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Hello All,
Moving has not been fun at all. You really appreciate your family, friends, pets. etc so much more and really develop a 'I don't care about this stupid stuff that I have collected' attitude towards everything that you have to carry or pack or box or throw or heave into a crate or truck. Just my opinion of course. 😉
I am currently on island with the shirt on my back and the clothes in my suitcase. We started this move in Kansas City, MO. I couldn't believe how much stuff I had! Mostly, how much I don't need. I should have started sooner giving things to charity, but I guess I had no idea how much I had to give. I ended up packing and bringing a lot of stuff that I will have to give to charity here. There just won't be room for it in my new home. We filled a 20' container. We had a two hour window to load or they charged $50 per hour so we made it just in time. Crowley did our household goods shipping and brought the crate to our front door. It went by train to port in FL and then by ship to STT. It arrived last night, however we are waiting customs to clear it. We are hoping to have it delivered to our home, but we will see. More on that after we unload it.
We drove from KC to Mississippi to visit family and drop off a U-Haul full of stuff for storage. I assume it will be more stuff I give to charity later. We intended to go to New Orleans for a one night stay and leave the kids at family for a one last night dinner and evening for just my husband and I, but that didn't happen. Unfortunately, life happens or rather death and a close family member died of cancer. He was given two months to live, but that is never a guarantee... We had visited him a month earlier so we were thankful for that time. We were able to attend the funeral and see family and were thankful for that as well.
We then drove from Mississippi to Fort Lauderdale, FL to ship our truck. We used Lee at Managed Freight and he has been very helpful so far. I expect he will continue to be helpful, but we are in limbo currently. Our truck hasn't shipped yet since we had to leave it to clear customs and they ship once a week. Ford has the lien on our truck since we financed with them and getting permission from them to ship the truck has been horrible. We started the process in June and a day before we dropped the truck off, there was still more paperwork to do. Things were being FedEx'd overnight and all kinds of stress on us. Once at the shipping yard, everything took all of five minutes to take care of. We had rented a vehicle for the rest of the day and night and took an early morning flight to STT via SJU. Barely made our connecting flight in SJU. Running with a baby and two kids in tow was quite an adventure. We actually got to STT early and had a delicious pizza from Pizza Amore for lunch. We then dropped everything and sat and watched t.v. for the rest of the day. That was last Friday.
My husband has been on STT for the last three months and had already rented an apartment, bought a couch, rented a t.v. had a rental vehicle and some food in the fridge for us when we arrived. He really did a good job of getting things together from his end.
Saturday we shopped at Cost-U-Less, Home Depot, drove around the island and ate at Hard Rock Cafe. We didn't have much energy for anything else. The kids got to go swimming in the pool, but we didn't feel up to it.
Sunday, we went to Magen's Bay. Beautiful and had a great time. Slathered the kids and ourselves in sunblock and no one got burned. Yea!!!
Monday morning and Chris had to go to work. I cleaned the house and we met him for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Havensight. Actually run by Asians. Sorry, but I was surprised since I didn't really expect any Asians being here. I being part Asian myself, expected to stand out a bit. 😉 I actually love standing out in a crowd. If anyone was at the airport on Friday and saw a woman wearing a leopard print cowboy hat...that was me. I love my cat prints - faux of course - and being from the midwest, I love cowboy hats and boots. The boots were too hot to wear so I wore non matching tennis shoes. They didn't fit in the overcrowded suitcase so they got worn. I am sure people were laughing or talking about me, but hey making people laugh is never a bad thing! 😉
Tonight I am on a laptop with dial up internet - did I mention that my husband works for an internet provider, but I am stuck with dial up?!? Hopefully I will get DSL soon.
If anyone wants to know what you need to ship a vehicle especially one with a lien from Ford than email me! I will write more about our moving in experience when that happens. Lets just hope that something arrives unbroken! Same with our vehicle. I would hope that it arrives intact. Good luck to all of you starting your packing and moving. I hope to soon have a house unpacked.
Also, I drove for the first time today on STT. To tell the truth, it is easier than I had imagined. I am parked on the street since I still have the driveway to master. Trust me, it is difficult. It involves reverse, getting up speed and turning at the right moment to avoid truck hitting concrete or going off a cliff. I might park on the street for a while... Driving on the left is easier to do than sitting on the passenger side staring down the cliffs. I really enjoyed driving and watching out for potholes and crazy drivers. I felt a little more freedom from it. Being stuck at home isn't much fun. Well, to wrap this up. The hardest part of our move was the preparation. Visiting here twice before the move was key and doing my research on living here was also important to not 'freaking out' once on island. I highly suggest the pre move visit and reading the posts on this site daily. I still have school enrollment to look forward to this week and unloading - so more to come. Adios amigos. See you at the next get together!
