Considering a Relocation Package - Do I bring "everything"?

We're considering a relocation package with my husband's company.  We've been together for nearly 20 years, we have a large (not opulent) house here in the states, and it is comfortably furnished.

I've been poking around the web at houses.  We would probably want to be outside London, but still have fairly easy (direct) access to the city, as he will be working there.  I'd like to see the commute (to Kensington Olympia) to be around an hour.  (any suggestions?)

OK, back to the first question - do we "bring everything"....just as we would if we were moving to another home in the US?    I do plan on getting rid of several rooms of furniture - I doubt we'd be able to afford the same size house in the UK....but I mean things like Washer/Dryer, Deep Freezer, Lawn Mowers, Weed Whackers, Toasters, Microwaves, Computers, hair dryers.......etc.

If we do bring all this "stuff" - we'll need converters all over the house.....right?  Is that what you do?

Thanks.

If someone else had paid for my move, I would've brought a lot more than I did.  Bringing your washer/dryer is not worth it, nor is it worth it to bring every appliance/white good you own.  Get rid of it and buy again when you get to the UK.  You would need more than converters, you'd need transformers which are bulky, run hot and not cheap.  Your relocation package should include you being able to purchase these items again in the UK.

We essentially filled a 20 ft container.  We did not bring our appliances and very few electricals.

we were going to pare down quite a bit but since we weren't paying for weight, we figured we may as well fill the thing up. 

We've had two assignments here in the UK. Both times the conditions of employment included moving household effects here, up to a weight of 2000 pounds. That will be the first thing for you to work out with what ever mover your husband's company uses unless you are able to judge that yourself, once you know what your weight allowance is.

Bring no electrical items at all. Those you will replace here and sell when you leave since there is only 240 voltage in the UK.

What you do not choose to ship can probably be stored with the same company that moves you. No doubt, you will find you have a storge allowance, in weight, as well.

This process would be easier if you first secured your new residence since you would have a clear idea of what to store and what to ship. If you do not have the option of a discovery trip, consider the following:

UK homes are much smaller: think your student days in small apartments. Closet space is limited in comparison to what you are used to having for clothing. Kitchens too are small and you should choose what to ship accordingly. The exception would be if your husband is a CEO and his company is prepared to spend £3000 to £5000 for a large residence. ($5400-9000) per month. My old darling is fairly senior and his allowance for housing, local council tax and utilites is £2800 per month. Note that the entire amount does no go for rent alone since you will also have utilities and council tax bills. Have a look at some of the London housing sites for rentals and you will begin to get an idea of what you will be able to rent and what size it will be.

For those who choose to leave their home in tact and ship nothing but clothing and personal items, there are serviced apartments. These are favored for shorter assignments and generally found in central Lonondon. They will start around £2000 a month.

As to the hour commute you plan for your husband. Tut Tut.

Spending two hours a day, everyday, on public transport is not all that pleasant. My huband is a 20 minute walk from his Canary Wharf office. He leaves at 7:30 am and never walks through the door of an evening before 7:30 pm. Most American employers still expect, and create a corporate culture of expectation, that people will arrive by 8 and not leave till 6:30 or 7 pm. It will be marvelous for your husband if that is not his situation. But if not, you will see him leaving at 6:30 am and not home till around 8pm. Poor guy. This week we are pushing 90 degrees, never pleasant in a city, even less so on hot, crowded trains. Bear in mind also that often on the hop from London to Kingston, a commuter may have to stand the entrie journey. We had a time near Hampton Court so I speak from experience.

Starting from where your husband's office will be, follow the nearest transportation links outward and explore the areas you see via the net. You will find a copy of the underground map on the London Transport site. Bus lines follow all the major roads. The trains run from the big stations like Waterloo.

Even if you live in London's Yankee Ghetto (St. John's Wood) where you would be bound to meet and make American friends,  you are going to start missing your husband when you get only a couple hours a day with him. And remember, with the all American enviornment goes all the politics and back biting of corporate life.

Over the years, we have distilled our selection criteria for home and work down to three criteria: Location, Job Satisfaction and Salary. You need two of these for any life situation to be enjoyable. We have learned that Location has to be one of the two. Long, long works days simply don't go with long, long commutes.

You will have a big housing allowance, but it will be taxed as income. If you also have a tax equalization program (to adjust for the fact you will be paying BOTH UK and US income tax) that will be considered income as well. On paper, it looks to the US government like my husband is earning almost twice what he is really paid due to these two add ons.

We wanted something to show for this money beside rental receipts. We didn't want to take on another mortgage so near retirement and, anyway, a one bedroom flat is central London costs about half a million dollars. Ouch!

We got around this by buying a Dutch barge and putting it on a residential mooring at Canary Wharf. It is the size of a one bedroom flat and affords a marvelous lifestyle. Now, as we prepare to retire to our little beach shack on the Oregon coast, we can sell the barge and have some return on the housing allowance. So there are creative solutions to living on these overseas assignments.

