When my son, Noa, was ten days old, we moved houses for the first time since coming to Beijing. My mom traveled across the globe to come and help with the move and with her and my husband both doing the heavy lifting, I had it quite easy. I did help pack a box or two while my baby was sleeping, but other than that, they did all the work. By the time the movers came to load our stuff onto the truck, everything was packed and labeled.
The unpacking part was the one that stressed the hell out of me because I had to navigate my way in our new home with boxes lying around and a baby in my arms. Seriously, I had all the help in the world and I didn’t have to lift a finger, but just looking at the mess made me tired.

But last year we moved for the second time. Now, this time my mom couldn’t come. Noa was already three and I had Noel, who was six months old at the time. I was so worried about how it will affect Noa – I remember thinking that it was the only home he had known in his short life and now, there we were, taking him away from all the familiar things. But it had to be done. And we did it.

The best and the worst thing about being an expat is moving homes. And with kids, it gets complicated times a million. Because how on earth can you possibly pack, move and unpack an entire home of possessions with young kids running about? Well, there are ways to make it easier, and here are our tips for coping with a house move whatever your kids’ age:

Moving with babies

Moving houses with kids this young actually shouldn’t be much more complicated than moving without kids. All babies care about is being loved, fed, and kept clean so as long as you provide them with these three things, they will be grateful.

You can put your baby in a swing, a cot, or in a playpen if you have a crawler, and keep talking to him/her while packing. However, as babies thrive on a predictable routine, try sticking to yours even if you feel overtired and not in the mood. It will impose some order on the chaos of moving. Especially for you.

Moving with toddlers

Moving with young, mobile toddlers is the worst so if you can, avoid it. But if you do have to move, ask for help. See if any of your friends could baby-sit for a day. If that’s not an option, set up a playpen, buy or borrow lots of new toys and let your toddler get busy.

Don’t be afraid to use your laptop or phone to play something that will keep them entertained. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Moving with preschoolers

Kids at this age are curious and want to be involved in everyone’s business, so use this. Get them involved. Give them a box, stickers, crayons, and let them decorate it. When they’re done decorating, tell them to gather their favorite toys and pack them in the box. This will keep them busy and they will be actually helping you. Also, all kids love boxes, so make sure to buy a few extra and if nothing else works, just let them play.

Moving with school-aged children

With older kids it’s not so much about trying to keep them out of your hair while you’re packing/unpacking, but it’s more about making sure they feel comfortable and safe. Your job is to make the transition as easy as possible for them. Kids at this age might find it frightening to leave their home and all the familiarity that comes with it – their street, their school, friends, neighbors.

You could ask them to make a painting of the old house or make a “first night bag” in which they could put everything they think they would need on the first night at the new house. Let their friends come over and help pack up the room, help with the boxes or just play in the chaos.

Whatever your kid’s age is, the one thing I definitely recommend is to pack your kid’s bedroom last and unpack it first.

This is what we did to make the transition easier and I think it worked. Even if you have to start packing their room before the actual moving day, don’t pack up toys, books, and other things your child often plays with. Prepare an extra box for that stuff and just throw them in once the movers arrive and you’re ready to go. Make sure to explain to your kids that their toys are coming with you so they won’t have the feeling that they’re leaving both their home and their favorite toys behind.

Once you’re in your new home, grab the boxes with your kids’ stuff and set up their new bedroom/playroom. This way your kids will have a new environment to explore, but with all the comfort of their old things and favorite toys. As soon as they’re settled in and busy playing with their toys or reading books in the comfort of their own bed sheets, you’ll be able to start unpacking and decluttering.

In case you’re looking to hire moving services, here are a few options for you that can help you with packing and transportation:

Huo la la – A common sight on streets of Beijing, Huo la la offers moving services at a very affordable price. Whether you only need to hire a van or you need the full moving service, there are add-ons offered that you can simply choose through their mini-program. They do not offer packing services.

