Moving in the Foreign Service 101

As you can imagine, a big part of life in the Foreign Service is being prepared to move every few years.  Sarah and I like adventure, and she never likes to be in one place for too long, so we don't mind that so much.  Plus, we aren't pack rats, so we generally don't have too much to move from place to place (at least we didn't until El Señor arrived).

But moving from country to country with Uncle Sam's help can be fraught with red tape and other complications.  When we moved from one apartment to another in Arlington, we just rented a truck, moved all our things in one day, and then set up shop in the new place.  Not too bad, logistically speaking.  Not so in the Foreign Service.  Where to begin?

First off, you have to decide where all your stuff is going to go.  Your options include:

1. Personal Items - Stay in your suitcase and travel with you.
2. Unaccompanied Air Baggage (UAB) - A 600 lb. shipment that arrives at your new Post shortly after you do.
3. Household Goods Shipment (HHE) - All the rest of your stuff, it usually comes to your new Post by boat, and may not arrive for months after you do (depending on customs requirements).
4. Storage - The USG will store things for us while we live overseas free of charge, which is a great perk, especially if you are moving to a very tiny flat in London. 
5. Trash - Sadly, not all of your possessions can go on to enjoy the bright lights of London.

So you have to start by asking yourselves the following questions:

Do I need to take this in my suitcase?  Will I use it while I'm on home leave?  Should I put these baking pans in my UAB, which arrives about ten days after I get to London?  Or should I put it in my HHE?  Are we going to need this couch?  Wait, let me look at the pictures of our apartment again.  How big is the living room?  And does that look like a closet?  Do you think we could fit our winter coats in there?  Should I leave some of the coats in storage?  Well, if I'm going to do that, why don't I just throw them away?  Why do we have so many baking pans?!?  Will this toaster oven work with the voltage in the UK?  Do we need to buy MORE CURTAINS?  WHY DID YOU THROW THAT SET OF CURTAINS OUT SIX YEARS AGO?!?  I TOLD YOU THEY COULD HAVE COME IN HANDY!  AND YOU WANT TO SELL THAT THREE-MAN TENT WE HAVEN'T USED IN SEVEN YEARS?!?  ARE YOU CRAZY!!!

As you can imagine, sometimes emotions run high.  Moving by itself is pretty stressful, but when you add the elements of deciding what goes in which of those five piles and when, it can be a bit complicated.

Plus, in the Foreign Service, your house size will vary greatly over the course of your career.  I'll admit, we basically live in a palace here in Juarez.  This home is easily twice as large as any place we have ever lived in.  London, on the other hand, will be just a tad smaller.  After that, maybe we'll be in Zimbabwe, where we'll live on land big enough to necessitate its own guard shack. You never know, which, I suppose, is part of the fun of this line of work.

Finally, unlike in the real world, in the Foreign Service the movers often come pack out all of your stuff weeks before you actually depart Post.  So, then you're just stuck in your big empty house with your government-issue furniture and the "welcome kit," a collection of sheets, towels, and cooking items meant to keep you alive before you actually leave the country.  Thankfully, Sarah in her infinite wisdom, had us make a bunch of dinners in advance and freeze them, so we'll be sitting pretty for the ten days between pack-out and our departure.

Sounds fun, right?!

In this line of work, a lot of effort goes into closing each chapter of your life, and I'm sure they'll be plenty to do to start the new chapter once we get to London.  But we wouldn't have it any other way!