My wife and I are seriously considering a move to overseas teaching next year and we're just trying to work out in our heads some of the logistics and expenses that we must consider. We are looking at both DoD schools (which share the same benefit package) and international schools (which seem to have a wide variety of benefit packages). We recognize that in nearly all cases, the overall DoD package is pretty much unmatched and we have a friend in that system who confirms many of the perks they have. But it's not all about $ for us, but we certainly have some financial obligations and goals, as many of you do as well.
Two questions we struggle with now:
What do you do with all of your household belongings that you leave behind? I assume the options are to leave them in the house or put it in storage. The latter being quite costly depending on how much "stuff" you leave behind. I see that most schools don't allow for much to be shipped at their expense. Do most of you spend a lot of your own money to ship things to your new home, or just take the bare essentials and collect and sell stuff along the way? I realize that many benefit packages provide some level of furnished housing. Or maybe shipping a crate or two of personal effects to your new location is just a cost of being an overseas teacher?
How about those of you who own a home. Do you leave it empty, rent it or just pack up and sell? I know all circumstances are different, but i'm just not sure we could afford to not rent it. But the idea of being a remote landlord is also not appealing. Nor is leaving the house empty a perfect option.
I'd love to hear how some of you overseas teaching vets handle these "minor" logistical things.
Logistics of overseas teaching
Logistics of overseas teaching
Last edited by Conant on Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mishmumkin
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:25 pm
[b]My wife and I are seriously considering a move to overseas teaching next year and we're just trying to work out in our heads some of the logistics and expenses that we must consider. We are looking at both DoD schools (which share the same benefit package) and international schools (which seem to have a wide variety of benefit packages). We recognize that in nearly all cases, the overall DoD package is pretty much unmatched and we have a friend in that system who confirms many of the perks they have. But it's not all about $ for us, but we certainly have some financial obligations and goals, as many of you do as well. [/b]
I think this is generally true that DoD schools have better packages (though not exclusively), but it really depends on what sort of experience you're looking for. Personally, what I loved most about teaching in international school is the unique nature of working w/ children from various cultures. DoD would never appeal to me personally.
[b]Two questions we struggle with now: What do you do with all of your household belongings that you leave behind? I assume the options are to leave them in the house or put it in storage. The latter being quite costly depending on how much "stuff" you leave behind. I see that most schools don't allow for much to be shipped at their expense. Do most of you spend a lot of your own money to ship things to your new home, or just take the bare essentials and collect and sell stuff along the way? I realize that many benefit packages provide some level of furnished housing. Or maybe shipping a crate or two of personal effects to your new location is just a cost of being an overseas teacher? [/b]
I put all my belongings into storage when I first left the country, and I wish I had the common sense to get rid of almost all of it rather than paying for storage. Decent employers in the international school circuit provide some relocation allowance, but you might ask yourself how long you plan to be abroad for and how much you really like your stuff. Six years abroad, and the only things I took with me from country to country were photos, teaching supplies, and the items I had collected in my travels (unique and irreplaceable). I learned to simplify my wardrobe, and definitely abandoned my packrat tendencies. Seeing that you're both seemingly well-qualified teachers, you can expect your new employer to provide allowances for furnishing, if not a furnished accommodation. So, in a nutshell, a sensible wardrobe (find out what you'll have a hard time buying in your new country e.g. larger sizes, longer trousers, decently-priced athletic shoes, hair product, contact lens solutions, feminine products etc.), teaching supplies and resources, some personal photos...
[b]How about those of you who own a home. Do you leave it empty, rent it or just pack up and sell? I know all circumstances are different, but i'm just not sure we could afford to not rent it. But the idea of being a remote land lord is also not appealing. Nor is leaving the house empty a perfect option. [/b]
I don't own, so can't speak to this. If it were me, I'd rent it out.
Why don't these HTML tags work???
I think this is generally true that DoD schools have better packages (though not exclusively), but it really depends on what sort of experience you're looking for. Personally, what I loved most about teaching in international school is the unique nature of working w/ children from various cultures. DoD would never appeal to me personally.
[b]Two questions we struggle with now: What do you do with all of your household belongings that you leave behind? I assume the options are to leave them in the house or put it in storage. The latter being quite costly depending on how much "stuff" you leave behind. I see that most schools don't allow for much to be shipped at their expense. Do most of you spend a lot of your own money to ship things to your new home, or just take the bare essentials and collect and sell stuff along the way? I realize that many benefit packages provide some level of furnished housing. Or maybe shipping a crate or two of personal effects to your new location is just a cost of being an overseas teacher? [/b]
I put all my belongings into storage when I first left the country, and I wish I had the common sense to get rid of almost all of it rather than paying for storage. Decent employers in the international school circuit provide some relocation allowance, but you might ask yourself how long you plan to be abroad for and how much you really like your stuff. Six years abroad, and the only things I took with me from country to country were photos, teaching supplies, and the items I had collected in my travels (unique and irreplaceable). I learned to simplify my wardrobe, and definitely abandoned my packrat tendencies. Seeing that you're both seemingly well-qualified teachers, you can expect your new employer to provide allowances for furnishing, if not a furnished accommodation. So, in a nutshell, a sensible wardrobe (find out what you'll have a hard time buying in your new country e.g. larger sizes, longer trousers, decently-priced athletic shoes, hair product, contact lens solutions, feminine products etc.), teaching supplies and resources, some personal photos...
