Packing up and leave !?

That is a very pertinent question. I have been thinking about this too, if I ever do move permanently, and I have a strategy which I am sharing.

We have companies which alllow self storage. I would separate my belongings into 3 categories : 1. Must take to Mauritius, 2. perhaps take depending on factors, and 3. dispose off in my current country. The first 2 categories stay in storage till I have got myself a bit settled in Mauritius,rented or bought a residence, and decided what I need to bring in -- things I cannot get in Mauritus at decent price or quality. I would then arrange for a container shipment only for those things as a must have. Sometimes it make sense to sell locally and buy in a new place anyway.

My other concern would be  -- should I try to bring my used car to Mauritius seeing the prices of cars is quite high?

What do you think?

@Tookays you make some great points. It is important to understand what you can buy in the destination country and at what type of price. Moving to Dubai we only took 3 suit cases each. In Dubai you can shop on Amazon and at IKEA to have the items delivered and assembled on the same day. This also at competitive prices. When I looked at the cost of doing the same in Mauritius I decided to move one 20 foot container of house contents.

I went through my whole house & picked out what I needed & what I could not bare to leave (sentimental things). I sold a few items. I gave away things to various worthy charities. I gave things to friends. Then I hired a door to door international moving company to pack & collect it from Australia & deliver it to Mauritius. If you hire a moving company, work out how much space you need - then if you have extra space buy the things you may not get here cheaper or at all. If you have too little space - sadly you need to decide what else you can leave behind. If you hire an good international moving company, they have divisions that move pets, cars & anything. I guess you need to work out whether the cost of moving all your stuff is worth it. If they are sentimental things, you cannot put a price on that.

@oshudofsky I have done all of the above.  Owing to the amount of stuff that I have (grand piano, etc), I only use the container approach.  The advantage of shipping everything is that someone else can pack for you and you will not miss anything that you are used to.  The disadvantage is that you may ship items that would be useless in Mauritius.  Cost-wise it does not make much of a difference for me as packing and shipping a specialty item individually is very expensive and shipping in a container gets cheaper with the more stuff that you can pack in. Re: old car shipment - in Mauritius, driving is on the left.  I believe that driving is on the right in Netherlands.... Bringing your car from Netherlands would be more of a hassle.  Given that Mauritius is a small country, you may not need an SUV / sedan but would rather go for a very small economical car.  Small cars are rather cheap new - and cheaper second hand.  Hope that this helps.

@Tookays Indeed very good thoughts. These help me also, thank you very much. As for shipping things, well I live in the Netherlands zo I think it will be too costly to let things move all the way into the Indian Ocean? Actually I thought that almost any basic household things are available in Port Louis?

@prospectorland thank you for your help. Like I wrote to Tookays, I am wondering how much it will cost to ship a container full of stuff.

My car is already 20 years old (Mitsubishi Colt ) so I think I will leave her to rest or my daughter might adopt her. I first will use public transportation and if I am used to the driving on the left issue, see if I will buy a small economic car.

Also I was planning to rent a more or less furnished house? I see some good options on the l'expressproperty website. I did not do research yet of items that are necessary but cannot be bought on the island. What items cannot be bought there then, even not in the capital? Can you order on line at all ?

@oshudofsky , ordering items online is not as easy in Mauritius as in more developed countries.  The problem is not with the ordering - but with the delivery part.  You will have to be very careful to track and receive the order.  It is very easy for the order to be misplaced or stolen.  Even the locals rarely order online because of the stress of receiving the order.  It's so much easier to go and buy in the store.  Basic stuff is available but selection is limited.  For example, there will be only one selection of wine glasses rather than at least 2 for red / white.  Renting a furnished house - like on booking.com is a good way to see how basic typically is.  Living a simple life in Mauritius is very easy and attractive.  Using public transportation, like any public infrastructure, can be challenging - i.e. subject to safety concerns (see other threads), delays, etc... but with patience, caution, and common sense, you can live with those.  Re: shipping - I typically contact a shipping logistics company as there are usually price / delivery date tradeoffs.  Hope that this helps.

