It’s crunch time. We’re leaving in four days and we’re trying to pack, clean, and make our house and life ready for a year abroad. There’s lots of going through toys, and going through toys again. And deciding on what books I need and what books can stay (I will miss you, books). I’ve decided that using M-bags is a must. It allows us to pack more toys.
We’ve had lots of support on what to bring with us to Norway, cost differences in Norway, and how to pack for Norway (which seems like it’s basically preparing for a long and snowy Minnesota winter). But, there are all these little things that keep popping up that we need to make sure we get done.
If you’re leaving the country for a year, here are some of the things we had to be sure to do (or are still working on). Some are “yeah, well duh” and others maybe not.
*Absentee Voting Overseas—you need to go to the Federal Voting Assistance Program to start that process.
*Switching car insurance to “storage” and getting your car ready to sit for a year. (We’re still working on this one but it involves lots of cleaning, oil changes, and making sure rodents don’t make homes in our cars.
*Cancelling things. Comcast, Netflix, Hulu, YMCA memberships, IPSY Bags, and all those other fun services. I know we can use some of the streaming services in Norway, but to get US offerings we have to get a VPN and at this moment it’s just not worth it. (It might change when I need my Winchesters or when the Cubs make it to the World Series.)
*Getting a better phone carrier. I found out that Verizon does not play well overseas. It would cost a great deal to use our phones and even a chunk of change just to keep our lines. We switched to Sprint. Free texting overseas and it’s also less per month for unlimited text and data for our three lines. If you need to text me, I will actually be able to answer. Plus, we’ve had no problems in Macomb so far and so I think we’re sticking with Sprint.
*Getting a credit card that doesn’t have foreign transaction fees. Go Chase!
*Making sure your children have enough clothes for the winter and making sure everyone has a jacket and boots. We’ve done a bit of clothing shopping to make sure we’re prepared.
*Getting any maintenance medications so we have enough for the entire year. That was actually really easy through CMS—shocker in Illinois, I know—but we can’t have them mailed to Norway so we needed to be sure we were set.
We’ve been preparing our house for renters which is also loads of fun. I don’t know if our house has been so decluttered. But there’s also this weird feeling that we will always be forgetting something. And, we can’t come back for it and won’t have it with us. It’s difficult to prepare for the unexpected. The Norwegian Fulbright Office has been amazing. They are so helpful, have a great deal of information, and I don’t know how I would have made it through the pre-departure process so smoothly without their help and guidance.
The kids are spending lots of time with their friends, getting in the last playdates and Nerf gun fights before we leave. Hopefully, they will start writing letters and postcards. You can sign up for your own postcard or letter (or sign your kids up) through my Postcards from Norway form. It’s the easiest way for me to collect addresses for my year of Mail Love. If you’re a teacher and want to send some postcards/letters over for a class and have them respond, get in touch with me. I’m working on setting up some classroom exchanges.
As some of you know, when I travel I usually bring a “friend” with to help document my adventures. I will be traveling a great deal this year. Instead of a Pop figure, Jack has allowed his Nisse to travel with me. The Nisse is a bit of a trouble-maker, but he’s perfect for adventuring around Norway and wherever else we end up.
I’m looking forward to getting out of the US and away from some of the chaos that is occurring in my wonderful small town, but I will miss my friends dearly. (You know who you are.) I will be texting and writing letters and if you know how to find me via email I promise I’ll respond. Until then, we’ll be finishing up getting everything done and I’m available for porch sitting (which I might miss most of all) until Wednesday, August 1 when we began our next adventure.
Next post, from Oslo!