Houston, we have a flat! It’s spacious, it’s charming, it has the perfect location, but there’s one caveat, presently it only holds the guest mattress and some nice shelves we purchased second hand from an Italian couple. Alan’s excited, he’s making the case of moving there and I’m wholeheartedly refusing, I am too old to eat takeout on the floor for God knows how long. The thing about moving is, you tend to forget how inconveniently essential a humble stool is. Let’s not even get into the sofa, table, drawers and all the rest that make a house, well, a liveable space.
Currently, all those essentials (stool included) are placidly floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, tucked inside the container are the tables, chairs, and the meaningful items one collects with time; our paintings, our photos, my shoe collection and my husband’s speakers. Making the decision to relocate back to Mexico included making the decision of spending a HUUUGE amount of money to bring back all our stuff, dog bed included.
Are you planning to move to Mexico? Are you thinking of bringing together your current possessions or just put the essentials into 2 suitcases and be a free spirit? We decided to pack everything and bring it along, part of the reason was, it didn’t make financial sense to just bring “a couple” of boxes alongside, we quickly realised that with the CoVid crisis, and the shipping rates we would very quickly reach the same amount that a whole container did for us. We reckoned, coming from Asia, a good amount of the things we brought were not going to be available or would be extremely expensive if we tried to re purchase them back, finally, - I guess psychologically -, it felt more of a continuation of our live rather than a full stop if we brought alongside the rubbish bin.
After a couple of weeks in Mexico, and after visiting 20x Liverpool, Palacio de Hierro, Walmart, Costco, etc, I am happy to report we were not completely in the wrong, furniture in Mexico is pricey and if you’re looking for good quality items that might last several years you will need to spend a fair amount of money. Now for the container, some insight of what it entailed.
I hold a Mexican passport, which enabled me to avoid taxes coming here, we reached out to all the big relocation companies Crown Relocations, Asian Tigers and the like. The quote came pretty much at the same spiky rate. We then decided to look further and with our friends help found a company that was slightly better priced and knew Mexican “Aduanas” (they have a very bad reputation on making life hard for whomever comes here).
Some of the basics our relocation company gave us, that we tried to follow thoroughly in order to avoid any delay or conflict on our shipping:
Do not, I repeat, do not bring anything new on the container. Make sure things look used and if you happen to have something new make sure it doesn’t have a price tag nor a sticker.
Electronics must be out of their original packaging and look used. I suggest that when you do your packing list you add the serial code of anything coming with you.
No edibles are allowed in the container (this was a huge bummer since I was planning to pack Szechuan pepper and hotpot mix for generations to come). No spices, and obviously no plants.
If you, like me, have a nice alcohol collection, better start drinking now (by the looks of 2021 I’m sure this won’t be a challenge) because Mexicans want you to drink tequila and mezcal and leave your foreign liquors back where they came from.
The relocation agent gave us a comprehensive list, make sure to mark things properly you will use it when you arrive in Mexico, this will also be used for the insurance calculator.
Patience is key, we have been contacted by the relocation agency at least once on a daily basis for random documents, from a proof of address (newsflash, I just moved to Mexico I don’t have a proof of address), to, a letter from the Mexican consulate in our city of origin to acknowledge we lived there for x amount of years.
Be aware as well that your furniture will not arrive with you, in our case, a whole crew of movers arrived in our Hong Kong flat one week before our departure and without any ado put all our belongings in boxes. I can only imagine my horrified expression when I saw how they took my paintings and shoved them inside a box. Same was for my china, in less than 6 hours, they collected everything and left behind a lonely sofa that didn't make the cut. We ended up spending the last couple of days in a hotel because the house was empty, as in, bare walls empty.
It’s been 1 month since we left, and the relocation agency gives us updates of the floating rubbish bin, documents were signed and re-signed. We were also strongly encouraged to purchase an insurance, that is 3% of the total amount of the value you put on your container…. I will keep you updated of when it all arrives and the joy of unpacking, this time, hopefully, for a very long time.
What: If you have decided to bring a container to Mexico read our comprehensive moving guide.
When: The process will last around 3 weeks coming from North America to 3 months coming from Asia. Remember time your move well!
Additional Info: Customs in Mexico are tricky, get a relocation agent, also, consider all the hidden costs of the relocation!
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