Moving abroad & what you surely need NOT to do.

5 MISTAKES

YOU DO NOT WANT TO MAKE 

WHEN YOU’RE MOVING

(ABROAD)

(Lire cet article en Français!)

demenagement (2)


  1. Leaving your flat too late (the ‘checking-out-three-days-before-your-flight-departure’ kind of late…)

Why is that? Simply because you’ll probably have to pay another monthly rent, and you could have lived without this kind of stupid expense. Because you’re going to resign from your inhabitation insurance too late and you’ll still have to pay a bit for it. And also because your deposit bail cheque will arrive after you left (so this money is not available right now).

SO. You’d better leave your cosy place sooner the better so you won’t be overstressed by your moving out, which is not a nice addition to your already overstress due to your incoming departure. You’d better sleep at your mother’s, at your friend’s places or you could even go Couchsurfing.

And if you’re like me and you want to push your moving out to the limit, well… You should expect BLOODY STRESS BURNOUTS.


  1. Forgetting to call the Associations and realising so one week before moving out.

Why is that? Simply because these associations are super busy. Usually, people call them almost a month in advance. And you should call them knowing exactly what you want to give to them, as well as your furniture measurements.

And if you’re like me and you were simply thinking that you had plenty of time with these matters, and that you still had this useless hope to sell some more shit by the time and that finally, the lady on the phone is telling you that you can’t expect them to come get your furniture before June 23rd (haha, I’m flying away on June 20th, Madam, couldn’t I get my things picked up before that? No-no-of-course-not-what-were-you-thinking.) Anyway, let’s move to PLAN B You can call the municipality and they will remove your big furniture on the sidewalk at 5:00 A.M the day after. Ok, so your things will be destroyed, even if you would have preferred to offer them a second life with some nice folks. You can just hope that some people will help themselves on this sidewalk improvised living room.


  1. Being slow at selling your stuff on the internet.

Why is that? Simply because succeeding in selling on the internet will take you loads of time. Time to write the posts, time to take not so shitty pictures so people would actually be interested in your old t-shirts, sometimes writing again your posts to make them appear again on the top page… And sometimes there are certain things that I can’t explain, like how fast I sold my shopping trolley whereas I never succeeded in selling my Marshall awesome and brand new headphones at a low price.

And if you’re like me and you realised that you still have heaps of stuff to sell on D-8, this is the perfect time to go to Second Hand Shops. And what will be left afterwards will simply be donated to an association, like Oxfam which is not picky at all (except for furniture, they just don’t take them), and with a big smile as well, even if it’s the third time you’re coming with your big suitcase full of messy junks.


  1. Packing without any kind of organisation.

Why is that? Because you won’t touch your things for about a year (or more) so you most likely will forget all about what’s inside this box, right there. Let’s imagine that you’ll keep your stuff a little while longer in your storage rental/storage after getting back to France and that you suddenly want to read The Martian Chronicles? So, you’d better inventory your boxes, even more the ones with books inside, with a logical alphabetic order written on the box (“A to C” for example, would make your life way easier where you’re looking for Ray Bradbury!) You could even create an Excel file with the content of each box (like an organization maniac.)

And if you’re like me, well… Your return will be a happy mess.


  1. Not shutting down the water tap when you’re unplugging your wash machine. So happy that you are to finally manage to sell it on the Internet.

Why is that? Well, if you’re asking, that’s probably because you’re like me. So here’s a piece of advice: SHUT DOWN THIS WATER TAP IMMEDIATELY IF YOU DON’T WANT YOUR KITCHEN TO LOOK LIKE A BLOODY POOL!

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FINAL PIECE OF GOOD ADVICE:

Don’t wait. Send your prior notice as soon as possible. Pack your things as soon as possible. Move out as soon as possible. This way, you will be more likely to handle the unexpected calmly. And when all of this mess will be part of history, you’ll have loads of time to plan your journey. (Believe me, “I’ll-do-it-on-the-plane-I-have-plenty-of-time” is bullshit.)


See you! Kisses, boxes and mops!

Moving abroad & what you surely need NOT to do.
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