Rooky Travel Mistakes

When you pack up your life in 3 suitcases you are bound to make some mistakes. I think I can safely say I could have brought one suitcase of the things I have actually ended up using regularly and then I could have brought 2 more suitcases of things I needed and didn't bring.

Lesson 1. Check that your airpoint status doesn't drop down the week before you fly leaving you with less free luggage allowance than you had planned on.

Lesson 2. Don't ditch the walking shoes at the airport due to overweight bags  Should have ditched the swimming togs! Walking shoes should rank higher on the "to take" list than good shoes, especially when you wont have a car.

Lesson 3. Pack a capsule wardrobe rather than all those things that you love and can't bear to part with. There ARE shops here - lots of them! I brought lots of things I love but nothing goes with anything else or it simply isn't warm enough.

Lesson 4. Make sure you change/ delete your old telephone number at your bank. It's hard to receive notification texts from your bank when you have thrown away your old SIM card. (There goes the rubbish truck....)

Lesson 5. Don't expect banks or insurance companies to believe that you could possibly be a respectable, responsible citizen. You are starting again with no credit rating, no credit card. Make sure you bring your country of origin credit card with you because sometimes you just need a credit card to make bookings etc. 

Lesson 6. Find the nearest laundrette, motels don't exist in the UK. Hotels don't have laundry, fridge, or cooking facilities. Bring patience and a good book.

Lesson 7. Don't bother with chargers etc for all your techy stuff if you haven't bothered to pack an adapter. It's much easier to buy a charger wherever you end up OR an adapter before you leave

Lesson 8. They sell handbags worldwide. I admit, 5 handbags was excessive especially since I have already brought another one that is becoming a new favourite.

Lesson 9. Make sure that you really don't want an excuse to buy another set of knives. The ONLY household item I packed was my Global kitchen knives. I have had far too many years using substandard knives so wanted to keep my good ones.  However, I have found the most beautiful hand crafted knives and if I hadn't brought my Global ones I could have had a set of these.......

Lesson 10. Pack a couple of tiny things from home. You will miss home, your people, your things, so little reminders help.  I packed some photos to put straight up on the wall, a farewell drawing from one of my granddaughters and a little ceramic NZ fern in it's flax kit. Being able to whip these things out easily wherever I was was great and gave me a little reminder of the people and things I love.

And lastly, ALWAYS take a computer with you if you are moving.  Managing life on an ipad has been difficult especially as it was nearly full to the max and didn't have some functionality that I was expecting it to have. As we speak my ipad is in its last death throes. I am so thankful for my brand new MacBook Pro!