If you were feeling that adventuresome, you could check out the British Waterways Marinas Ltd site and look at the boats for sale in the two London residential Marinas: Poplar Dock Marina and Limehouse Marina. The web site is   http://www.bwml.co.uk/

Over the years, we have distilled our selection criteria for home and work down to three criteria: Location, Job Satisfaction and Salary. You need two of these for any life situation to be enjoyable. We have learned that Location has to be one of the two.

This is very valuable advice.  I will definitely put these headings on our balance sheet while we are contemplating our next move - which will probably be in 2007.  we have always gone where DH's job has taken us.  Job satisfaction hasn't always come with the move but quality of life due to location generally balances things out.  And salary - as long as we can be comfortable, I'm not too worried about it.  DH is now in a salary bracket that allows us that.

I did know any american lady who ended up going back to the states and bringing a washer and dryer set back with her because she couldn't stand how small the ones here were and how long it took to wash clothes.  She ended up bringing back some that ran on 220v anyway so it was just really a matter of rewiring a different plug onto them. Though, they did hire a professional help them with it once they were back in England. When she moved she offered them to us, but we didn't have the luxury of living in a 5 bedroom house with a 2 car garage, utility room, breakfast nook, den, conservatory, etc.  They lived down in Walton on Thames. Supposedly there a quite a few americans around that area as there is even an american school down there.

I did know any american lady who ended up going back to the states and bringing a washer and dryer set back with her because she couldn't stand how small the ones here were and how long it took to wash clothes.  She ended up bringing back some that ran on 220v anyway so it was just really a matter of rewiring a different plug onto them. Though, they did hire a professional help them with it once they were back in England. When she moved she offered them to us, but we didn't have the luxury of living in a 5 bedroom house with a 2 car garage, utility room, breakfast nook, den, conservatory, etc.  They lived down in Walton on Thames. Supposedly there a quite a few americans around that area as there is even an american school down there.

Correct, there are alot of Americans and Canadians that that area of Surrey.  As well there are some rather nice single family homes as well which are more inline size wise with traditional single family US/Canadian homes.  But they aren't cheap.   However, many still won't/don't have space for full sized "American" washers and dryers.  My take on real estate even in Surrey is that American appliances, washers, dryers and refridgerators, etc are still considered a very high end luxury here and not something found even in better middle class homes.

FYI, there's a big North American and Expat community in the Virginia Water/Egham/Sunningdale/Sunninghill/Ascot area and you'll find a lot of expats and North Americans in Walton on Thames, Weybridge and those surrounding areas.

As for schools of the American variety in the area you have TASIS in Thorpe, ACS in Egham and ACS in Cobham.  All three are good schools but the ACS schools tend towards largeness and can come across as a bit of a "factory" school in that it's bring 'em in and push 'em out.  TASIS is a bit more personable and focuses more on students as individuals.  While the facilities at the ACS schools tend to be a touch nicer than TASIS but more because they are much newer, purpose built  buildings.

It makes no sense to me why someone would relocate to the UK and live in a pocket of Americans.  I really don't get it.  I could understand it if living in country where a new language needed to be learned but in an English speaking country?  Maybe I'm unusual but I like the fact that I've lived in diverse areas without a lot of Americans around.

It makes no sense to me why someone would relocate to the UK and live in a pocket of Americans.  I really don't get it.  I could understand it if living in country where a new language needed to be learned but in an English speaking country?  Maybe I'm unusual but I like the fact that I've lived in diverse areas without a lot of Americans around.

I agree with you Kristi.

I went to Cobham to visit a childhood friend who had recently moved over here.  I spent the weekend , and the entire time i was there, there was never any clue (apart from the power sockets!) that i was in England.   
Every stick of furniture in her huge house had been brought from the US, and all the food in her cupboards had been shipped over via their corporate relocation... box after box of American cereal, refried beans, Chips Ahoy, Bisquick, Hidden Valley packets, Kool Aid, Stove Top Stuffing, Gold Medal flour... it was unreal!  Her fridge, washer and dryer were all the huge american style... even her washing powder!  (she had enormous boxes of Tide and Gain, and an industrial sized bottle of Downy!)
Her kids go to the American school, and all the friends they had round the house were American.  I answered her phone twice while she was out dropping the kids off somewhere, and both times it was an American voice on the end of the line!

The TV channels were constantly flicked to American programmes... i tried to get her to watch Location, Location, Location because i really thought she'd enjoy it, but she just whined about how she couldnt understand what anyone was saying!  Hell, she couldnt even understand what *I* was saying  half the time! 

It was just really strange, and i did sort of wonder what is the point of them being in England if they're not going to live an English lifestyle, and associate with English people.

**sorry for the hijack... Kristi's post just reminded me of this experience! *** 
To come back to topic, though... it appears my friend did indeed bring EVERYTHING!!

It makes no sense to me why someone would relocate to the UK and live in a pocket of Americans.  I really don't get it.  I could understand it if living in country where a new language needed to be learned but in an English speaking country?  Maybe I'm unusual but I like the fact that I've lived in diverse areas without a lot of Americans around.

