Tips for Surviving a Domestic (or International) Home Relocation

So you’re moving, maybe even to a different country. Whether on your own or supported by a corporate relocation package, there’s bound to be a lot on on your mind: “Where can we settle that gets me to work quickly? Should we rent or buy? Are there subdivisions close to services and nightlife? Is it a safe location for me and my family?” Moving house is one of the most stressful life events people can go through. It’s often ranked right up there with the loss of a loved one, job loss, or serious illness. Our family has moved multiple times (6) in the last few years due to job relocations, and our experience has been that there a lot of resources that address your big questions. But here are some tips beyond the standard relocation firm checklist we wish we had known about before first-hand experience.

Getting Around

Map reading skills are invaluable, but if you're moving to an unfamiliar place consider investing in a car GPS (rent one if you're doing a house-hunting trip far from your current home). Nowadays, a Smart phone's maps app can serve the same purpose.

Relocation is stressful enough without getting lost, especially if it's a new country with different traffic rules. Windshield wipers in bright sunshine or sudden, erratic turn signals when it’s overcast are dead giveaways of the driver on a new side of the road. I have vivid memories of learning to drive on the opposite side of the road in Perth, Western Australia while my wife frantically tried to navigate with the UBD (the road directory that came with our rental). Our suggestion to cover the cost of a car GPS  to my HR department was adopted for subsequent expats, one of whom gratefully thanked me.

Pardon the tumble-weeds...

Crickets.

There's a lot going on for me this week, so something had to give.

Moving house internationally (even between Canada and the US) with three kids, two cats, a dog and a harried spouse in a minivan is a lot of work that requires full-time attention. And we should know. It's our sixth home move in 7.5 years. Happily, the moving truck didn't need to come with the minivan.

So pardon the tumble-weeds, and I'll be back soon. Look for a blog on top tips for moving in the near future.

Regards, Mike

How to Sell Your House When Moving to Australia

On a business trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the summer of 2007, I was approached in the parlor of the company cottage after hours by our then Executive VP - Technical. "Mike," he said between sips of beer, "tell me what makes an exploration geologist tick." Though I was squarely involved in establishing our mine operation's reconciliation and resource technology standards at the time, I recall conveying the philosophy of searching for subtle patterns where none was previously recognized, whether it be in volumes of data or rocks, and methodically assessing the potential for value. Most of all I remember stressing a passion for discovery that I still applied to my distinctly different job.

I thought nothing if it at the time, but I must have made an impression. A couple weeks later I called home from my office in Cleveland, Ohio. "Are you sitting down?" I asked my wife. "What do you think about spending three years in Perth, Western Australia?" The company needed someone to bring its brand and some additional experience to the exploration team of a recent acquisition.

An expatriate assignment includes all manner of preparations, and we only had a few months to wrap up affairs on the domestic end, including the sale of our house on the west side of Cleveland, in Avon Lake. Soon our home was listed by the same Realtor who had helped us find the house only a year before.