Teresa
Posted : August 24, 2004 2:47 am
YAY! You made it!!
I am so happy for you to finally be down here -- can't wait to have you guys over to our part of the territory to have dinner and finally meet in person.
How did you manage to write up and post such a great recap so quickly?? Boy, does this put me to shame for still working on mine after three months on island. *blush*
More from me when it's not so late -- sleep well and tell the Chris and the kids that Kelly and I say hey!
HC
Posted : August 24, 2004 3:14 am
I understand your concern with "stuff". I sold and gave away a lot before I moved. It was difficult parting with some of the furniture, but it helped finance my move and it feels good not to be weighted down anymore.
I didn't have my truck for a week and a half when I arrived and it was a bummer. Just be patient. Speaking of which, I see the word "stress" in your post. We don't do stress here-not most of us. Sounds like you might need to slow down some.
Yes, there are Asians here and people from all over the world. The whole history of the Caribbean is one of immigration.
Welcome!
Posted : August 24, 2004 11:03 pm
Hello Teresa,
Welcome!! I am sure Chris is thrilled to have you guys on island and that you guys are thrilled to finally be there!! All the best with unpacking and settling in!! I look forward to reading more on your adventures!
--Islander
Posted : August 25, 2004 1:00 am
Congratulation on getting your move behind you. Can I ask what you end up paying for shipping the 20' container? Just curious. What did you pack you now feel you could do without? You stored a U haul full of stuff, do you think you will ever look back and really move the rest to the island knowing what you know now?
Thanks
Iris
Posted : August 25, 2004 1:09 pm
Topic starter
Thanks everyone. We have completed a major ordeal. Just getting here. Now minor details like unpacking inbetween trips to the beach are nothing. 😉 More to come!
Hey HipCrip!!!
I am on internet periodically when dial up allows me to be. We should have DSL soon and I will be a much happier. I am using my husband's old laptop which has quite a few problems. My screen has lines thru it and the mouse buttons don't work. So I learned to Tab Tab Tab and Enter. AUGH. 😉 You had good reason to get out your moving story late. I am sitting at home with three kids and nothing to do until our stuff arrives, which God willing will be tomorrow. More on that later. The kids and family say hi back. Well, the baby just says, "Aa". Hope to see you or rather meet you soon.
Iris,
Oh I don't envy you to be packing and preparing. I would say that I definitely brought too much. I (even with research) brought jackets, sweatshirts, heavy shirts... I brought a coffee maker and really don't want any coffee. We will probably use it once at Christmas, of course with a bit of Bailey's or something. Just to remind us of the good ole days in freezing cold weather... The stuff we put in storage will eventually go to someone else. I will save a few things. Looking back, I just wish I had given or attempted to sell more things. Just pack what you actually use, nothing that you have in a box to use 'someday'. So much excess. I probably would have given away everything if I had it to do over again. Good luck with everything. I will let you know how everything turned out with the moving company.
Teresa
Posted : August 26, 2004 2:42 am
Congrats Teresa and family,
As a family of seven we can imagine what an ordeal you just went thru. We are very happy for you and consider you BLESSED!!! You made it!! The packing, boxing, taping and loading are in the past. Now for the unpacking, unboxing, and unloading!!!!
Jeff is planning a pre-move visit in the first week of October during the business conference at USVI. Thanks for the packing tips. From our angle you are light years ahead in the process... much success, and continue to enjoy the adventure....
Blessings.....
The Fletchers
Posted : August 26, 2004 6:13 am
Teresa wrote:
.. So I learned to Tab Tab Tab and Enter. AUGH. 😉
Teresa: That is MY school of computing!! ;-O Especially the yelling part..Ha, ha!!
.
" I would say that I definitely brought too much. I (even with research)
brought jackets, sweatshirts, heavy shirts... I brought a coffee maker and really don't want any coffee.... The stuff we put in storage will eventually go to someone else. I will save a few things. Looking back, I just wish I had given or attempted to sell more things."
Hey, here's an idea! There are plenty of "leaving island" sales, maybe you could have a "reaching island" sale! You'd catch the reader's eye in the Island Trader, anyway. Good luck and say "cootchie-cootchie" to the baby!