[b]How about those of you who own a home. Do you leave it empty, rent it or just pack up and sell? I know all circumstances are different, but i'm just not sure we could afford to not rent it. But the idea of being a remote land lord is also not appealing. Nor is leaving the house empty a perfect option. [/b]
I don't own, so can't speak to this. If it were me, I'd rent it out.
Why don't these HTML tags work???
A good question
I'd love to hear various ways folks make this work for their personal situations. We have 2 kids in tow, so there's a "bit" of extra stuff to consider when we move.
Last edited by Beemarcus on Sun Jun 15, 2014 9:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
moving logistics
When moving a household overseas, shipping does matter. Some schools offer generous allowances with a "use or lose" policy - then by all means, ship as much as your allowance allows. Others might have it as a benefit that you pocket if you don't use it - look carefully at these places and determine if you're better off NOT shipping and purchasing new once you arrive - for example, if you're going from a 110v country to a 220v country, buy everything electric once you get there - running things on converters gets old. Personalizing a furnished house makes it seem more like your own, but be selective.
In terms of what to ship, first and foremost - your children's things. In fact, make sure at least one of your suitcases that you take with you is for their toys, etc., so they don't have to wait for your shipment to arrive - months can seem like years in a barren house.
Our shipments have been heavy in instructional materials, but we are rethinking this. Keep in mind that good schools will also have plenty of instructional materials. We've started scanning lots of favorites that we only have hard copies of; if you haven't already - try to keep as much as you can electronically and reducing heavy papers. That being said, each member of the family always chooses some favorite books to ship, and those things are like rabbits - soon you have way too many!
We've held on to homes in the US when overseas and at other times sold - my preference is for selling. Even with a property manager to take care of things, things can go awry. We've had great tenants where there were no worries and others which cost us both financially and emotionally. The best solution we came up with is purchasing a simple home in a recreation area stateside and not renting it out - it offers us a place to store things we don't want to get rid of and a place to stay in summers. There are many overseas teachers who do the same in our area, so it works for more than just us.
In terms of what to ship, first and foremost - your children's things. In fact, make sure at least one of your suitcases that you take with you is for their toys, etc., so they don't have to wait for your shipment to arrive - months can seem like years in a barren house.
Our shipments have been heavy in instructional materials, but we are rethinking this. Keep in mind that good schools will also have plenty of instructional materials. We've started scanning lots of favorites that we only have hard copies of; if you haven't already - try to keep as much as you can electronically and reducing heavy papers. That being said, each member of the family always chooses some favorite books to ship, and those things are like rabbits - soon you have way too many!
We've held on to homes in the US when overseas and at other times sold - my preference is for selling. Even with a property manager to take care of things, things can go awry. We've had great tenants where there were no worries and others which cost us both financially and emotionally. The best solution we came up with is purchasing a simple home in a recreation area stateside and not renting it out - it offers us a place to store things we don't want to get rid of and a place to stay in summers. There are many overseas teachers who do the same in our area, so it works for more than just us.
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interteach
- Posts: 212
- Joined: Wed Nov 29, 2006 2:25 pm
I agree with what the above posters have said as I've experienced most of it during my ten years abroad. When my husband and I first went overseas we got rid of nearly everything we owned and stored our valued treasures at relatives. As years went on we purchased a fairly inexpensive storage unit and that worked great as we kept a paid off car in it for our summer travels, too, when we returned. We usually rented out a place for our summers.
The thing we never counted on, though, is that we lost our jobs unexpectadly about 6 weeks before school was out one year. Having a place in a gated community (vacation type resort) is indeed a smart move as you can leave it empty, store your stuff, have a vacation place or somewhere to go if you do lose your job for whatever reason (act of war, act of God, act of stupid administration) and the property usually goes up in value if it's in a good location.
I guess it also depends on how much privacy you want, how adventurous you are, etc. Do you want to stay with relatives during your holidays? Do you want to rent something? One summer we didn't even 'go home', we just stayed in our condo abroad. We also learned fairly early on during our time abroad to stop hoarding and stuffing suitcases full of USA crap to bring back to our posts and just lighten our load and live more simply.
The thing we never counted on, though, is that we lost our jobs unexpectadly about 6 weeks before school was out one year. Having a place in a gated community (vacation type resort) is indeed a smart move as you can leave it empty, store your stuff, have a vacation place or somewhere to go if you do lose your job for whatever reason (act of war, act of God, act of stupid administration) and the property usually goes up in value if it's in a good location.
I guess it also depends on how much privacy you want, how adventurous you are, etc. Do you want to stay with relatives during your holidays? Do you want to rent something? One summer we didn't even 'go home', we just stayed in our condo abroad. We also learned fairly early on during our time abroad to stop hoarding and stuffing suitcases full of USA crap to bring back to our posts and just lighten our load and live more simply.