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living out of suitcases


dm379
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We finally got our moving info and are gearing up to ship our stuff to the states. Because of the way the dates fall, we're spending time with friends and family the first month and then going to be living in married barracks (think hotel room) for 4 months. So we can't have any of our stuff.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to pack everything we're going to need for 5 months in 8 suitcases. DH's stuff will take up either 3 or 4 of them, I can fit my stuff in 1. All kitchen stuff is provided, including dishes. Clothes we're going to try to go down to 1 suitcase each but it isn't working very well since we're going from super cold blizzard weather to never heard of snow. I'm thinking 1 toy and stuffed animal each. No extra shoes of course. I have no problem buying more clothes and other stuff but we have to think about space when we get there too, not just when bringing stuff over. We are bringing 2 laptops plus the wii.

 

As far as school, TMs aren't coming and I'm trying to condense everything as much as possible. I'm probably going to wind up shipping school stuff to my parent's house since from there we'll have extra room since we'll have the car. Besides they're heavy.

 

So what else will we *need*? I can't think of anything other than what I've listed. And a stash of either booze or crazy pills. :lol:

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Whenever we've moved overseas, we've just taken what we can check on the airplane, so I've spent lots of time in this situation and am getting ready to do it again right now. Books have always been our biggest problem, since they weigh so much, but we've switched almost completely to ebooks so that problem has been solved. I think it's a good idea to ship the homeschooling stuff separately.

 

There's really not a lot of stuff you *have* to have beyond clothes and toiletries, especially if you're going to be in the US while you don't have the rest of your stuff. We pack a lot of games because we generally have a lot more free time when we first go someplace new. We'll also take camping stuff. Each family member will get to fill one suitcase with their personal belongings, and then the other is for family stuff. My children will take legos in addition to their clothes, and I'm taking my spinning and weaving supplies so I have something to work on. We also take food, but I wouldn't need to if we were living in the US.

 

I think you might discover that you can get more into your two suitcases each than you might think. Honestly, I've never felt like I needed more stuff, except for the books. And I love not having to deal with everything for a while.

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When we've traveled and lived out of suitcases, I usually have one suitcase for dh's clothes, shoes, etc, one for mine, two for our four kids to share, one suitcase with toys and toiletries, and one or two carry-on size pull-cases (each fits about 50lbs of books and gets checked with the other luggage) with school books. For your family, you should be able to manage with one for you, one for your kids to share, one for toys, toiletries, and maybe a few books, and one carry-on with books. That would keep you under the limit of 8 with your dh bringing 3 or 4. Why on earth does your dh need so many suitcases, though????

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A library card. Make sure your friends have library cards that they can lend you, and contact the library separately to get their joining instructions, so you can join in your new location on the first day. I am a member of the library in my mother's home town so that I can get books out there when we go to stay - it makes a big difference to the boys' happiness.

 

When we've lived out of suitcases, I usually had one suitcase for each person's clothes, plus a rollaboard for curriculum and a rollaboard for toys/games.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

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Why on earth does your dh need so many suitcases, though????

 

 

He has to bring a lot of his military gear in them since he'll need it right away. So he's got a few different kinds of uniforms, shoes, his helmet, manuals and who knows what else.

 

 

Thanks, guys. It's been a while since we've had to do this. I'm always scared I'm going to be stuck paying hundreds while in transit for stuff we accidentally forgot to pack or did pack and wind up having to ditch along the way.

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He has to bring a lot of his military gear in them since he'll need it right away. So he's got a few different kinds of uniforms, shoes, his helmet, manuals and who knows what else.

 

Ah! That makes sense.

 

BTW, you may be better off paying the airline for an extra suitcase than shipping a bunch of books to your parents. Usually an extra suitcase is around $50-$100. Check with your airline.

 

They may even give you a break because your dh is in the military. I would present it to them that you have 8 pieces of luggage for your family (your clothes, dh's clothes, the kids' clothes, toys, books, etc) and one extra piece of luggage for dh's uniforms and equipment, and ask if they can waive the fee for his military stuff.

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Ah! That makes sense.