To be fair, not everyone gets to choose where they live if they are moving because the company is moving them.  Sometimes it might be just because a company has x amount of houses in a particular area. I can see from an employers point of view that if they are moving an entire american family over who isn't used to a new culture that they want their transition to be smooth.  It is quite different when you are picking up an entire american family and relocating them to a new country.They are going to have to basically figure it out on their own.  Being married to a Brit, I think, makes the transition so much easier. You already have someone who lives a certain way of life in that particular culture and can help ease you into it and show you how things are and where to go and what to do.  I don't think it's too fair to assume that most americans choose to live where there are "a pocket full of americans". I know some do, though.

Sorry I hope this doesn't come out rude. I don't mean it to be.  It's hard typing something without hearing the person's tone behind it. I am not trying to start any arguements or anything.  I was just thinking of some people I knew in this instance.

I'm not married, to a Brit or otherwise.  I chose to live in a diverse area of London where I never heard American accents, except my own.  Now when I lived with AnneR and her dh, I had a day in WHS where everyone in there was American!  It was odd. 
I don't know of companies that buy homes for their employees to live in for an international relocation.  I have a dear friend who was relocated and his company paid for a serviced flat for a month but they were on their own to find a place to live. 
I would respectfully disagree that moving near other Americans would help make a smooth transition.  I don't know that 'most' Americans choose to live with other Americans.  But those who do, like QG's friend, I don't get. 

Ok I'm going to chime in again because my wife and I are expat Americans on temporary assignment here in the UK.  The biggest reason we accepted this assignment is because the exposure our children would get to other cultures and ideas.  That's the single biggest reason for most any expat no matter where they are from.

So why do we live in an area that's got a significant American/Canadian population.  First I can tell you that it's not because we want to be with other Americans and Canadians nor is that the reason for most people we know.   Two major factors come into play here for us and many others but the two primary ones are schools and transportation.   For us getting our children into a good school was decision number 1 and all else would follow along with that decision including where we lived.  For those that have moved with children you know how difficult it is to get them into school here, there just isn't enough space.

Schools you ask?  Yes schools, there are 4 "American" schools in the general area of northwestern and western Surrey.  All are actually international schools but follow the American curriculum.  This is extremely important when it comes to getting children back into US schools because it’s a much easier transition and there are few hoops to go through. 

You'll find most in the expat community feel very strongly about education of our children and exposing them to other cultures, ideas and such.  You'll find plenty of that with these kids too.  With my children yes a good number of their friends are Americans or Canadians but they also have a good number that are Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, British, Indian, French and Australian.   Of our neighbors we have all of those as well.  So I would suggest our children are being exposed on a more regular basis a much more diverse culture than most other children here in the UK.

Transportation, well most of us expats have to travel a good bit so access to transportation is extremely important.  This general area gives us very good access to local rail service and air transportation, specifically Heathrow.   

Now I do admit one of the downsides to living in an area with a high concentration of Americans and Canadians does lead to "flocking together".  But remember the old saying "birds of a feather flock together" and it happens everywhere including the USA!  Look around and notice how cultures tend to centralize themselves in "foreign" countries.  It's nothing different here and Americans shouldn't be criticized for it by other Americans because its a personal choice.  You don't know the circumstances behind that choice.

Lastly on the idea of American goods, well we as humans stick to what we know and trust.  Like foreigners all living in the same area.  Ever notice the number of "foreign" grocery stores/shops.  Go back to the States and notice how many Mexican shops there are now. 

Bottom line is it takes time for people to break out of their comfort zones and explore other things be it food, shopping, social networks, neighborhoods and countries.  Moving internationally as we all know is stressful on a whole new level so lets not be too critical of people that have handled it differently than we might done.  Let's embrace the opportunity we have to live abroad and helps those around us do so as well because not many people get the chance be they from America, Britian, China, or Timbuktu.

Well good points catamount!   Never thought about it that way but you are correct.   

I don't know of companies that buy homes for their employees to live in for an international relocation.  I have a dear friend who was relocated and his company paid for a serviced flat for a month but they were on their own to find a place to live. 
I would respectfully disagree that moving near other Americans would help make a smooth transition.  I don't know that 'most' Americans choose to live with other Americans.  But those who do, like QG's friend, I don't get. 

I do know of a law firm that owns 3 houses and a particular petrol company that owns about 10 houses and flats for their employees.  I know many of the americans I have met have found that the inital move into an american community made it much easier. They leaned on their neighbors and the common thread they shared to teach each other about how to adjust to life in this country.  They then venture off from their exploring the rest of the culture.

I am glad you were able to be one of those people who can just "jump right in".  Not everyone is like that.  My husband is like that too but I often lean on him when I need advice on how to handle things.

Some people like to dive in head first, other people a gradual wade in is necessary.  As long as you're respecful of your host culture, it doesn't really matter.