Beijing Brother – In case you need packing services, here’s an option for you. Beijing brother offers a wide variety of moving services, including packing/unpacking and assembling/disassembling furniture. Their price starts from RMB 7/km for transportation over 10km. The exact transportation costs will be calculated based on the delivery address, weight, and dimensions of the items.

Images: Pexels

We moved to Beijing over a year ago, and looked for the best local moving companies to ship many of our belongings from England. Instead of the promised two to three months it took eight months to get our shipment. I started unpacking and basically banged my head against the wall. Why had I shipped all this mess? The movers’ unpacking boxes even showed me the crazy stuff that they were unpacking, confirming how stupid I had been.

It was my first expat move with shipment and family, so I had no idea what to ship to China. To say that I am house proud is an understatement. I had my house carefully decorated, and had all the utensils a woman could wish for. I did not want to leave one bit behind. So just to save myself from buying everything again and destroying the world I shipped it all!

And stupidly enough all in my own name. My husband was the one with the Z-work visa at that time and shipping in his name would result paying tax on appliances only. But shipping in my name resulted into paying tax on every single item in the container, and extra stuff that the customs made up (like RMB 100 underpants.) If you think that you can just walk over to your container and pick out the bits that you love and really need to save cost, you are wrong. I made a little roundup of the most ridiculous things that came out of the container. Hopefully my awful packing skills will help somebody make more informed decisions  and maybe I will learn for when we leave China.

These IKEA drawers are lovely, till you find out while they were being shipped overseas that they (or at least some like them) have killed seven kids and have been recalled by IKEA. Also China has IKEA stores, so that was stupidity times 300. I still use them, safely anchored into the walls. But I won’t be shipping these monsters out of China.

My hair dryer. If you blow dry your hair so rarely that you put the hair dryer in the shipment, you don’t need it. If you needed the thing it would have been in your suitcase. Also my hair dryer was made in China, as one of the movers pointed out.

Every single toy my child owned and her furniture. I brought her baby bed, also bought at IKEA. The thing could be turned into a toddler bed, but after eight months sleeping in an adult bed she was not going to go back. Her grandparents bought it for her, so it had sentimental value; sentiment I was unable to sell, so ended up giving it away to another expat family with smaller kids in Beijing.

My plastic salad bowl from Poundland (a UK discount store). Granted this bowl came with lid and utensils and was pretty awesome. But it was not worth the wait, and it broke on the way here. So now we only have a lid we can’t use, and salad tossers. Of course I brought all my plates, which I also bought at a discount store. But of course we had to buy a whole new set of plates and bowls when we moved here. I could not eat off paper plates for eight months, right? I have two cheap sets of plates now. Neither of which I really like, or would ship out of China.

Children’s clothes. I packed all the things she owned and a bit extra for the colder days. It’s impressive how much a three year old grows in eight months. Every single item was useless, and the baby clothes I wanted to keep to make a quilt out of were taxed by the customs officers. They actually asked me if I was going to open a store.  I rесоmmеnd you call some moving services, thеу fоr ѕurе can mоvе anything ѕаfеlу. Thеrе are many wауѕ to fіnd thе right аnd reputed fіrmѕ whісh include іntеrnеt, уеllоw pages аnd business directories. Hоwеvеr the fоllоwіng guіdеlіnеѕ will bе hаndу fоr thе соnсеrnеd іndіvіduаlѕ.

There are more stupid things I have shipped, and my husband is the witness of me trying to get rid of them. Make sure when shipping electronics or expensive stuff you have receipts of these things in a file – with you in your luggage, not in the actual shipment. I had a long discussion about a sewing machine that cost half of what they taxed it for.

We ended up having to pay RMB 30,000 to receive our own belongings, including stuff that was gifted to us and things which I had sourced way cheaper than what they actually taxed us for. They unpacked every single box because they did not believe what we told them. The experience was horrible to say the least. Next time, I’ll move out of China with two boxes and one suitcase.

