FAQ: How Do You Pack for Living Abroad? (Part 2)

Now for the fun part!  Clothes and the baby stuff tends to be rather easy.  Once we get into the next categories, there are lots that could be brought and decisions have to be made about what can fit or not!

In the area of toiletries, there are many things that can be bought overseas, but I bring a lot of our own things.  For example, Joe is particular about the type of deodorant he wears.  I also bring all natural soaps, lotions, and toothpastes for all of us.  We also use up a lot of space and poundage packing supplements for Joe.  Since we are going there for him to do his job and it is one of the things that helps him do his job well, it makes sense!  One way I save space and poundage is by taking things like bars and packets of shakes out of their boxes and packing them in big ziploc bags.  It also protects the other luggage in case one of the packets gets a hole in it.  As far as medicines, again many could be brought, but I find it easier to just have my own supply of things rather than go to the pharmacy once someone gets sick.  Plus, once again, I like to use some more natural products that are often not found in Europe.

TOILETRIES
• ____kids’ toothbrushes and toothpaste
• ____toothpaste
• ____deodorant
• ____hair things
• ____face wash and moisturizer
• ____soaps
• ____lotion and lotion bars
• ____contacts/case/solutions/glasses
• ____sunscreen
• ____make-up bag
• ____vitamins and supplements
o Clif Bars
o Myoplex Bars
o Myoplex Shakes
o Muscle Armor
o L-Glutamine
o Athlete’s Defense
o Women’s Multis
o Kids’ Multis
o Infant Drops
o Vitamin D
o Essential Fatty Acids
o Vitamin C (Swallow and chewable)
o Probiotics (adult and child)
• ____first aid kit
o Tylenol (adult, child, infant) and Boiron Oscillococcinum (adult and child)
o Boiron Cold Medicine (adult and child)
o Band-aids
o Antibiotic Ointment
o Medicinal teas
o Boiron Cough Drops and Syrup
o Ibuprofen
o Natural Chest Rub
o Pepto Bismal
o Saline Nasal Spray and Drops
o Thermometer
o Hydrocortisone Cream

The kitchen area is one where I have cut down dramatically as we have traveled over the years.  We used to bring lots of food and cooking supplies, but we have learned to live without some of our favorites and I found ways to make substitutions that were easier than bringing lots of supplies.  For example, I take a small bottle of molasses so I can make my own brown sugar, instead of spending what I feel like it way too much money for what they charge for brown sugar over in Europe!  I also take maple flavoring to make our own maple syrup.  I take an assortment of the most used spices and tend to do without other ones that only one or two recipes call for.  I have also learned to just make most things from scratch (like pancakes, cakes, brownies, cookies, mashed potatoes, popcorn, etc.) so that we never bring any sort of mixes, boxes or packets.

KITCHEN
• ____water bottles and water bottle tablets
• ____kids’ bowls, spoons, cups, plastic bibs
• ____measuring cups and spoons
• ____Ziploc Bags
• ____parchment and wax paper
• ____apple slicer
• ____spices/ packets
o Chili powder
o Taco seasoning
o Oregano
o Basil
o Paprika
o Garlic Powder
o Garlic Salt
o Onion Powder
o Lawry’s Seasoning Salt
o Maple Flavoring
o Molasses
• ____food
o Skippy Natural Peanut Butter

The electronics portion of our packing list is a part where many things are kept to use over and over again.  We have a collection of European power strips and converters/adapters.  We bought a European sound machine so as to not use one of our converters for that.  We bring our Apple TV, Slingcatcher, and DVD player every year as well.  Sometimes the team will provide a DVD player, but if they don’t we can use our portable on our television.  For the Wii, we purchased a different cord that could be used with a converter in Europe since it came with one that did not have the right voltage use for overseas.  We have all the subsequent cables that we need for hooking up all these devices as well.  We also always bring over a flashlight or two for those times when a circuit breaker blows or we lose electricity.  Anyone who has lived in Europe knows that can happen more than you would like in some cities.

ELECTRONICS
• ____cell phones, cords, chargers
• ____iPod
• ____Leapster
• ____cameras, cords, chargers
• ____computers, chargers
• ____printer
• ____printer cartridges
• ____hard drive
• ____Sling Catcher
• ____Apple TV
• ____Wii
• ____DVD Player and DVDs, cords
• ____Vonage and European phone
• ____European sound machine
• ____flashlight
• ____converters/adapters

And lastly we have the HUGE miscellaneous category.  This covers a whole host of areas.  We now need to bring school books and materials for Abby.  We get a supply list before the year so I can see what types of things she will need and I can decide what we may be able to find overseas and what we might need to bring.  We also bring lots of books, although our Kindle has cut down on that area in a big way.  For the most part, we try to stay away from hard covers and pack paperbacks when we can.  But things like Bibles and a hymnal can take up a good amount of weight!  I pack a few special things for holidays while we will be overseas, like our advent calendar for Christmas or balloons for birthdays.  And then I also try to have pictures printed out before we go so we can either buy some frames while there or use light plastic ones that I have saved from years past.  And a few of my necessary items are a small tool kit, sewing kit, stain stick and re-usable dryer sheets!

MISC
• ____Exercise Equipment (stability ball, resistance bands, foam roller, ankle bands, tae bo bands, jump rope, TP massage)
• ____books (kids and adult)
o Bibles
o Hymnal
o Sunday School Materials
• ____School Materials
o Textbooks
o Workbooks
o Manipulatives
o Handwriting Paper
o Notebooks
o Pencils, Crayons, Construction Paper, Scissors, Glue Sticks, Rulers, Paints
• ____tool kit
• ____stain stick and re-usable dryer sheets
• ____allowance money
• ____holiday items (advent calendar, Christmas decorations, Easter eggs, birthday party items, gift bags, etc.)
• ____sewing kit
• ____picture frames and prints

This still leaves us to buy quite a few things once we get overseas.  Often the team will provide things like sheets, towels, blankets and cooking supplies.  But we may have to fill in on these areas. Almost every year we buy fans (we like our noise when we sleep!), a hairdryer, a hand mixer and other bigger items. We also buy a few bigger things for the kids. This year, Abby and Elijah each got a small desk, plus we got at various times a cash register, baby stroller, basketball hoop, basketballs, hula hoop, soccer ball, coloring books, etc. Since we have a budget category for these things, we feel ok about leaving them behind if we need to.

TO BUY IN EUROPE:
• ____towels, bathrobes
• ____sheets, comforters
• ____hair dryer
• ____hair brushes and combs
• ____hand mixer
• ____additional pots, pans or baking dishes
• ____kitchen towels, hot pads, sponges, cloths
• ____fans
• ____Swiffer stick and other cleaning supplies
• ____plastic bins and containers
• ____toys

So that is the basics of our packing for coming abroad.  Each time I do it, it gets easier and I simplify even more!