So, when I moved here, work paid for 250 pounds of boxed goodness (books, clothes, magazines, etc.) to be shipped from the U.S. It ran about $1,000 (via DHL), and involved a week's worth of hassle once it arrived on Thai soil, from clearing customs to paying duty to, finally, delivery.
Obviously, nobody is paying to ship all that stuff back. And now I've got decisions to make. I could employ an actual moving company, who would box everything up, fill out all the customs paperwork, ship it by air to California, then deliver it to mom's house and unpack everything. For $1,800.
At the other end of the financial spectrum, I could do some further purging, leave most of my books and many clothing items here, and take back just what fits in my two giant pieces of luggage.
The options in between are not much more desirable than those above. I could ship again with DHL (or with UPS; for some reason FedEx is way more expensive than either), but that would involve somehow buying and transporting boxes back to my condo, finding and filling out all sorts of paperwork, and crossing my fingers that everything would arrive in one piece. That'd run about $1,000, give or take. Using ThaiPost (the postal service) wouldn't cost much less and would take about three months, from what I've read.
So: Spend too much money with no hassle, spend a lot of money with plenty of hassle, or chuck what doesn't fit and pocket the savings?
As painful as it would/will be, I'm leaning towards the latter. What say you?
Well, I would say purge as much as you can and then find out how much it would cost to get another suitcase and take it with you on the plane.
There will be an extra charge of course, and extra hassle toting it along, but I think it would still be cheaper than shipping it home. And if you kept your dhl paperwork there shouldn't be a charge to bring it back in.
Also, my boss (who spends a lot of time in Thailand) says that upgrading to first class is MUCH cheaper when you do it in Thailand. I'll ask him how he does it and let you know.
Posted by: Wen | October 31, 2007 at 06:33 AM
An excellent idea.
Here's the rub, though: I'm not flying from here to California. I'm flying from here to London, for a couple weeks, and then from London to California.
So, while I could probably manage three giant bags on a direct flight home, I can't figure a good way to deal with them in the interim.
Look forward to your advice, though, on upgrading. I'm flying coach (sigh) from here to London; business class (thankfully) from London back home.
Posted by: Tim | October 31, 2007 at 06:39 AM
purge and save. purge and save. no question. with all the money you keep in your pocket, think of all the NEW important shit you can buy once you get home!
Posted by: CBJones | October 31, 2007 at 10:57 AM
See, that's what I'm thinking.
As it happens, I'm in the market for a new camera. And it struck me tonight, "So, would I rather have this giant pile of books and warm-weather clothes, or a new camera?"
That's an easy decision. Some fat white guy in Thailand is going to be happy to get a bunch of clothes.
Posted by: Tim | October 31, 2007 at 11:01 AM