Moving abroad requires a lot of planning. Check out these products and services that made our move easier, and have helped us settle into our new life abroad in Spain. These expat essentials help us maintain a bicultural lifestyle as we still have family, friends and finances to deal with in the United States. I hope this list is helpful for you wherever you may be on your moving abroad adventure.
(*Please note: some of the links on this page are affiliate links.)
MOVING ABROAD ESSENTIALS
Orbitz – for Plane Tickets
I know there are a million and one ways to find cheap tickets these days, but I’ve been using Orbitz.com almost exclusively for years. Occasionally, I’ll try other websites, but I always come back to Orbitz because they provide one-stop shopping for cheap flights, hotels and rental cars, and (super important) travel insurance. With Orbitz, I can always see if there is a cheaper option with their user-friendly interface. They also have a loyalty program that rewards you with points for every purchase. Another reason Orbitz gets my devotion is because of their customer service during the pandemic.
True story, our first flights to Spain were cancelled, but I didn’t have to follow up with the airline or submit a claim or anything. Orbitz handled everything seamlessly and I got a full refund within a couple of weeks.
Basically, Orbitz is like my trusty personal travel agent .
UpakWeShip.com for Shipping
Everybody wants to know how to pack up your life and move to another country. My answer is, it isn’t easy. When we moved to Spain, we made the experience easier by deciding not to bring all of our furniture with us. Instead, we pared down our belongings to the essentials: cookware, dishes, books, keepsakes, a few blankets and towels, more books, clothes, our limited art collection, and toys for the kids.
We discovered UPakWeShip.com. Just like the name says, this company drops off a cardboard shipping container that you have to assemble and pack yourself. Then a few days later, they will come to retrieve your full container, put it on a ship and deliver it right to your door in whatever country you’re landing in. It’s brilliant!
Because you do all of your own packing, the prices at UPakWeShip.com are quite reasonable. But the best part is the customer service. Nothing could be more stressful than an overseas move, and yet so many businesses have automated systems and complicated websites that are no help. The first time I called UPakWeShip.com, a friendly woman answered the phone and literally answered all of my rambling questions. I almost cried because she was so nice.
UPakWeShip worked for us because we weren’t moving an entire house of furniture, but they do have multiple options of shipping containers ranging from small to mega large. I highly recommend getting help if you use this company. El esposo and I thought we’d be able to pack everything ourselves, but we totally needed extra hands to put the containers together, to label all the boxes, and to stack our bins and boxes in the container and seal it up for shipping.
Once we arrived in Spain, we didn’t know where we were ultimately going to be living. But that didn’t matter because the ship carrying our goods wasn’t scheduled to arrive for at least six weeks after we got to Spain. And once it arrived in Europe, it still had to clear customs. So, by the time it was ready to be delivered, we had found our permanent home. So, we alerted the European office of UPakWeShip and our two containers made it right to our front door. For the record, UPakWeShip has its headquarters in the United States, but they ship all over the world, not just to Europe.
AirBnB for short-term lodging
Moving to an entirely new country, to a new city, where we’d never actually been before, meant we were not about to rent a home without seeing it IRL. I wanted to check out neighborhoods, schools, cute cafes, etc, before committing to the place where we would build our nest. And it’s lucky that’s what we did, because we eventually ended up living in a totally different city than where we originally planned.
That’s why I sing AirBnB’s praises because I was able to find a beautiful apartment for us to stay in when we first arrived, without any longterm commitment. It was in a residential neighborhood and the building had a beautiful garden and a private pool, so we were really comfortable, which made the sheer craziness of upending our lives go down a little easier.
Once we decided that we wanted to try looking for a home in a different city, we rented another short-term apartment via AirBnB. With these AirBnB apartments, we could get a feel for what it was like to live in certain neighborhoods, shop at the local stores and really experience the lifestyle. By the time we found our permanent home, we already knew the best grocery stores, bakeries and restaurants in the area. Bonus, our AirBnB hosts became our first new friends in Spain.
Ikea for Easy, Affordable and Stylish Furniture and Home Goods
When we finally found our permanent apartment here in Spain, Ikea was our first destination for furniture and home goods. Since we didn’t bring any of our furniture with us from the United States, we literally had to furnish our home from scratch. We needed beds, a couch, desks, chairs, a kitchen table, and so much more. And, yes, we got it all at Ikea. And I’m not going to lie, I love everything we got. Especially my bright yellow armchair.