 

BTW, you may be better off paying the airline for an extra suitcase than shipping a bunch of books to your parents. Usually an extra suitcase is around $50-$100. Check with your airline.

 

They may even give you a break because your dh is in the military. I would present it to them that you have 8 pieces of luggage for your family (your clothes, dh's clothes, the kids' clothes, toys, books, etc) and one extra piece of luggage for dh's uniforms and equipment, and ask if they can waive the fee for his military stuff.

 

Well, aren't you super creative and thrifty! GREAT idea!

 

We didn't move overseas BUT we moved from Texas to Connecticut with 3 kids, a cat, and had to stay in a Homewood Suites for several weeks. I agree with the library card, legos, and shipping the books separately. And yes, we took our Wii with us too. :)

 

Good luck to you. There is an option I don't see posted yet:

 

Take the months off of "book school" and field trip a LOT. Redefine school for awhile - maybe just take math with you so they don't lose the facts. Have them journal and notebook the field trips and count it as your annual school break? Maybe??? Of course, I about keeled over this summer taking 4 months off school and we kept to just daily math. It was hard but made the overall experience easier.

 

Good luck!!

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We finally got our moving info and are gearing up to ship our stuff to the states. Because of the way the dates fall, we're spending time with friends and family the first month and then going to be living in married barracks (think hotel room) for 4 months. So we can't have any of our stuff.

 

I'm trying to figure out how to pack everything we're going to need for 5 months in 8 suitcases. DH's stuff will take up either 3 or 4 of them, I can fit my stuff in 1. All kitchen stuff is provided, including dishes. Clothes we're going to try to go down to 1 suitcase each but it isn't working very well since we're going from super cold blizzard weather to never heard of snow. I'm thinking 1 toy and stuffed animal each. No extra shoes of course. I have no problem buying more clothes and other stuff but we have to think about space when we get there too, not just when bringing stuff over. We are bringing 2 laptops plus the wii.

 

As far as school, TMs aren't coming and I'm trying to condense everything as much as possible. I'm probably going to wind up shipping school stuff to my parent's house since from there we'll have extra room since we'll have the car. Besides they're heavy.

 

So what else will we *need*? I can't think of anything other than what I've listed. And a stash of either booze or crazy pills. :lol:

 

Can you mail more? Can dh mail extra sets of uniforms to the next command (either to himself at the command or to the sponsor, or a friend already there)? My dh often carries the uniforms that he knows he'll need, but then mails extra sets of working uniform or the dress uniform that is off season.

 

Can you mail school books? Do you know if you'll have one room or two? Could you mail the books that you will want to have at your next station before you get housing?

 

Can you mail a box of clothes that you need up until the last minute, but then won't need for a long while (either to your family's address or to the next duty station)? That would let you use them up until the last couple days, then send them off, to deal with later. Or if you're pretty sure that you won't need them, is there a way you could have a friend take them off your hands, either as pass downs or to take to the thrift store.

 

Remember that you can mail sea bags (or whatever the other services call them) as well as foot lockers.

 

I would take (or buy at the new station) a game that lots of the family could play like Settlers of Catan or Cranium. Decks of cards. I'd probably not take the Wii (but take that with a grain of salt, we don't have one).

 

Have you checked the base library to see what books they have that maybe you could check out instead of bringing?

 

I would encourage the kids to take toys that could do a lot, like Lego or Playmobil. Rather than something that can only be used one way.

 

Don't go so far down on not bringing TMs that you then get frustrated with school. Remember, you'll be under stress too.

 

If you know anyone who's already there, ask if you can mail stuff to their address or maybe even store some things with them on a rotating basis. One of my dear friends let me mail 10 boxes of books to her when we moved from Germany to Hawaii. We've taken in boxes for people a couple times.

 

Oh and read the orders really closely. The last time we transferred overseas, dh had an authorization for extra baggage. Also, because we were flying international, the weight limits per suitcase were higher. I printed out the guidelines from each airlines' website and had it in our travel binder for when we checked in, just in case.

Edited by Sebastian (a lady)
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