Job Discussion Forums

[davechile]

When you make the transition from your life in your home country to life on the road. There is always the purge and what to bring with you along the journey.

I have fairly new ski's and boots. However I am beginning my TESL career in Costa Rica...not much snow there. Do you think it is worth keeping the ski's for three years with the folks at the remote chance I may need them? Or sell them and rent some as needed. I was thinking of keeping the boots. I just see myself in a more tropical environment for the next 2-3 years. Is there good skiing in Korea? I hear it is crazy expensive in Japan.

How light do most of you travel between assignments? I know there are a few of you out there that have planted roots for over 4 years in countries. But, how light do you really travel? rebuying kitchen stuff? Where do you put the various cultural nick knacks you pick up along the way?

Is it a pair of Large suitcases - clothing, bedding, books, etc??
What about camping gear?

Please, let me know what you've learned over the years of picking up and moving from one country to the next?

[naturegirl321]

Clothes usually don't weight me down so much as papers do. Photo albums, all the certificates, a couple of books. I usually bring a backpack and a suitcase. I've moved three times in three years inside of Peru and keep on accumulating more stuff, all my MA books, furniture, computer. Now when we move, it's be inside Peru so we just stuff stuff in plastic bags.

I hope the next time we move it'll be outside Peru and I plan on leaving all my paper stuff at my in-laws.

Bedding, no way, get it where you're going to live as bed sized can vary and it's probably more expensive if you buy it at home. Same goes for camping gear, I saw a four person tent for 50 USD.

[MELEE]

I started travelling as a student is 1993. I had all summer to pack and pack so extrodinarily light you wouldn't believe it--every item of clothing coordinated with every other item of clothing. I could make 20 outfits from like 5 things. It was amazing, and I've never done it since. I was only there 9 months but by the end of it I left all those clothes behind I was soooo sick of them. I even made three ninety-minute mixed tapes of all the essential songs in my music collection, I still have those and still love to listen to them!!!
Next I went to Ecuador, again, I only took clothes and a few books, and think I took about 10 tapes then--you kids have it so easy these days with ipods!!! I was a recent graduate and I got rid of everything else--car, bedding, household goodies. I stored some stuff in three different states (BAD idea, I later had to just wash my hands of a lot of it).
Then came Japan and I needed a wider variety of clothes due to professional wear and the climate. I took clothes, books, a photo ablum, nothing else. In those days in Japan you could still pick up some great stuff on "big garbage days" and I got a lot of funky vintage furniture I would have loved to keep--but how. I did bring back a lot of Japanesey sort of stuff, some I still have, most I gave away to friends and family.
When I first came to Mexico, I only thought I'd be here a year, maybe two, so again I brought few things, some momentos because for the first time I had a job with an office in need of decorating. Clothes, I did bring sheets and towels because it was recommended. In Mexico those things are WAY more expensive than in the US and CHAFA (shoddy quality). Each time I went back to visit mom and pop I brought more stuff down here with me, first clothes, what's the point of having those in storage? Then all my music and books, and other things. Now I have a house here so most of my stuff is out of my parents house and the stuff I had to two other locations I had a small memorial cerimony for and have come to terms with the fact I will never see that lamp again despite the fact I loved it so.

Bring you laptop. Sell the desk top--it will become obsolete while you are gone. It would be difficult to birng and in Mexico you'd have to pay duty.
Bring clothes they will just go out of style stored away.
Don't bring household items, you can live with one plate, one bowl, one spoon, for the first six months. If you decide to stay you can bring some stuff after you know the local market and your local lifestyle.
I don't ski, so I don't really understand owning skis, but if you think you will return and they will not be obsolete by the time you get back AND you have a place to store 'em--keep em. Ask someone in Costa Rica about other outdoor equipment, costs, usablity, etc.
PET--tough call. and a very personal choice.

[tedkarma]

If you can store things with family - it might well be worth doing so.

Most people find, when they return after a few years, that the things that seemed so valuable at the time really weren't. Your life perspective tends to change, often quite a bit, once you've spent a few years out and about in the big wide world.

My wife and I recently went through a lot of stuff that we had stored with family - some of it for over twelve years. Of 20+ boxes - only few found there way to us here - we gave the great majority of it away.

And, as naturegirl said - the stuff we kept was photos, family albums - family memories type stuff, books, documents, etc. I guess the older you get - the bigger the photo pile gets. Though digital solves that problem these days.

[naturegirl321]

[tedkarma]

Actually, I do too - they create a social event with family. Also, the oldies don't look as nice when they are converte