Lots to think about

It's so funny when we decided we'd move I thought about all the fun it would be. When we were still talking NYC I was thinking how great it would be to finally live in Manhattan. How great the shopping would be, I'd reallllly get my chance to channel my inner Carrie Bradshaw. Live in a cozy little apartment on the Upper Eastside, feel alive with the hustle and bustle of the city. And how everyone would want to visit me because who doesn't love New York City!?

Once we came to the decision that we'd be moving from TO to TX and not NYC it suddenly became so real, and the planning started. What I had never considered in my fantasy of moving to Manhattan was just how much preparation goes in to a cross border move. Just a few but very important things to think about

1. How the heck do you get all your belongings from over 2500km?
2. What kind of paper work and documents do you need for pet immigration?
3. How what kinds of items are restricted, if any?

Where the heck do you even start when thinking about loading up your life in to boxes and then getting them a) across the border b) to one of the most Southern points in the country? Well we decided that air cargo was going to be too expensive, rail would be too indirect, and that left us with the open road.

We originally thought that I might be the one to get behind the wheel of our rented U-haul and we'd make a few days of it. Stop at hotels along the way, see a few cities on the drive down.

But then we remembered about Norman, Todd and Coco...how could we ever put the boys through a multi day road trip?

Next plan, transport companies. We've been dialing around checking out a few things like quotes and reputation. Looks like we've narrowed it down to two companies.

Crazy things we learned is that it's outrageously expensive! But we're biting the bullet, it won't hold us back! We also learned that our things could take anywhere from 5-17 business days to be delivered, so we'll have to empty our apartment at the end of January to guarantee our things will be there for March 1 and we've decided to live in Niagara and commute for the month of February while our belongings are in transit. There is insurance on our stuff, the fees include movers in Toronto to load up, and movers in Texas to unload in to our new places. They also include in the fee all cross border costs.

Times a tickin' and there is still so much to do!



Side note: I read somewhere that you can only bring 3 bottles of alcohol along...that will never do, have you seen my liquor cabinet!?


More to come. XO

L.