at 9am (an hour earlier than they said they would come!) and got to work immediately.
And did these guys work! It was one of the hottest days of summer in Abu Dhabi - 110 degrees F and 92% humidity . . . no, that's not a typo, it was beastly hot and humid. I seriously don't think I've ever sweat so much in my entire life.
Despite the heat, they finished in about 4 hours - almost the same time it took in the US, because they needed to box up everything as we weren't in our own shipping container, but were going to share it with others. Everything was boxed and carefully labeled - it was quite the impressive process.
The cats clearly were not impressed as evidenced here by Petra. :)
Our stuff is now waiting to ship out on the 25th (and yes, probably melting!) and should arrive here about a month later. It'll be like Christmas as I'm not sure I could tell you what I packed!
Once I returned to Abu Dhabi, it was time to do the whole thing over again, but even worse, as it wasn't all in a storage locker, but scattered around our 3 bedroom villa. Man, the stuff you accumulate! And I really thought we had done pretty well. When you're an expat on a 'short term' assignment, you often say to yourself "I don't need that, I won't be here that long." or "Is this something I want to keep forever?" Still, we end up with a villa full of stuff.
So, the same process of packing, sorting, selling and shipping started in earnest on this side of the world. One nice thing is that the For Sale/ To Buy page here was for the community and I wasn't working, so people could pop over any time to look at things and pick them up.
I again worked with a shipping company for some items to go from UAE to Bristol. This shipment was a lot smaller than the US one so in some ways easier to manage. The local guys showed up at 9am (an hour earlier than they said they would come!) and got to work immediately.
And did these guys work! It was one of the hottest days of summer in Abu Dhabi - 110 degrees F and 92% humidity . . . no, that's not a typo, it was beastly hot and humid. I seriously don't think I've ever sweat so much in my entire life.
Despite the heat, they finished in about 4 hours - almost the same time it took in the US, because they needed to box up everything as we weren't in our own shipping container, but were going to share it with others. Everything was boxed and carefully labeled - it was quite the impressive process.
Our stuff is now waiting to ship out on the 25th (and yes, probably melting!) and should arrive here about a month later. It'll be like Christmas as I'm not sure I could tell you what I packed!
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