How much did you bring with you?

[Emancipation 2]

I'm bringing a car load with me, and storing probably 3 big rubbermaid bins in my Mother's storage area here in Canada and then coming for them later. I didn't have furnature etc. that was of much value, so I just sold it all, and am only bringing a couple of small kitchen appliances - the rest is clothing and memories

[A-PhiJill 0]

After DH got his Green Card, his company assigned him to a project in California Luckily they paid to move us. We drove down with a car full of stuff. I flew back to Vancouver to pack his stuff and had the movers load the stuff (he had to start his job 2 days after he left Canada). One car was shipped down too. I then packed 2 suitcases and 2 cats and flew to California to join him

[Reba 2]

I brought pretty much everything except my pots and pans, some dishes, a spare bed, a stereo and entertainment unti, and some bedding with me. I hired a moving company to bring it down, it cost me about $2000. They broke my TV.

I might bring most of that if I can afford to.

How far did you move?

It cost us about $3200 USD to have my stuff brought down by moving company from Nova Scotia to Oklahoma. They were excellent, professional, friendly, efficient....and best of all, they didn't break or scratch a thing. Worth every penny.

What moving companies did you guys use? Do they charge by weight, by volume, or both?

Thanks.

I honestly don't remember. I think it was Allied Van Lines. They came to my apartment, looked at all my stuff, gave me an estimate and told me what paperwork would be needed (which I already knew, but I wanted to see how they handled it. a couple of other companies that I had called said "nooo, no paperwork needed! ). They came and loaded up their truck, I was first in of 4 families moving down, and last one off a couple weeks later. There was a delay at customs because of a car they were hauling for one guy, didn't have the import letter er summat.

Most large moving companies will load up their trailer with as much as they can, its not cost effective for them to go half empty. This is why there was 3 other families plus a car in the load with my stuff. Unless you've got a household that'll fill an entire trailer (not likely) your load will probably be shared as well.

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Hmmm....Good question. What an interesting topic, indeed! By the way, what exactly is stuff, anyways? After all, stuff is just stuff, it's the memories that count in the end, right?

On my trip to the US in April (by car that we drove over the border), I brought over only two weeks worth of stuff and some stuff that my husband had at my place in Canada. I was on a vacation to visit the US and wasn't expecting to stay more than two weeks, so I basically had two bags (in one carry-on bag and one backpack, most of it being spring and summer items), some food, and leftover Christmas decorations (funny, we did bring our small holiday tree over the border too, and we were glad we had that for our first holidays married together here).

On the second trip in May that my husband drove over the border by himself (since I was filing AOS paperwork and couldn't leave the US), he picked up a half a carload of my stuff, which was mainly paper and documents needed to file the immigration paperwork.

On the third trip in December (after I got my Green Card in November), both my husband and I went for a day and we picked up the rest of my stuff (some personal items, photos, books, clothes, knick-knacks, etc.) that all fit into one carload. Surprisingly, I don't have a lot of stuff and I got rid of a lot more stuff in the US when my husband and I moved again too after we got married (yes, we purchased a house here together, a good way to start our new married lives together, indeed).

The rest of the stuff we have now we mostly purchased together. And overall, we don't have a lot of stuff at all, merely the basics.

My only regret of the thing that I couldn't bring over from Canada? Not being able to bring over my pet cat (I do miss her) .

Ant

[AngelD 0]

2 checked luggage, 2 carry-on bags

When my family came for my wedding, they brought a few more bags of my stuff with them -- mostly photo albums, CDs, and winter clothes (I'd arrived in the fall and didn't need too much warm clothes then).

I used to teach high school, so when I get to visit Canada again, I'll probably be lugging my teaching resources and books with me. They were too heavy to bring with me, and I'm not going to pay to have them shipped here when I can't even work for pay!

In a way, I'm lucky because I don't have many possessions as a recent university grad.

OMG!

