International Moves and Frugality

I rarely post about the spending side of the equation but after spending yesterday working with Snork Maiden on move preparations I thought a bit about the connections between all the moving I've done and frugality. At first sight international moving is very expensive. Last time I moved I spent $A5,500 on freight and more on accommodation, rentng a new apartment, flying, and buying new stuff. Quite a bit of that was reimbursed by my employer. However, I liken the international move to being reborn. You have to give up a lot of links and ties in one country, get rid of a lot of stuff, squeeze yourself into a plane and your stuff into some boxes etc. and then you pop out in another country and start to expand all over again. I have done this many times. If you are like me you then tend not to accumulate a lot of expensive stuff or property because you know you are going to have to get rid of a lot of it probably in the future. Maybe a metaphor for life generally.

My former PhD advisor once said: "You have a PhD in international relocation" and it's true I'm very familiar with this process. So the familiar plan is swinging into action. Only difference is this time Snork Maiden is coming with me. She moved here from China and interstate but in both cases little stuff was involved. Most international grad students only arrive in the country with a couple of suitcases. I on the other hand was already shipping six tea-chest from London to Boston when I came here to do my PhD. That was already more than my previous international move - I've been moving since I was 18.