Organize your move to Jordan

Hi
Indeed moving is a challenging task but less challenging if planned much earlier before the moving date.
What to pack and what not to pack depends on your lifestyle.
Baby food for different age group since 4-6 months are quite rare and you can find them only in pharmacies.
If someone plans to ship everything using a container then it maybe cheaper but I can't really comment on this as I shipped only a few boxes couple of months back.
If you are coming from the UK, I would recommend to bring clothes as they are very expensive here, sometimes triple in price. There are many high streets shops in Amman like Debenhams, Gap, Next etc.
Bringing the car or not, is subject to your liking but from what I heard it is quite expensive due to the taxes one has to pay. Safer option would be to settle in first and then maybe get a care and rely on taxis around the town.

I hope somewhat these info will be helpful while moving to this beautiful country full of characters and lovely people.

Hi LadyInEssex!

Thanks a lot for your contribution

Armand

Thank you everyone - this has been most useful! I am moving myself and I agree with SherriO: homewares for some reason are ugly, ugly, ugly! I was also wondering if I can get boxes shipped door-to-door or do I have to go to customs and pick them up myself? I have labelled them well and I hope there are no restricted items inside. I wonder if air freight is a possibility for some items?
Let me know if you have any advice.

Jordan is an open country, you will find every thing (alternatives)in Jordan.For special things, you can order them from the internet. Or, some pharamcy can order them for you.

Gosh, I have been trying to decide what to bring and what not to bring.  I know I'll take my clothes and shoes, and I wanted to bring some bath and bed linens.  I also had some kitchen things I wanted to bring that I have heard are fairly substandard in Jordan.  After seeing the yarn post, I'm also considering yarn-- but then I am back to problems with space!

How you are going to bring all your goodies?

Well, that's the problem.  We're both coming off grad assistantships.. so there isn't really any money to move.  It will probably be airline baggage.  That's why I am looking at what I can cut out.  My husband has decided he thinks we shouldn't bring *anything* but clothes.  He doesn't want to deal with extra baggage.  We'll be going separately since he is going to go job hunting.

Hi Julie,

Here are some answers to your questions according to my experience:

1- What would you bring and what would you leave behind?

( The Globe is a vastness to learn )

I appreciate even the simple things I can find on every corner in my home country, and would bring them along. I would bring all my technical stuff and spare parts... Most computers are sold without operating system. A original operating system is as expensive as abroad, somehow attuned to computers sold solely within the middle east, I was told. Foreign advanced software installation CD's such as the ones found with my camera or music device, are not supported by this processor, my new laptop keeps telling me... High quality Cams need fast and qualitative memory cards which can not be found here due to the higher price and poor demand, I was told. Decorative or protective Accessories for cameras, batteries, memory cards etc.. I could not find. Camera bags for Cams bigger than compact I could not find. Should I love my pet and it needs/loves premium (or special) food, I would bring enough food if possible. Frozen or premium food for fish/or depending on the pet, I could not find. Frozen food is not being sent by producers abroad due to the climate, I was told via     e-mail. I would bring lots of less expensive quality pens...
Anything  being sent from abroad via logistic company (even if it is just a single memory card not bigger than a 1 euro coin)  lands within the customs. It is a big challenge finding that place (somewhere in the desert) to finally getting the shipment. I recommend a local to deal with it and to get there early, as patience is needed.

2- Is it a good idea to bring furniture or domestic appliances?

In case I love my Furnitures and Kitchen stuff, I would. In my opinion one needs a certain feeling for things when purchasing. Well known brands are rare, instead less known brands. Whenever well known brands are found, they are as expensive as abroad according to my experience, but income is less than abroad, unless one earns more!

3- Any foodstuffs that are banned in Jordan? \

No idea what is banned in the World except of having a different life style ( well known and appreciated hobbies Simply a  different calm life...

The foods I miss here:
- Gouda ( only one kind in markets, very expensive...) Special shops can be found, but even more expensive...
- Mozzarella ( The one in Supermarkets has nothing at all in common with the real one...
- Edam in my opinion is sold as Gouda or similar, don't know, maybe my taste is different
- Decent Spaghetti for decent prices in comparison to abroad...
- Decent canned food/vegetables...
- Certain soups
- My beloved 100% pure all kind of apples ...   
- All kinds of fresh (organic) milk and potato puree.
  I can as well simply smash potatoes! Right...       
- Organic food..
- A variety of puddings and sweet milk and yoghurt products.
- Cheese cake. The one here is known as Blueberry cake!   
- Etc... 
Although the countries climate is best for agriculture, fresh fruits and vegetables are not cheap! Probably due to a lack of water... Certain tents sell fruits and vegetables for reasonable prices.

