Moving to the US from Europe / France

[alr234]

Hey !

I'm planning on going to grad school to the United States next year for a PhD, so staying a few years.

I was wondering if any of you moved from Europe. How did you get all your stuff accross the altantic ? Did you keep it to the minimum and a suitcase was fine ? DId anyone send boxes ?

I have a lot of books and things I need to bring with me that are pretty heavy, and I haven't been able to figure out how to move...

Any input on your experience or advice would be more than welcome

[Spriteling]

Well, I've done the reverse (i.e. move from the US to Europe).

I had a family member with me when I moved, so I basically fit everything into 3.5 suitcases, including some of my books. Every trip back to the US since, I've brought more of my books with me. Another possibility is shipping books/other heavy stuff by post to arrive after you get to the US.

[Ennue]

I moved to the US from the Netherlands. I used Seven Seas Worldwide to ship my boxes - they were a few weeks later than promised, but for the rest everything went smoothly so I definitely recommend using them if you want to take more stuff than can fit in two suitcases. I went to Minnesota, so I knew I'd need all my winter clothes and they take a lot of space... Also I really wanted to take some of my books with me! (note: for me 'some of my books' basically means a box full of books )

[alr234]

Thank you very much for your answers. I haven't been on the forum in a while (to avoid the stress of thinking about acceptance/rejection, I'm still waiting on most the schools I applied to).

It's nice to see you succeeded in your moves. As I'll be moving alone, I'll have a limited number of suitcases, so shipping boxes will probably be quite helpful (for books and such). Thanks for the service recommendation Ennue, I'll look into it

It's the first time I'm moving, this is pretty exciting !

[theseshoes]

I moved from the UK to Washington DC for study abroad year in 2010. I'm currently hearing back from J-schools in the US, so I'll be making the move again (hopefully!) soon.

I found that taking a few suitcases and paying the extra baggage cost wasn't so bad. Plus, there is always a Target or similar megastore to buy basics. I also found that being free of most of my possessions, accept what I could fit in my suitcase, was very liberating.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[DustSNK]

Hey !

I'm planning on going to grad school to the United States next year for a PhD, so staying a few years.

I was wondering if any of you moved from Europe. How did you get all your stuff accross the altantic ? Did you keep it to the minimum and a suitcase was fine ? DId anyone send boxes ?

I have a lot of books and things I need to bring with me that are pretty heavy, and I haven't been able to figure out how to move...

Any input on your experience or advice would be more than welcome

Not quite Europe, but I moved from the US to Korea for a few years. Personally I found the extra bag fees more economical than using the post or freight. Now of course it varies from airline to airline, and I am going on knowledge from 4 years ago, but I THINK you don't have a limit on the extra cases you check in. If you got the money to pay, your good. Although I'm gunna take a stab at it, if you are from the UK I think you might be in store for some shitty fees. Also I think the limit on luggage was 32 kgs for each case?

[alr234]

Last time I went to the US, the limit was 23kg per suitcase (the equivalent of 50 pounds), so that pretty much limits the amount of things you can bring. And as I'll be spending at least 5 years in the US (and probably will stay longer), I was hoping to bring most of my stuff. But I might as well do it progressively. Thanks for your answers, the online suitcase definitely seems worth lokking into (I'll ceck airline by airline, there must be at least one that is understanding for this kind of thing).

[new_to_kin]

When I moved from Australia to the US, I brought 4 suitcases and paid the extra baggage. This was far, far cheaper than shipping stuff. Also, I ended up re-buying some things as this was cheaper than shipping.

Also, do not bring bed linens etc. I did, and the sizes are different. Towels are also super small in the US (like in Germany, another place where I think they are small) so if you are used to large towels, bring them!

Also be aware that any A4 size papers are going to be a pain because they use different sizes and the photocopiers etc won't copy them properly (it will be confusing) and you can't get binders etc to fit. So don't bring paper or lecture pads!

[plastic_enthusiast]

I just took two suitcases of stuff, all of it clothing, needed stuff for my degree (books mostly), or personal items, included my entire CD collection (nearly ripped the straps off my backpack just carrying that around), my old trusty pencil case with my favourite pens in it, and my favourite blanket. My suitcases were really heavy, but this was back when the weight limit was higher than it is now.

It's really not worth bringing anything more than the essentials, no matter how much you might think you need it. I ended up moving to the US permanently and nearly everything I brought has either worn out or got lost, and I've hardly moved any of my other UK stuff out here. Any books that aren't extremely rare, you can get from the library or buy cheap second hand. I would recommend bringing your entire sock collection though. It took me a bloody long time to find decent socks here.

[gopromoving]

In general in Europe and in particular here in Italy, you have to have a job lined up in order to get a work visa before you move here from the US. You can only stay for 90 days without some type of visa you cannot apply for the visa while you're here and you'll need the proper paperwork from the company.