Photo courtesy of Kenn W. Kiser, morgueFile.com
With reasonable certainty that you will soon have your Italian visa, it’s time to start thinking about moving your stuff to Italy, and llining up moving company candidates. In my situation, I had already furnished my home in Umbria with the basic necessities, and I was determined to pare down dramatically what I had in the U.S. It was time to free myself from the encumbrances of “too much stuff”. Watch “The Paradox of Choice” by Barry Schwartz on Ted Talks if you want some perspective and inspiration for simplifying. This was a real eye-opener for me.
I had private garage sales (for friends) and Craigslist help me unload some furniture. In short, I edited down to about 30 boxes, including one for my beautiful Specialized road bike. This meant i would be sharing a container vs. having my own. This is something you will have to ascertain before you talk to movers. I had been talking to several companies, and interest waned with a couple of companies when they figured out I would be “small potatoes” and not worth the return on such a small shipment.