I'm new to VJ and just read where you two are from! I live in toronto and my fiance is in Petaluma! It's a small small world! I am flying into San Fran in two weeks with our 8 mos old daughter to visit Scott for a month! Usually I am very excited because regardless of the time of year I can pull out my sandles! I hear this year it ain't gonna happen! Petaluma weather not too far off what Toronto had over Christmas! Ah well--we'll have to spend more time INDOORS!

Best of luck you tow--2700-ish miles apart sucks!

Angel (Toronto) and Scott(Petaluma)

[Kathryn41 3,205]

My only regret of the thing that I couldn't bring over from Canada? Not being able to bring over my pet cat (I do miss her) .

Ant

Hi Ant,

I am just curious why you weren't able to bring your cat? A lot of us have brought our pets - I brought my 6 cats with me from Ontario to Georgia (a two day drive I DON"T want to repeat!). Is he/she elderly or is he/she shared with another family member who still has him/her?

Edited January 26, 2007 by Kathryn41

[antda 13]

Hi Angel,

Good luck on your immigration journey too. Small world, isn't it? Like you, I am new to VJ. Also like you, add me to the "Toronto List" as I used to live in Toronto too. But now, I call a small town in New York State, USA my home (and I'll never ever in a million years/forever ever move back to the big city of Toronto again).

Ant

OMG!

I'm new to VJ and just read where you two are from! I live in toronto and my fiance is in Petaluma! It's a small small world! I am flying into San Fran in two weeks with our 8 mos old daughter to visit Scott for a month! Usually I am very excited because regardless of the time of year I can pull out my sandles! I hear this year it ain't gonna happen! Petaluma weather not too far off what Toronto had over Christmas! Ah well--we'll have to spend more time INDOORS!

Best of luck you tow--2700-ish miles apart sucks!

Angel (Toronto) and Scott(Petaluma)

[antda 13]

Hi Kathryn,

Wow, I can't believe that you brought all of your cats over from Canada! Was it hard to do? In answer to your question, I couldn't bring over my cat because my former family (ex-so-called-family who pretty much disowned me now) took my cat, since the cat lived with them for awhile and had joint custody of the cat. I admit, I am quite concerned for my cat, and have even offered to find the cat another better home in Canada if it was too much trouble to take care of her or to transport her to the USA. Believe me, if there was such a thing as having legal custody over cats, I think I would have filed the paperwork by now to bring her here. I felt so sad when I saw her last time, knowing that I might never see her again....

Meanwhile, maybe I'll find another cat to add to my family here in the US? Sigh, it won't be the same though....

Ant

My only regret of the thing that I couldn't bring over from Canada? Not being able to bring over my pet cat (I do miss her) .

Ant

Hi Ant,

I am just curious why you weren't able to bring your cat? A lot of us have brought our pets - I brought my 6 cats with me from Ontario to Georgia (a two day drive I DON"T want to repeat!). Is he/she elderly or is he/she shared with another family member who still has him/her?

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

I brought almost all my clothes, my dining room table, TV, books, papers, mementos, coffee table set (was a really nice one, some lamps that I loved, this nice bench that opens up and stores things. Other various small items, including some nice glassware. The rest I sold, gave away of threw out, simply because we didnt have room for it here.

Oh I also brought my beautiful pet cat. Sorry you didn't get to Ant.

[Killer_Clown_2009 0]

It was no problem bringing over the cat. I was not asked one question about the cat or to see his vaccination records. They were more concerned about seeing my custody order for my son.

Edited January 26, 2007 by jane2005

[Kathryn41 3,205]

There was no problems with immigration in bringing our cats either. The logistics was the biggest challenge - transporting 6 cats not used to being inside carriers for an 800 mile drive. We spent the night in Dayton, Ohio (yeah, it took a long time to get through immigration but that is another story - no problems with the actual crossing, just a stupid officer who refused to do her job at the first border crossing we tried). There was a loud rock and roll band playing right outside our window on the patio at the hotel for most of the evening so the poor cats, already stressed by the 10 hours in the vehicle were further stressed by the noise! My eldest was nearly 16 at the time and the stress of the move proved to be very difficult for her. She never really recovered from the trip down. She developed a urinary tract infection from the stress, then stopped eating and in spite of force feeding her, she passed away 6 weeks after our arrival. She is buried on the top of the hill behind the house with a small garden over top of her. The others are hale and hearty. I am sorry you were not able to bring your cat with you, Ant. Maybe you will be able to move her south yet, and if not, having another cat in the family is still a good thing, even if it is not the same.

