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Prepping a move abroad … advice

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OreoCookie

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Dec 2, 2017
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Sadly, my time in Japan is coming to an end. This wasn't by choice. I came here with the plan of getting a tenured position at a decent university, but the job market wasn't as welcoming as I had thought. My contract expired in March, and I was hunting for jobs. In the end, my family and I have decided we will move to Europe. I got a job at an Austrian semiconductor company, whose tools are used to produce the majority of camera sensors on the market. The job sounds very interesting and the company is doing great stuff. Plus, Austria is great for cycling and my mountain bike will finally get to see the terrain it was born for.

We are prepping our move, and I just wanted to solicit your collective wisdom. Any advice is welcome. I have a few specific questions:

- We would like to have some stuff shipped. What companies did you use? How long did it take? How expensive was it? What are the limits on weight and size? E. g. I'd like to have my trainer shipped.
- Any problems with landlords that I should keep an eye out for?
- Regarding taxes, is there anything to look out for?
- What about your Japanese family (if you have any)? Do you have any advice?
- Anything that should be on my radar but I haven't mentioned so far?
 
I would use Nippon Express. They also do the packing for you. Door to door delivery. The price is competitive, but shipping these days really is a sticker shocker. Good luck.

Locations | NIPPON EXPRESS

www.nipponexpress.com www.nipponexpress.com
 
Thanks, I'll look into that later today.

Cost is not as much of a concern: my new company will cover everything up to a certain amount. Sadly, we will not be able to use it to e. g. leave stuff here and buy new stuff abroad. So I'd lose money if I sold my trainer here and bought a new or used one in Austria since that'd come out of my own pocket.
 
If you aren’t paying take everything😊
I shipped a few bike frames back to NZ when I moved back. If you have receipts copy them and make an easy to read inventory with value noted and numbered to copies of receipts. Used stuff usually tax free but having documentation removes any doubt.
And while shipping companies are good I packed all my fragile stuff myself. Moving countries is exciting.
 
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Austria @thomas would be the guy to ask albeit he hasn't lived there for decades. When are you going?

With family in Japan it's important to keep in touch a lot and budget for travel back esp your wife and kids.
 
@Forsbrook
That's very kind of you 😊
kiwisimon said:
Austria @thomas would be the guy to ask albeit he hasn't lived there for decades. When are you going?
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We are still in the process of figuring that out, but probably July. Thanks for letting me know that @thomas is actually Austrian, not German.

I'll be moving about 20 km South of Passau, i. e. Upper Austria close to the German border. We are planning on keeping in touch with the Japanese side of the family. My wife is an only child and her father passed away about 20 years ago. So her core family is just her and her mom. She might come to help us pack, and we might invite her soon (New Year or next summer).
 
OreoCookie said:
So her core family is just her and her mom. She might come to help us pack, and we might invite her soon (New Year or next summer).
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That distance will maybe hit both of them hard. facetime a big help in staying connected.
imagine there is a spare room eventually that MIL could stay in for a few weeks at a time without cramping your groove too much.
 
You can ship pretty much any weight and volume you want if you use ocean freight, but it takes weeks. This is probably ideal for the trainer. Bikes should go on the airplane. Just pay the excess baggage fees, as it’s probably still cheaper than shipping them by air.
 
Maybe not applicable, but when we moved to Japan we used https://www.bikeflights.com/international_bicycle_shipping for our bikes, trainer & a wheelset. I will need to double check with my wife about the costs, but they have a calculator on their website. We also used Bike Flights when selling or shipping bikes within the US. They offer really good additional insurance which has saved me in the past. I had a 2018 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 get destroyed when selling. They paid out the insured amount & I only had to send them the frame (kept everything else).

Hope you're able to enjoy the next months here in Japan before the move. Austria is a beautiful country, I've spent some time in Vienna and the surrounding countryside. The riding there will be sweet!
 
baribari said:
You can ship pretty much any weight and volume you want if you use ocean freight, but it takes weeks. This is probably ideal for the trainer. Bikes should go on the airplane.
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Yeah, that was my thinking: take the bikes with me on the flight and send the trainer and some other stuff (tools, etc.) by ship. If my new company were a bit more flexible with how the money could be used, I'd simply sell the trainer here and buy a new one in Europe. But hey, it is their money …

The first time I was in Japan I had a Mexican ex gf. At the end of my stay, her mom decided to retire with her Japanese step dad in Mexico. I am fairly certain that they checked in over 30 pieces of luggage and took a lot of “carry on” luggage with them. I'm not kidding about that number. I helped them move.
 
