The big scary action list

As I give more thought to the actual mechanics of moving, it’s getting no less daunting.

I know I’m missing things in my list, but this is a first pass. This is just a “big picture” view, years of project management taught me not to get lost in the weeds too early on. There’s always time to get lost later.

My question for those of you who have gone through this, or are in the midst of it, is, “What big obvious chunk am I missing?”

I’m working on an 18-24 month time line that includes:-
Decluttering our current home
Disposal of a lot of stuff via Goodwill/eBay/craigslist/dump
Packing inessentials
Disposal of a lot more stuff, repeat, repeat
More packing
Prepping the house for sale here in Eugene, Oregon
Arranging transport for our cat, including any shots, chipping etc.
More packing
Arranging shipping
Finding somewhere (furnished) to live in Scotland, short term until this house is sold and we can buy one there
Selling the house
Selling the car here
Actually moving ourselves, preferably on the same plane as the cat
Find somewhere in Scotland to store the stuff that is in the container which will probably arrive before we have moved into permanent digs
Buy a car
Get insurance
Register with GP & dentist
Apply for a UK provisional license (I had one in 1969, but I doubt it’s still valid).
Buy a house
Move in
Live happily ever after

Like I said, a wee bit daunting.

I foresee a great big Gantt chart in my future.

As I give more thought to the actual mechanics of moving, it’s getting no less daunting.

I know I’m missing things in my list, but this is a first pass. This is just a “big picture” view, years of project management taught me not to get lost in the weeds too early on. There’s always time to get lost later.

My question for those of you who have gone through this, or are in the midst of it, is, “What big obvious chunk am I missing?”

I’m working on an 18-24 month time line that includes:-
Decluttering our current home
Disposal of a lot of stuff via Goodwill/eBay/craigslist/dump
Packing inessentials
Disposal of a lot more stuff, repeat, repeat
More packing
Prepping the house for sale here in Eugene, Oregon
Arranging transport for our cat, including any shots, chipping etc.
More packing
Arranging shipping
Finding somewhere (furnished) to live in Scotland, short term until this house is sold and we can buy one there
Selling the house
Selling the car here
Actually moving ourselves, preferably on the same plane as the cat
Find somewhere in Scotland to store the stuff that is in the container which will probably arrive before we have moved into permanent digs
Buy a car
Get insurance
Register with GP & dentist
Apply for a UK provisional license (I had one in 1969, but I doubt it’s still valid).
Buy a house
Move in
Live happily ever after

Like I said, a wee bit daunting.

I foresee a great big Gantt chart in my future.

That list looks good but one important big picture element that you are missing is

-research for and obtain a spouse visa for your wife.

I don't know where your timeline starts and ends but you can only apply for the visa within 3 months of her nominated date of travel. The research should start before that obviously but as the rules change like the weather, it must be ongoing.

Apply for a UK provisional license (I had one in 1969, but I doubt it’s still valid).

You should be able to exchange your old paper license for a new photocard license without re-sitting your test. 

https://www.gov.uk/exchange-paper-driving-licence#other-ways-to-apply

You would be surprised how much you can get done.

We made the decision to move from Australia to UK on the Tuesday night and flew the Saturday! Though it was probably the maddest week ever.

Sold most of our stuff on gumtree, shipped some boxes via movecube, arranged the dog flight and our flights and a weeks temp accommodation.

Four days??? I'm in awe.

I'm sure that leaving the visa stuff off the list was totally accidental. Honest.

Another thing I forgot is an item about investigating the tax consequences of US Social Security, private and public pensions, and both regular and retirement investment accounts.

It just keeps getting easier.

Hi,

You can also try mobile apps like Close 5 or 5 miles for selling your things. Not sure if its popular in Oregon but you can give it a go

Another thing I forgot is an item about investigating the tax consequences of US Social Security, private and public pensions, and both regular and retirement investment accounts.

We have an active tax forum here where you can ask any such questions.

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?board=11.0

Four days??? I'm in awe.

Didn't have any choice. We had discussed moving to the UK with the assumption it would be months down the line, but on the Tuesday night I was offered a job. On the condition I could start the following week!

Spent most of the time selling stuff while my wife arranged things like temporary accommodation. Then I was also arranging the house sale, sorting the dogs flight out (luckily we had already got him his rabies jab) and things. We managed to arrange a shipper, but only on condition we would pack at their yard. So, a friend arranged a trailer to carry our stuff there and pack it. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got on the flight. The only thing we got wrong was I threw away my favorite casserole pan by mistake.

As a reformed Project Manager I LOVE this post and am hijacking it for our own move. Are there any changes you would make now that you're a month into it?

As another recovering project manager, you're lucky I didn't post Gantt charts. 
As kfdancer pointed out, the list was missing any mention of getting a visa for my wife? Oops.
I'd also add a new item at the start---acquire industrial quantities of Valium. We're still at the decluttering stage, it's very slow going. Surprise, surprise, it turns out that one person's idea of decluttering is another person's idea of "You can't throw that out, I wore that in 8th grade." Hence the Valium.
Also missing was at least one scouting trip. Since we're looking to retire we have a lot of latitude in choosing where to move to. That will be a focus of our trip this summer. At least the exchange rate is working in our favour.
Good luck!

Apologies to larrabee, she was the one who pointed out that I forgotten an entry for getting my wife's visa on the list.