@prospectorland thank you again for the useful information. Haha simple household articles will be fine with me, so there I probably will not have any problem. I would for example like to bring my musc CDs and buy a CD player, and a simple coffee maker f.e. Do that sort of things exist for a reasonable price?

Concerning public transport: do you say that the local (mini)busses are not safe to travel on using common sense? I found a kind of schedule for the busses, but the times and routes that are on there are not reliable then? How about buying a moped?

I know it is kind of a different subject, but how do you and other expats experience the fact that is rather far away from everything? I really want to pick up my scuba diving a lot more next year when I am retiring but if I want to go and try different diving sites besides those of Mauritius, I have to spend a bit of money to travel f.e. to the Maledives or even across the island to say Zanzibar. Do expats, once relocated to the island, not travel abroad anymore?

@oshudofsky , re: Concerning public transport: do you say that the local (mini)busses are not safe to travel on using common sense - I think that there is a forum thread concerning "security" or the like.  I would recommend reading the stories on that forum to determine your level of comfort.  On a personal level, I don't have any issues about taking public transportation but I would not allow my wife and kids to travel alone mainly because of their lack of familiarity with the island.  That's probably because I was born on the island and I know the nooks and crannies.  I would suggest going with a local who you can trust the first time so that you are familiar with the route before you go on your own.  That's what I mean "using common sense". Re:  travel patterns of expats - although I was born in Mauritius, I consider myself an expat because I will definitely stay in more than 1 country even during retirement.  I have family all over the world and my hope is that Mauritius would be a magnet for my kids and their future families would love to spend holidays at.  I think that this is a personal choice based on means and desires.  However I would like to validate this thought with more expats at a future expat.com event.  Carpe diem...

In my case when I moved here I came with a small 10kg suitcase and my backpack.

The luggage included a lot of my engineering equipment too.

Just need to know how to live light. I tend to avoid carrying too many clothes because you can usually always buy them. All that's important in my case was my computer, a few clothes, one rain jacket and other electronics and of course all the paperwork.

The other thing is renting a well furnished house. I haven't had to buy any utensils ever since I moved.

Makes moving a whole lot more convenient when you can literally pack up in a few hours and move across the world

@zurtle that is so true indeed. I guess I will be leaving even some of my "across-the-world" memories in a box at one of my daughters attics.

Question: may I ask you where did you live elsewhere? Because I am still looking for other retirement options too as I only will know if I like Mauritius enough to settle, upcoming May (1e visit).  I found a whole different country in SE Asia with very easy entry requirements

@oshudofsky

I'm not retired but if you're looking at SEA then Malaysia is a good choice.

Fairly well developed while still being affordable. I was there for 2 years.

Besides that I've spent some time in post soviet countries, it's a different world out there but can be fun depending on what you like.

@zurtle oh really former USSR. Must be indeed very different and not the most romantic country I guess?

But I am a woman and Maleisia is a moslim country . I also thought that it has expensive visa requirements?

@oshudofsky , I am into snorkeling and sailing not diving (too scared of the dark) and I tried the waters of the Philippines, Penang (small island in Malaysia), Taiwan (Kaohsuing, south of the island), Great Barrier Reef, Maui, Vancouver Island, Cancun (all the way down to Tulum), Puerto Vallarta, Galapagos Islands, and many other resort islands. There are many places that are safe for a single female but I would recommend going in a group as a matter of safety.  I have not taken the PADI certification but I thought that going diving requires a partner.....  I will take diving only if I know that I will have someone to go with .  Hope that this helps.

@oshudofsky

Even though it's technically a Muslim country. It's much safer than many western countries. Look up crime stats online.

Also they aren't as serious/extreme about their religion. I lived there as a non-Muslim and didn't even realize at times that I was in an Islamic country.

Post USSR countries can actually be pretty romantic. Very nice architecture and a lot of them are doing well now.

You should make a trip to Georgia.

Think of them being on the same path as the Baltic countries in EU (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)