Tsuga said:
Maybe not applicable, but when we moved to Japan we used https://www.bikeflights.com/international_bicycle_shipping for our bikes, trainer & a wheelset. I will need to double check with my wife about the costs, but they have a calculator on their website. We also used Bike Flights when selling or shipping bikes within the US. They offer really good additional insurance which has saved me in the past. I had a 2018 Trek Top Fuel 9.8 get destroyed when selling. They paid out the insured amount & I only had to send them the frame (kept everything else).
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Thanks for the suggestion. Getting extra insurance is definitely something I'd like to look into.
Tsuga said:
Hope you're able to enjoy the next months here in Japan before the move. Austria is a beautiful country, I've spent some time in Vienna and the surrounding countryside. The riding there will be sweet!
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Indeed. Vienna is an amazing city, I have been there many times. And it is a city I'd like to show to my family …
 
I wish you the best for your adventures in Austria. Sad to here you could not find any decent new opportunities here, but as each move , brings new spice, self development and enrichment, it is good you could grasp for you and your family such an opportunity.
Hope you will keep posting here as you have been a great animator specially regarding all the technical advices.
Also, great ski slopes in Austria. I miss the big ski resorts, long and hard slopes we have in Europe.( I only know the French ski resorts) For me, ski slopes in Japan are not challenging, except a few black level slopes, but it is always on a short distance, Are you also skiing by the way ?
 
Yeah, indeed. I lived in Munich for about 12, 15 years and went to go skiing and hiking in Austria quite a bit. (I did go skiing in Les Deux Alpes once, too.) I assume my skis are rusty and in dire need of a service. I also don't know whether I have thrown away my ski jacket that I bought, checks calendar, 20 years ago. (When I moved to Japan, I had the choice of bringing my skis or my bike.)

How come you got to go skiing in France?
 
Oh, Munich is convenient, for sure. I wish I can ski or hike in Austria some days, where I guess there is too much choice for outdoors mountain activities.
I am French., and all the winter vacations were dedicated to skiing, in the Alps, Pyrénées or Massif Central. Thanks to my father, a passionated skier and cyclist. My hometown is actually at the border of the Massif Central, west side, but snow in this Massif is not always guaranteed. Personally, I have been addicted to monoski, which was very popular in France in the 80s. May be you have done some ? Could buy one here. Many, the young people generally do seem to be surprised when seeing such a ski. The work on the arms and shoulders is more important than normal skiing to keep the body balance.
Cycling has been very helpful to keep the legs strong, and after a day of skiing now, the arms and shoulders get really tired and painful, not the legs. I really need more muscles in the upper body.
 
I've not tried monoskiing, but I have seen them on the slopes occasionally.

Fortunately, I have some very good excuses to return to France regularly: my sister lives in Lyon with her boyfriend and I have very good friends living in Paris and Cergy. My sister and her partner also regularly go on vacation in the Provence … I should definitely brush up on my French.

We will have to buy a car, but first, we need to buy the basics like furniture and kitchen equipment (again, one of the downsides of having moved between continents for the last 15 years), save up some money and such. When we have a car, I am looking forward to exploring the region and see my family.

Overall, I bet it'll be alright, I'm looking forward to the change, to stability. My wife is an only child and too many cousins to stay in touch with all of them, so she doesn't have as much of a yearning to see much of her family. She is closest with her mom and her dad's sister. But the latter is a bit particular and rarely lets her see us. (We offered, she lives in Tokyo, so we could go see her quite easily …)
 
Hello,

I relocated several times in my life and gained some experience on the subject (without pretention).

The most cost-efficient way to ship household goods is definitely by vessel, but it doesn't mean that it is cheap. Except for expensive and/or sentimental items, it would probably be close to break even by leaving them behind and rebuying everything at your destination.

When relocating to or from Japan, Yamato was always the cheapest option between the two bidders required by my employer.

Except during the Covid period where shipping delays were massively longer (i.e. over 3 months), it will normally take a few weeks (3 to 5 weeks). Unless you are an athlete who cannot afford any training pause, or unless you will not ship anything else by vessel anyway, I don't recommend traveling with bike equipment. You will have plenty of stuff to bring in your luggage to survive during the first few weeks.

Below are a few personal tips, in case they can be helpful :
  • If you hold a permanent visa and wish to keep it, you must advise Immigration before leaving the country. You will have 5 years to re-enter Japan before the visa is voided. Otherwise, it will be voided after only 1 year.
  • International moving companies include the boxing (and unboxing) in their service. If you prefer to pack by yourself, don't forget to note down the content of each box. Not only it will be useful for the logistics at the destination residence, but it is also required to write the packing list for custom clearance. Furthermore, the value of each item (or group of items) is necessary for insurance purposes.
  • If you are shipping desktop computers, back-up the files on an external device and bring this device with you on the plane.
  • Shipping CO2 cartridges is not allowed, as well as aerosol spray cans and solvents.
Good luck for your relocation !
 
Thanks for your advice, especially when it comes to immigration. Indeed, I am a permanent resident and that wasn't on my radar! :tup
Elvis said:
The most cost-efficient way to ship household goods is definitely by vessel, but it doesn't mean that it is cheap. Except for expensive and/or sentimental items, it would probably be close to break even by leaving them behind and rebuying everything at your destination.
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It'll be the cheapest option for me: my new employer will only cover moving expenses and I cannot e. g. use the money earmarked for my move to purchase new things. I'd really prefer selling stuff here and buying it again in Europe, but I'd lose quite a bit.

Also thank you for mentioning a company, Yamato. Are there others you know of? I just want to shop around.
 
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