Whether you're a veteran expat or moving abroad for the first time, your travel itinerary is something you plan carefully, scrutinizing every detail. If you are moving soon and you are a little overwhelmed with all that a move entails, our partner Sanelo walks you through the steps of a successful removal.
You want an experienced international moving company who can do the same for your belongings to take the anxiety out of your big move. Sanelo is an international moving company with more than 100 years of experience in coordinating every step of the journey of your belongings, from planning to packing and from shipping to delivery. Here's our insider perspective on each of those steps.
Pre-Removal Survey of your Household Goods
Before your removal (that's what we call “moving out”), you need to consult with experts who know how to pack your house for an international trip.
The process starts with careful measurement of all of your household belongings so your moving company can provide you with an estimate. A box of books has different needs for international travel compared to a couch or a television. You can't simply buckle up your favorite family heirloom in the passenger seat of your moving truck like you can with a local move!
Sanelo uses cutting-edge, AI-powered, virtual solutions to scan every belonging, room by room, for an accurate estimate. Then, we provide you with a visual inventory for review and approval.
A visual inventory provides peace of mind beyond what a written list can do. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words! This cuts out the overwhelming feeling of checking that all of your stuff has been captured in your moving estimate. You can simply walk from room-to-room to confirm the visual inventory caught everything.
It also means your moving team arrives on moving day with advanced knowledge of everything that needs to be transported - even the random stuff in the cabinet beneath your kitchen sink!
Your movers will have a plan for it all, including bringing the right packing materials. They'll also know to expect the unexpected so they can help you make a smooth transition.
Tracking Your Packing
Making an international move isn't as simple as loading a moving truck with boxes. Every item needs to remain safe across multiple methods of transportation. That includes crossing one or more international borders.
At Sanelo, a dedicated move coordinator walks you through every step your belongings will take on their journey. Your coordinator will provide you with a tracking number so you can check on the progress of their belongings at any time, day or night, whether they're traveling by land, sea, or air.
When you travel internationally, you need to be able to identify your bags at customs and explain what's in them - including being responsible if you have a piece of fruit you forgot to throw out before your international flight.
Your belongings go through the same process when they cross international borders. This can seem overwhelming, especially for a first time expat. Every country has different requirements on what can be imported!
Sanelo knows exactly what's allowed to travel into your new home country and how to document it. This starts with your visual inventory and your removal. Then, we take care of all of the coordination and clearances for your belongings, including budgeting for any required fees as part of your initial estimate.
Freight and Storage
When you touch down in your new country, you don't walk off the airplane right to your front door. You take a taxi or a bus, or even a long train ride. You might even coordinate hotel rooms or short-term rentals to help you make your way to your new home.
The same is true for your belongings. Their journey doesn't end at a shipyard or airport. Your stuff has to book its own set of accommodations on either side of its journey. An experienced mover will handle all of that for you. The only thing you should have to worry about is being home to greet your movers when they arrive.
At Sanelo, when your belongings are first loaded onto a shipping container, a “seal” is placed on the door of the container with a unique number. This seal number from your previous home will be the same seal number when your items reach their final destination. This eases any worry about anyone or anything going in or out of your container while it is in transit.
Your belongings and their container will travel to your new country, be stored until you're ready for them to be delivered, transported over land to a facility near you, and then loaded onto the truck that will bring them to your door. You can track it at every step.
Delivery & Unpacking
It is finally the day! Your own international itinerary is complete and you're in your new home, ready to be reunited with all of your favorite things!
With an international moving company like Sanelo, you already know what to expect. You've checked your tracking number and worked with your move coordinator to pick the right day for your belongings to arrive. When you greet your moving team, you check the seal number and review your inventory list as movers bring each box into your new home.
Finally, everything is carefully unpacked and all packing materials are taken away by your moving team. While this may seem like a small thing, hauling away the mess in a new location where garbage and recycling services are still unfamiliar can be extremely valuable as you're getting settled!
The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Sanelo will help you with that first step, and all the others, to get your belongings moved and help get you settled into your new home.
