There Goes the House… Moving For Good
I recently decided to take the plunge and live full-time in Buenos Aires. In mid-May, I’ll be moving there permanently and getting rid of my US residence. Until now, I’ve always spent more time in the US than in Argentina. I’ve had my foot in both countries for a while now, but in May I’ll be there full-time in Argentina. In upcoming posts, I’ll keep everyone updated on the adventure of moving an entire household to Argentina. I already sold my house last year and we’ve downsized to a two bedroom apartment in anticipation of this move, but we still have a lot of things to take with us:
- 1 bedroom
- 1 family & dining room
- a home office
- 2 dogs
- 1 bird
- and the love of my life … my home theater
- 1 significant other (the other love of my life)
There are generally two schools of thought regarding international moves. The first is to sell as many things as possible before you move (furniture, appliances, etc.) and take only the necessities. The second is to take everything with you when you go and take it all back with you when you return. My girlfriend, always ready to redecorate, is a member of the first school. If it were up to her, we’d liquidate everything and start from scratch in Argentina with an interior designer. I’m closer to the 2nd camp than the first, so I’m not too enthusiastic about her idea.
The option we end up choosing will likely be a combination of both. We live in an apartment, so we won’t be taking any appliances. That’s probably a good thing, since the power system in Argentina is different. However, Argentina is not the consumer electronics capital of the world by any means. The home theater products they have there are expensive (more expensive than here due to taxes) and there’s just not enough selection. So, I’m adamant about taking my home theater equipment with me.
We’ve already contacted two relocation companies based in Argentina as well as several based in the US. I’m going to get quotes from all of them and then post here on the blog the companies’ names, phone numbers, and the quotes the gave me. That’ll give all of you an idea who you should call when it comes time to move your household for good.
Labels: Buenos Aires, Pre-Move Phase, Transition Phase
posted by SoyYo at 1/20/2005 04:59:00 PM
5 Comments:
Good luck!
All the luck to you! I'd love to hear about your move and what it cost you. I'm moving to Argentina also and have begun getting quotes from international movers. I'm going to Patagonia though. I'm so excited about this change. It's going to be amazing! Going down there in June to buy a home so I have a place to send my stuff. Keep us posted!
You have a sharp girlfriend. I moved internationally five years back. She´s right. Sell it all, and start over. It´s far simpler.
I did the same thing as you last year. I had a 4,000 sq. feet house and I moved into a 750 sq feet apartment. It was a culture shock. I brought many electronics that were worth bringing but anything else than electronics just buy here.
I brought a ton of clothes with me but left many behind. I'm a clothes horse. I love clothes and shoes. I brought down one 70 lbs bag of shoes believe it or not.
Argentina is a VERY difficult country to ship things to without the visa so you sound like you are covered there. I'd recommend buying most of your things here.
I know this is an old thread, but I'd love to hear more from those who have moved items from the states. It sounds like we should have our Visa's to make the process smoother, but can you give me an idea of what the fees have been, and what the moving costs are? I've seen mention of 20 and 40-foot containers, but what are the full diminsions? Is there a weight limit? We aren't going to attempt to move everything, but I want to understand how to budget the physical part of our move.
Thanks!
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