Colorado to Kent, first quarter

Hi all,
We are moving to the UK to spend time with/help my elderly parents.  My DH is American,  I'm dual.  We have rented a house near Maidstone and my DH has transferred to his company's European division and has a 3 year work visa.  Not sure how long we will stay in the UK, 'for the foreseeable future' is what I tell people, depends on how we like living there, my parents' situation, etc etc.  We will rent our house here in CO initially.  Anyone else in that part of the country?  I'm a bit worried about how I'll meet people/make friends initially, haven't lived in the UK for 33 years and don't plan to work unless I have to!
We aren't planning to bring too much stuff as we're paying for this ourselves, leaning towards Upakweship as so many here liked them, but open to other options if anyone has recommendations.  What will cost a lot is bringing our 4(!) dogs.  I am hoping to organize that myself with British Airways Cargo.

Hi there. We just moved from Colorado to Hampshire with 3 dogs as well.  I'm a USC and my husband is a UKC who had a green card who was renting his place out in the UK for 11 years (little opposite of you) and we moved with 3 dogs and paid a moving company to ship our stuff.  Since you don't seem to have any hurdles with the visa process I would like to give a couple points of advice.  You have it completely right that you should not bring any stuff over.  I read this countless times and after our 20 ft crate arrived yesterday, I can emphatically say, please be ruthless with your things.  Obviously you will have things you can never part with but I'd try to keep it under 10 boxes.  The other point I'd like to make is that, especially since you have 4 dogs you could help yourself by looking into a pet transport company. I believe it only cost about $1100 more than if we did it all by ourselves.  We do have very small dogs as well and weight will affect the cost most of all (regardless if you do it yourself or use a company).  Trying to organize 4 dogs and your luggage after a 9 hour flight is hell.  If you have large dogs, I hear BA's cargo company can be fussy about the crate size.  A transport company takes care of all of this and they even deliver your dogs on a different day so that you can get settled. Ours came a day early and stayed with my husband's parents.  Very healthy and happy, no problems.  That was the best extra money we've spent on this whole experience. 

As far as meeting people is concerned, and you're from here so I'm sure you get it, people don't quite say "hello" to one another in passing as they do in CO. I think my husband got really used to it and that change has bummed him out.  We did meet up with a group of people from this forum in our area last weekend and we had a great time. I wanted to feel comfortable in my own skin again (even if for just a couple of hours). In fact, I think my husband was missing Americans so much he couldn't stop chatting and even tried to invite himself to the girls night out haha.  Hopefully someone here will mention if there's another group that meets up near Kent.  Other than that, just like moving anywhere it takes time to get settled.  What you both having going for you is your husband has employment and you don't have to worry about a visa. 


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I've recently moved but with a small dog (9 pounds). I was quoted 3-4K to relocate her and I was able to do it for 1500. It's a lot of stress to do it on your own but it worked fairly smoothly. I used BA with the cargo company and they were very helpful. The most expensive cost is going to the be the flight cost and they charge that by the crate size. If you want to email me you can at jenam76@gmail.com and I can email you the paperwork they sent me about the crates and all. I've heard great things about the pet relocation companies and I was happy with the service from the 2 I called for quotes.
For shipping I am using Schumacher cargo and so far so good. They packed for me and I just received my bill of lading. Now I'm able to track my package. They have been communicating and I'm hopeful to see my items in 6-8 weeks. I for sure brought too much stuff. It's so hard when you are deciding but now that I've picked my flat I'm wondering where it will all go?!?! 
I brought over 3 suitcases and almost one was just for the dog. Food, treats, her fave bed. Anything I thought would help her adjust. Honestly though for what they charge you for the dogs flight they should allow a bag to go with them.
This forum has been a great help to me and I'm sure you'll be meeting people in no time. I just met a woman in the park with her dog and we exchanged numbers. Also have you looked at Facebook groups?  I'm in a few expat groups and they are very helpful.  Best of luck to you!


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Hi there. We just moved from Colorado to Hampshire with 3 dogs as well. 

Whereabouts in CO?  We're in Evergreen.  We are having the best winter we've had in years here, and I was in UK for the flooding over Xmas, the weather is doing this to spite me:-)  We have already rented a little house, and started to furnish it over Xmas, so I have a pretty good understanding of how little space we will have there for "stuff".  Plus since this is self-funded, not a corporate move, we're motivated to be ruthless regarding what we keep/bring :-)  Last time we moved, almost 20 years ago, the movers packed everything and consequently we moved a ton of useless/valueless things.

Actually not too far from you, we lived in Roxborough Park at Arrowhead.  One of our favorite and regular walks was around Lake Evergreen.  We adored living there but as I'm sure you understand, the surge of people moving there in the last year made leaving a lot easier. This last summer in CO was one of the best seasons I had seen in decades!  Yes, we moved ourselves too and my husband lived in our home here 11 years ago...for some reason, he seemed to forget how small it was!  I couldn't see it in the summer as he had a tenant in.  No use crying over spilled milk, I just wanted to emphasize what people have been saying all over the place...only bring what you can't live without.

We arrived here just before Christmas and I am told it was mild (other than the severe rain!) and I'm happy to hear you have a place rented. That makes the transition a lot easier.  When do you hope to move?  I would think renting your place in Evergreen will be fairly easy. All the people from out of state wanting to move to CO find out about Evergreen and want to be there. Both of our homes (one in Lakewood and the one in Roxborough) sold first day on the market!  So in many respects, it's a good time to leave. . I wish you the best of luck with things, it sounds like you have a good plan and are making smart moves.


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Well Evergreen is gorgeous...

Although I did see a pic captioned "Elk Herd Invades Downtown Evergreen"...

From Grand Junction, CO here, but I'm down in Derbyshire... or is it up? I really don't know...

My good friend lived in Evergreen/Conifer area for a long time. It's lovely. I'm really missing the snow and the mountains right now. Not to mention the red rocks and Claussen pickles....