From prepping for a vacation to a move across town, packing is seen as one of the least exciting activities. And it can quickly become overwhelming when you need to move your whole life to a brand new country.

While there are so a number of major decisions to make when moving abroad, packing and getting your stuff from point A to point B is just as important as any other move. However, with so many other things involved, including applying for visas and collecting documents, packing can begin to feel trivial.

As such, it is best to start the process as soon as possible – even if that doesn’t include boxing things up just yet.

There is plenty of sorting, budgeting, and physical packing that needs to take place. So, allowing yourself the time – and mental energy – to get everything done will ease the stress of the overall move.

While we did a little research on shipping and storing items, we settled on bringing 70% of what we owned with us as we expect to be abroad long term and wanted to keep the initial move as economical as possible.

Based on our experience, here are all the details on how to pack and move abroad with most of your items on the flight with you.

How much does it cost to move abroad with my items?

There are many ways the costs of moving can quickly add up. As mentioned, if you are choosing to relieve the stress of transporting everything yourself, the process of packing may be easier, but costs will easily be in the 4- to 5-figure range.

If you are able to spend a few hours a week to commit to working through your items, it will be worth it in the end, both in savings and being able to have all of your items with you right when you land.

Here are some of the biggest things to consider when calculating costs for the luggage you will bring with you on a flight

Do you need new bags?

Depending on how much you are planning to bring, this can be a first step or a last step.

For us, we decided we wanted to bring a total of 7 baggage items with us, which included our cat Roux, a carry-on, and personal items. That meant we needed to invest in 3 checked bags.

We also ended up using cardboard moving boxes, which were very helpful budget-wise. After using packing wrap to keep them secure, they successfully made it safely through light rain and a 7-hour flight.

By using a myriad of options, we were able to keep our luggage purchase needs under $400.

That said, we could have saved a little by getting luggage from FB marketplace or thrifting, so that is another option to consider for your move.

What are the baggage fees?

We flew KLM, which is in partnership with Delta, so it was easy to use the Delta calculator to estimate the costs per bag based on the size and weight of each bag. Every airline should have something similar on their website.

This is something to be very cognizant of when finding luggage you already have.

We have a large trunk that we used, which was helpful not needing to buy something new, but the trunk was about 15 lbs alone, so we needed to limit its contents to light items like blankets and some clothes.

There were also some larger sized cardboard boxes we decided not to buy because their measurements would have added $100 or so to the final costs.

We purchased a small hand weight, which was very helpful in the last few days when we were doing our last rounds of packing and unpacking to make sure we maximized each luggage item and to reduce potential overweight fees.

What are the transportation costs?

Of course, the big move (in our case, by plane) will have the transportation of your luggage taken care of. If you are like us and have multiple large bags, a personal car may not be enough to get everything and everyone to the airport.

We ended up renting a small moving van for the last few days before we moved in order to donate items as well as get us to a hotel – more on this later.

The van was a good choice for us as we were able to get around on our schedule for about $30 a day. And once we finally went to the airport, we made sure to pick a hotel that had free airport transportation included.

Rideshare services may be a better option if you are going directly to the airport but it may be a little expensive if you live farther away or surge pricing comes into play.

When we were in the country, we once again rented a van to get ourselves and our bags to our new home and still have the option to buy some larger items for a few days.

What is worth bringing when moving abroad?

There are so many decisions to make about everything you have collected over a lifetime. It can quickly become overwhelming, so we wanted to start as early as possible to reduce decision fatigue.

Before we moved out of our apartment, we were sure to begin the process of purging items as much as we could so when our move finally came, everything would be much easier.

First, we sorted by value. This was the hardest especially for items that had sentimental value. But when it came time to actually pack, it was very easy to decide what to keep, sell or give away.

Financially Valuable Items

Which items were a significant investment that would be difficult to acquire if you sold/ donated it?

For us, that was some tech like my camera, our cat’s automatic feeder, and laptops.

This could also include rare items that would be hard to find overseas, like any specific medical equipment or specific tools needed for work or hobbies.

This category was the smallest for us because we knew we would need to reinvest in electronics due to the outlets being different in Europe.

If there are larger/more expensive pieces you cannot part with and want to bring, there could be other options like storage in the short term or shipping with the knowledge that items will arrive weeks to months later.

Sentimentally Valuable Items

This was by far the hardest category to sift through. With my and my husband’s collections over the years, we had to figure out what items were most important to us and fit in 1 or 2 bags.

While we were able to store some items with family, we didn’t want to impose too much.

So we ended up keeping two shoeboxes each of sentimental items (photos, trinkets, cards) as well as souvenirs collected from past trips, artwork, and keepsakes from family.

I would say this accounted for about 50-60% of what we brought, as these items were not replaceable and were kept as a nice reminder of home.

Easy to Purchase Overseas

This category can also be difficult, as it can be hard to get rid of items you have invested in.

Even toiletries were a bit challenging for me to let go of, but once we weighed the cost-benefit of the bag space for such items vs what it would cost to buy overseas, it was an easy choice to part ways with them.

When it was still difficult to choose, I made a rough calculator based on the space and costs of our luggage vs the costs of the item I wanted to keep.

If it was more expensive to bring it with us than it was to purchase again, it went into the donation bin.

Clothes

I broke this out as its own category, as each article of clothing may fall into the different categories mentioned above, but has its own caveats as well.

Clothes can quickly take up a lot of space if you are not careful, so here are a few quick tips to consider.

Pack for the season you are moving in

The best way to save space is to only pack a handful of outfits for the season you are moving in. Especially if you are moving in the warming months, this should only fill one checked bag. If you are choosing to move when it is a bit colder and don’t want to wear your winter coat on the flight, you can consider vacuum sealing items to maximize space.

Buying clothes is easy in the country

Depending on where you are moving, clothes may be cheaper. You may also want to add more of the local style to your wardrobe after your move. This would mean bringing fewer clothes from home to ensure your closet can accommodate any items you brought over as well as new digs you may buy in   country.

Comfortable sizes may be difficult to find

Something to consider, one mistake I made was not packing enough jeans (yes, I know I am still wearing hard pants this day in age). Sizes are very different in Europe and with my curvier shape and short stature compared to the dutch it is a little more time consuming than I would like to find new pants. All in all, it is about finding the balance between these parameters mentioned.

What to do with other items?

Storing Items

As mentioned, there can be some items that you do not want to give up but cannot immediately bring with you.

If you have family or an inexpensive storage option, that may be the way to go in the short term.

If this is the route you take for some of your belongings, be sure to have a plan for how long you plan to keep things in storage (either paid or gratis). This way, you know your budget and you are being respectful of your friends and family who have offered to help.

Selling Items

Selling items you do not want to bring with you is a good idea for anything in decent condition.

This can take a lot of work with taking pictures and writing listings for Facebook Marketplace or OfferUp. For us, it took about 3 months to sell most of our items, but the work paid off as the money we made from it paid for most of our moving costs.

When selling, I would say give a time limit for how long you are willing to have something posted and be willing to donate or give away if something doesn’t sell and you do not want to keep it in storage.

Donating Items

Donating is the easiest way to part ways with your last few items that did not sell or otherwise go to another home.

When we were in Chicago, we were lucky enough to find locally owned consignment and thrift stores that operated like nonprofits serving marginalized communities.

We did a combination of donating a couple times a month, once we filled a box or two of donatables, and did a final big donation right before we shifted to the a hotel for our last few nights in country.

I have lived abroad as a student and professional across South America, Asia, and Europe, and would love to help you make moving abroad become a reality.

If you want to learn more now here is a link to jump on my calendar to see how I can support you with your big move!