[misa 2]

A few people have mentioned a company called u-pack, http://www.upack.com/ From what I understand they drop a pod or truck off and move it. People in this group seemed to like it.

That's who I plan on using. They provide online quotes too and it's not based on weight. Mine will cost about $1,200 Cdn to move my ####### across the border. Though maybe less... I haven't fully decided what I am keeping and what I am not.

[antda 13]

Hi Jane,

Glad you had no problems bringing over the cat and your son. Perhaps the concern over your son somewhat distracted them, so that they didn't bother to check anything else (which is a good thing, of course).

Ant

It was no problem bringing over the cat. I was not asked one question about the cat or to see his vaccination records. They were more concerned about seeing my custody order for my son.

[antda 13]

Hi Kathryn,

Glad you had no problems bringing your cats. I thought that there was a limit though to how many pets you could bring over the border, but I guess not. Hmmm...I wonder if I can bring over more than one thanksgiving turkey if I said it was a pet (just kidding, as there was a limit on how much food one can bring over the border). Wow, it must have been quite the challenge to bring over that many pets, and then have to deal with stress on the trip afterwards. I'm glad you dealt with it though and made it through. Sorry about the loss of your eldest. It's nice that you have a garden burial place for her and you to enjoy the rest of her afterlife days. Hope the rest of them are doing fine at your new place too. It's ok about me not being able to bring over my cat, as it was kind of expected anyways, with that ex-family member that I had to deal with. And my cat probably wouldn't be too happy travelling anyways (she's one of those indoor cats who never set foot/paws outdoors in the city after I adopted her from the local humane society/shelter). I've been thinking about another cat or pet though, as believe me, there is an abundance of animals in the countryside rural where I live now. I see a lot of cats (especially stray ones in the fields behind our house and walking on the small gravel roads), deer, cows, horses, sheep, birds, racoons, rabbits, roadkill, and all sorts of other animals, just merely driving down the country roads a few minutes away. I guess in a sense, maybe they have adopted me to their environment?

Ant

There was no problems with immigration in bringing our cats either. The logistics was the biggest challenge - transporting 6 cats not used to being inside carriers for an 800 mile drive. We spent the night in Dayton, Ohio (yeah, it took a long time to get through immigration but that is another story - no problems with the actual crossing, just a stupid officer who refused to do her job at the first border crossing we tried). There was a loud rock and roll band playing right outside our window on the patio at the hotel for most of the evening so the poor cats, already stressed by the 10 hours in the vehicle were further stressed by the noise! My eldest was nearly 16 at the time and the stress of the move proved to be very difficult for her. She never really recovered from the trip down. She developed a urinary tract infection from the stress, then stopped eating and in spite of force feeding her, she passed away 6 weeks after our arrival. She is buried on the top of the hill behind the house with a small garden over top of her. The others are hale and hearty. I am sorry you were not able to bring your cat with you, Ant. Maybe you will be able to move her south yet, and if not, having another cat in the family is still a good thing, even if it is not the same.

[misa 2]

I brought my 6 cats with me from Ontario to Georgia (a two day drive I DON"T want to repeat!). Is he/she elderly or is he/she shared with another family member who still has him/her?

Kathryn, you're another crazy cat lady, just like me. Though now I only have 3 cats and a dog that I'm bringing with me. The most cats I've had at one time was 10 plus my dog. The longest period of time (a few years) was 8 cats and my dog (all rescues). After my visa and my move, we're combining our families so we'll have 5 cats and a dog. I can't wait!

Which reminds me that I need to make their vaccination appointments soon.

Edited January 27, 2007 by misa