Posted : August 26, 2004 8:37 pm
Hello Teresa- I'm curious as to how the school enrollment process went for you. Are you enrolling your children in public or private school? What are the ages of your children? Thanks in advance for your info!
Katie
Posted : August 31, 2004 3:02 pm
Topic starter
Katie,
Sorry to be so slow in replying. I used to be on the board everyday, three times a day. I am missing DSL. Anyway, I have decided to homeschool my kids this first year here. Not because I didn't like the schools. I liked All Saints school, Antilles, and public schools for elementary children. I was actually going to go enroll them in Kindergarten and 1st grade, but we had issues with our shipping and other chaotic things like finding groceries and our packed clothes. Anyway, my kids have had some anxiety from moving here and are still in 'culture' shock if you will. They don't understand why they can't let the water run in the sink while they brush their teeth let alone start a new school with new rules. Also, to put them in private school, they have to pass some testing which seemed to be a little harder than the level they were in with their previous school. For my Kindergartner the private schools wanted to know if she had been in junior kindergarten or preschool, and she has been in neither. Long story short - until we all become better acquainted with our new home - we are going to homeschool. I have contacted a homeschool 'group' in hopes that I will have support. They don't get together until after hurricane season so I don't expect news too soon. Feel free to email me if you have more specifc questions about my experiences. Although I check my email about as often as I get on the board. 😉
Teresa
Posted : September 1, 2004 3:29 am
Teresa, Hey my husband and I are looking at moving to the island. We would like to ride to florida on our motorcycles and then ship them, similar to what you did with your truck. Can you give me any info on where to find out how much it costs, and what paper work would need to be done? I truly appreciate any helpful information you can give me. Thank you! Jenna
jennadances@sisna.com
Posted : September 1, 2004 3:59 am
Good morning and thank you very much for your reply Teresa! We will be arriving to STT in 7 weeks and I will eventually have to enroll my 4 year old son into public kindergarden. I am also very interested to see how the homeschooling works for you. I will contact you via email after we arrive to get the scoop. Thanks again!
Katie
Posted : September 1, 2004 11:52 am
Topic starter
Hello Jenna,
We called Lee at Managed Freight and he handled and is handling just about everything. He used Tropical to ship it, but then he also takes care of picking up the truck and paperwork and registering the vehicle, etc. Until we get the call to pick it up or I don't know if he brings it to us. Our truck is here on island, but Lee called and is getting it registered as we speak. I don't know the grand total of cost just yet. Honestly my husband handled the whole truck moving thing, so maybe I should just stop and have him answer you. 😉
What I do know is that it can be a huge hassle unless you do your homework and get all the paperwork to the shipping company. If you own your motorcycles outright, than you need three notorized copies of your title. These will accompany the motorcycles while being shipped. If you have a lien on your vehicle or motorcycles, you need three notorized copies of permission letters from your lien holder. (we found this out about two days before shipping that we needed THREE copies - they got fed-ex'd overnight) Now what goes into getting those permission letters varies by lien holder. We begged pleaded and pulled our hair out to get Ford Credit to give us permission only to find out that they are the 'easy' ones! If it is a bank that doesn't have offices on island than you might not get permission. Depends on your relationship with the lien holder.
All I know is that you have to make 1,000 phone calls and a lot of repetition of words to get the info you need to ship. You have to follow the shipping companies rules, customs rules, and your lien holders rules. And you need the money to do all this. Plus once on island you will be paying more taxes, fees, etc. We actually had a situation where our lien holder wanted a certain marine insurance on the vehicle. The insurance company wanted to see the truck in person before issuing it. They were willing to give us the marine insurance at the dock, but our lien holder wanted it before they would give the permission letter. We had to get a letter that we were going to get the marine insurance to make Ford Credit happy. Ford Credit also wanted to have proof of income on island which Chris had, but it had been dated in May when he started. Ford Credit wanted it dated within 30 days that he still is employed. And a paycheck stub does not count apparantly.
Long story coming to an end - call Lee to get started and be prepared as much as possible and have the funds to pay upfront. The shipping company had to be paid in full before we even arrived to ship the truck. I don't know the exact cost of the whole thing from beginning to end - maybe a couple of thousand dollars? I really need Island Chris to answer this...
And that is just what I know about the situation. 😉
Teresa
Post Edited (09-01-04 08:17)
Posted : September 1, 2004 1:16 pm