ProTip: In Spain (and apparently in other countries around Europe) there is this awesome company called HelloVan that will literally collect your items for you at Ikea after you’re done shopping, load them up in their van and deliver them directly to your door the next day. AND, glory, glory, hallelujah, the workers from HelloVan will assemble all of your Ikea furniture for you! It makes the Ikea experience truly amazing. And their fees are very reasonable, especially when you consider the headache and stress they save you when you’re already stressed and overwhelmed trying to outfit a new home in a new country.
BipiCar for Longterm Car Rental
So, when you move abroad, maybe purchasing a car isn’t high on your list, but you might need a car anyway. We discovered BipiCar in Spain, which operates like a cross between a car rental and a car leasing company. You can “rent” a car for 3,6,12, 24, or 36 months. So, it’s like a lease, but like a car rental, the price you pay includes insurance, registration and the ability to switch cars if something happens to yours. So, it’s an easy way to try out a car before buying, or just an easy way to get a car in a new country before committing to a long-term purchase and dealing with all the complicated logistics in a foreign language.
Dealing with Family, Friends and Finances Back in the States
Just because we live in Spain now, doesn’t mean we don’t continue to have friends, family and finances to deal with in the United States. And as such, we’ve had to find tools, hacks and services to help us maintain those relationships. Here are a few companies that have been invaluable in this endeavor.
Yumday – For Easy Gift-Giving
I always like sending unique gifts to friends and family for the holidays and birthdays. But, I’m too much of a last-minute shopper to depend on the Spanish mail system coupled with the US Postal service to get my gifts to loved ones in time. So, I love companies like Yumday, a subscription snack company that sends customers boxes full of delicious snacks made by women and POC-led brands. I can order from my computer in Spain and my friends get a fun and delicious gift box on the doorstep in the United States.
Ink Cards – For Sending Holiday Greeting Cards without Worrying about International Mail
And speaking of holidays. Despite the fact that when I lived in the United States, I almost always sent birthday, holiday and Mother’s Day cards late, now that I’m in Spain, my friends and family members get their cards right on time because I use Ink Cards. Ink is an app that allows me to select a card online, personalize it with my own personal photos and message and send it to whomever I choose. And since the app is on my phone, I can literally send out cards to anyone in the States from anywhere in the world, as long as I have Wifi. The cards are really high quality and gorgeous and now they’ve added the option where you can also include a gift card from dozens of popular retailers as well. So, I look like the best auntie, sister, daughter ever – sending cards and gifts on time – and all it took was for me to move abroad!
Wise – For Handling Finances at Home and Abroad
If you’re moving abroad but you still have money in the United States and you need to move it back and forth between the US and your new country, check out Wise.com. They make it really easy to transfer money from bank to bank or from bank to an individual. The have really reasonable transfer fees and exchange rates as well.
My Favorite Global Brands
Even though we LOVE living in Spain, that doesn’t mean that we don’t miss aspects of our life back in the United States. From food, to cosmetics, to clothing, there are just certain brands that we love and trust. So, when we find them on the store shelves in Spain, we do a little happy dance. At least I do. (Don’t judge.)
The Body Shop:
MAC Cosmetics
Fun fact, I’m 50 years old and I don’t know how to apply makeup. I’ve never worn makeup and thought I’d waltz into old age with my same bare face. But, mother nature was like, psyche, how about some permanent dark circles under your eyes and a little less dewy, youthful looking skin. I’m still not going to wear make-up everyday, but now that I can see the benefit of makeup, I’m excited to see what’s possible. My favorite auntie is a makeup artist and she gave me a starter kit of MAC cosmetics when I left the United States. She gave me a few beauty blenders like these, bronzing powder to bring out my natural glow, concealer to cover up those damn dark circles, and a fierce red lipstick ’cause a girl always needs a fierce red lipstick. Babygirl is a makeup fiend and she does my makeup for me whenever I have an event or an on-camera interview. But she insisted I needed more colors on my faces so, we went to a Spanish department store and were delighted to find a well-stocked MAC section and knowledgeable sales assistants who helped us pick out purple and blue eye shadows and another lipstick and lip pencil. I love MAC’s bold colors and their concealers and bases for melanated skin are quite diverse. Discovering makeup at age 50 is awesome.
Moleskine Notebooks
When I first saw the Moleskine brand in a stationary store here in Malaga, I almost cried. It was like running into an old friend. I didn’t realize Moleskine was an Italian company so it makes sense that I can find them in Spain, but I’ve always associated them with the United States, so lucky me. If I could be a Moleskine ambassador, I’d accept all of my payments in notebooks and pens.
*More Brands to Come as We Continue our Expat Adventures…
