Countdown to departure

The move process is such a drag. As many times as I have moved in my life, you would think I could just go into autopilot and get it done! But it seems the "to-do" list haunts my dreams and keeps me from focusing during the day because I am worried I forgot this form or the other.

Aside from the mechanics and coordination of the move itself, there is the personal and professional side of leaving. The work here is challenging and while at times frustrating, there is definitely a sense of let-down by not seeing a job finished. I wonder if the next assignment will be as challenging or interesting. The people that I have met have become so special to me, and now I have to leave. The many things I still want to see and do in Italy and the many plans we have made that will not be; these things make me a bit sad.

Yet because of my faith in the Lord and belief that there is a plan for me for future, I know I must let go and move on. To try and cling to something beyond the time, well, it is never as good as you think it will be. So off we go! This post is about the leaving events and the changes we are experiencing in the process.

It takes a village to move two people from Italy to the US

My company definitely outsources all the different jobs to different places so that we have a dozen or so people to work with to get things done.

• Major US move coordinator with the moving company
• Italian counterpart to the move coordinator
• Residency in reverse person
• Turn in the leased car person
• Convert the computer, transfer the Blackberry to US, retrieve the computing assets that stay in Italy person
• Temporary living residence in the US contact person
• Counseling for reverse culture shock person
• Cancel our lease, utilities, and close out with the landlord person
• Change the forwarding mailbox person
• Handle the special expenses and allowances person
• Count the beans travel audit person (this one adds no value whatsoever, and drives us all crazy)
• Find another job in the US person
• Approve my expense reports, travel plans and time card person - after Mar. 5 I have no idea who this is!

How many is that? I have lost track and there are probably a few more I forgot in the process.

How many forms do you need to move two people from Italy to the US?

Wasn't there a bill passed a while back called the Paperwork Reduction Act? Well, they never made it to this process. So far these are all the forms we need to fill out:

• US Customs Form Declaration for Free Entry Form 3299
• Supplemental Form for Unaccompanied Personal and Household Goods
• Power of Attorney form (lets the moving company act on your behalf with Customs)
• Destination Contact form
• Valuation Claim Form (insurance inventory for household goods shipment)
• Guest Lease Agreement (for temporary living accomodations)

In case you have insomnia

For your reading pleasure there is an International Assignment Handbook of 301 pages but thankfully I only have to read Chapter 14 Repatriation for now. There is also the Household Goods Insurance Guide, Altair Guide to Your Household Shipment which is a cliff notes version of International Moving Guide. That refers you to several websites for USDA APHIS, IRS, and US Customs and Border Protection. Are you asleep yet? How can I possibly be awake after all that fun reading!!

Let's make a list

So our move is basically three pieces: what we take with us in baggage on the airlines, what we have air shipped, and what is sea shipped. It takes a fair amount of time to sort through and think through what stuff goes into each category.

My company pays for additional baggage to be checked on our return trip so we will end up taking about 9 suitcases for the two of us. That sounds like a lot but we have to live out of these bags up to 3 weeks plus it includes many items that cannot or should not be shipped any other way:

• current season clothing for about 3 weeks
• jewelry
• important papers (including insurance policies, deeds, titles, medical, appraisals, appliance manuals, birth certificates, tax records, real estate documents, etc.)
• toiletries
• medicine
• work and personal computers
• family photos
• liquids like oil or wine you are taking back
• any food or gift items

The air shipment will arrive in about 3 weeks. There is a weight limit on it but it is a generous limit and we didn't have a problem on the trip out. This includes all the rest of our off season clothes, items I don't want sitting in a sea container like my electronic sewing machine or family heirlooms, plus tools and equipment that we will need to work on our house and get it move-in ready, home office furniture and printer, and odds and ends of a few kitchen items needed for making a life comfortable in a temp apartment.

Finally the sea shipment is everything else. That arrives in 6 - 8 weeks but more likely 8 weeks is what they are telling me now.

Oh, and we can't forget the things that we already have in storage we didn't bring to Italy in the first place. We don't even remember what most of that is and will probably wonder why in the world we have it at all! I think the garage sale is at the Coss house in about 8 weeks!