4- Is it better to bring a car or to buy one once settled in Jordan?

- Am I happy with my car, I would bring it along if possible.

5- Any advice for the ones who are moving to Jordan?

I need to be fully independent, alone is boring unless I am busy enough or want to be alone, trust what I already see, not what could or will be...
After all, the Universe is insatiable...

Update:
I just read a post and agree totally regarding clothes from the UK. Such fine quality, styles, etc... bring.. bring.... bring...
Quality clothes are expensive like abroad, styles/colours are limited. Have not heard here of one of the less expensive well known clothing companies from abroad.

vintageviolet wrote:

Well, that's the problem.  We're both coming off grad assistantships.. so there isn't really any money to move.  It will probably be airline baggage.  That's why I am looking at what I can cut out.  My husband has decided he thinks we shouldn't bring *anything* but clothes.  He doesn't want to deal with extra baggage.  We'll be going separately since he is going to go job hunting.

Air cargo is the most expensive way to bring your stuff and you are very limited what you can bring.
I can imagine when the time is come, that you are going to be crazy with your hands in your hair what you should bring with you and what not. And the all other things left behind or to sell (option?)

The cheapest way is by shipping, specially when you organize everything by yourself. Even when you don't need a 20 ft container you can use a smaller one (10 ft) or you can share it with some one else.
You have to search this out and maybe is this the best way for you.
And something else: every Jordanian has the right to enter his belongings once in a lifetime tax free.

In my case we had a 20 ft container and we regret that we didn't buy much things in our homecountry, things you can't find it here or very expensive.

Yeah-- by boat is the way to go if you have the money.  We were looking at LCL since we can't afford a 20ft container by anyone's estimate (I checked with 11 companies so far) and even LCL was pricey-- over $1000 plus THC and all the other fees, then when we checked on the tax-free thing for Jordanians they only exempted a few hundred JD and the rest was open for up to 70% duty depending on what it was and its assessed value.  So I was looking at 100 cu ft including the pallet and packing it myself. 

I am in the process of selling things off one by one now   I've been working on that since May.  But basically, we've got to keep it under $1000 USD, and my husband isn't sure we can even afford that.  I say we can   I say I want my blankets

Primadonna wrote:

Air cargo is the most expensive way to bring your stuff and you are very limited what you can bring.
I can imagine when the time is come, that you are going to be crazy with your hands in your hair what you should bring with you and what not. And the all other things left behind or to sell (option?)

The cheapest way is by shipping, specially when you organize everything by yourself. Even when you don't need a 20 ft container you can use a smaller one (10 ft) or you can share it with some one else.
You have to search this out and maybe is this the best way for you.
And something else: every Jordanian has the right to enter his belongings once in a lifetime tax free.

In my case we had a 20 ft container and we regret that we didn't buy much things in our homecountry, things you can't find it here or very expensive.

When I was searching for several companies to ship our belongings overseas, they want to charge us for 6000 euro all included.
We didn't want to pay that and we did it by our self, the cost was at that time 2000 euro.

So your 1000 dollar plus sounds to me very reasonable but... you are not me and I can not say how much  you must to spend.
And don't forget the distance, America is far more away then Europa to Jordan.

Yeah... I mean the prices weren't bad-- if we had the money.  Does that make sense?  So that was the hitch is all.  We're not by a port that will let us do port-to-port, but the trucking costs were pretty negligible-- about $200.  In all, the cheapest ones by the time you added in the THC and such were going to be a minimum of $2500-3000 for a 100 cu ft pallet packed ourselves.

Maybe wait for an other year and in the time work and save some money???

It's kind of awkward.  So as a graduate assistant, you don't really make much.  I could go out and get a real job, but then the problem will be I have to move to a different part of the US-- so spend money relocating and then if we have a baby at that time, I'll have to also pay for childcare.  I did suggest to my husband though that I stay a bit longer until I actually graduate to try to continue to draw the assistantship. I'd have to ship the cats over and move out of my apartment (you can't really make it without a room mate on that salary) and then move in with someone else.  It could be done.  But splitting countries is always pricey-- him living there and me here-- we've done that before.