It’s hard to know where to begin to pack for this move. Luckily everything has been made quite easy by my husband’s giant tech/social media company, because we get the full moving package from start to finish. Currently, we’re focusing on what’s going in our air shipment that will be quickly delivered and available once we find a flat to rent and the suitcases that will go with us on the airplane. We get a surface (boat) shipment that takes longer as well, but we’re going to wait and see if we will even need to send anything over that way once we find our new home.

Here are the steps that I’m taking to try to keep everything organized and try not to overlook something. It is by no means an inclusive list, just what’s working for me right now. I’m sure when it’s all over there will be different suggestions. I just haven’t been able to find much info about this process, so I thought I’d try to share my experience.

Step 1: Purge your closet and your drawers. Not the most fun part, but a necessary evil to help make this process less complicated.

Step 2: Identify the hanging clothes that you want to go into the wardrobe boxes. After you’ve identified them, go back through and try to pare it down. Do that again if you really need to be careful about the weight of your shipment.

Step 3: Pack your folding clothes and shoes. The packers can put a lot of the shoes and loose items in the empty space in the bottom of the wardrobe boxes to maximize space, but I’m trying to have some sort of organization. I’m packing my folding clothes into Ikea Frakta bags and my shoes into shoe bags. They’ll pack the rest of it into the packing containers that they offer for air shipments.

Step 4: Identify the clothing and shoes that will go in the suitcases that will come with us on the plane and pack your suitcase. We will be in our temporary flat for 4-6 weeks, so that’s what we have to pack into our suitcases. I’ve got a combination of several different packing cubes that I’m using to try to get the most out of the space in my suitcases.

Step 5: Gather your travel documents and important items and put them in your carry-on bag. Passport, any other form of ID you may need, visa documentation, airline ticket info, for us we have temporary accommodation info and personal documents that we need to live in Switzerland (birth certificates, marriage certificate, etc.). I’m also taking copies of medical records and copies of our last tax return. Another important item to keep with you in your carry-on is your daily medication, just in case you get separated from your checked luggage.

Other random advice: Pack a box with a supply of over-the-counter medications that you frequently use so that you have some to hold you over until you learn what the equivalent OTC medicines are in your new country. Do the same for any beauty products that you can’t live without. Get your daily prescription medications filled in a 3 month supply (or the largest number you can with your insurance) so that you have plenty of time to find a new doctor and transition into her/his care.

Again we are so, so fortunate that we have help in every step of this transition, and my suggestions are heavily informed by that fact. But I hope that there’s some useful information in there for anyone who is traveling and/or living short or long term in another country. I’ve linked my packing stuff below, as well as my Amazon profile, so go check it out if you want to share my Amazon habit with me.

Less than a week to go now. Prost!