Photos: Pixabay,  imgarcade.com, aliexpress.com, ikea.com, webstaurantstore.com

When we were 17, my friend and I celebrated the completion of high school by going on a trip to the UK and France. We spent days putting together cute outfits and jammed them into huge, rolling suitcases – only to find that Paris’ metro stations didn’t have escalators. Chastened by the experience, I’ve used backpacks ever since and regularly re-assess how I can pack lighter. But what happens when there’s a kid (or two, or three) in tow? It’s not as simple as rolling your clothes instead of folding them. Here’s what I came up with after scouring parent blogs.

From Thrifty Travel Mama:

• Limit the number of shirts per person. Thrifty Travel Mama usually packs four shirts per person and varies up the type depending on season (e.g. two short sleeve shirts and two tank tops in summer). Babies are an exception; double their clothing allowance, especially if they’re still in “poop-explosion phase.”
• Stick with a subtle color scheme. The author likes black, blue, or gray for her sons and makes sure that each item can be matched with any other. Don’t pick colors like red or white so you don’t have to worry about washing them separately.
• Prioritize shoes by activity. Do you really need a pair of Jimmy Choo slingback mules, hiking boots, and flip-flops? Probably not. The more you can minimize on these bulky items, the better; comfort first, style second.
• Pare down the toiletries. Thrifty Travel Mama recommends using castile soap, an all-in-one liquid that can clean bodies, clothes, and teeth (no really, she says). For camping in Canada, I used to buy solid shampoo from places like the Great Canadian Soap Company. You can even make your own all-in-one soap. Wet wipes are also great for cleaning up messes, washing your hands in a pinch, and as a replacement for facial cleansers in a pinch; my boyfriend always raises his eyebrow at the jumbo pack I bring on each trip.

From The Art of Simple:

• Bring lots of Ziploc-type bags. Apart from the obvious uses (e.g. dividing out snacks for different kids, containing easy-to-swallow pieces), the author of this post has an unexpected use for re-sealable plastic bags: “Since a lot of kids don’t like taking showers, and because many hotels don’t make it possible to take baths, a ziploc bag makes a great drain plug. Fill it with a little bit of water, and it becomes an instant weight that snuggles nicely in the drain.”
• Limit the number of toys you bring. Traveling to a new place is such a novel experience that your baby or toddler is likely to find ordinary objects and activities entertaining (e.g. a shoe horn). You can also make this a chance to give them a special toy just for the trip; the author has an artistic kid, so a fresh notebook and a set of markers usually do the trick.
• Call ahead to see if businesses can accommodate your family’s needs. You’d be surprised by how equipped they are these days. This goes for child seats with car rentals, pack n’ plays at hotels, and milk-warming facilities on some flights.

From My Little Nomads:

• Pack enough in your carry-on for the first two days of your trip. If your check-in bags get lost or delayed, this will give you some peace of mind.
• Use online storage for photos. Many travelers are worried about losing their hard-won photos when traveling; mitigate that possibility by diligently uploading them to services like Adrive or Skydrive. And while we’re on the subject, the author recommends just taking a small digital camera since it’s the portraits of your family, not the artistic shots of tourist attractions, that you’ll cherish down the road.

In addition, here are some packing lists for babies and kids and a tip sheet with more parent stories. Have a safe trip!

Photo: Molly.Low (Flickr)

Heather Budimulia is a rising college sophomore, beijingkids’ intern and 北京人in progress. Though originally from Singapore, she spent a decade in Beijing and since she learned to bake and fell in love with publication there, considers it her home. When not in the office or storing sleep for college, she’ll probably be in a coffee shop with a good book, her journal or a stranger (or all three).

Being an expat kid can be tough. However, by the time we leave for college, many of us are already fully-equipped with the qualities needed to be a successful “freshie” in university. Nevertheless, here are some insider details about this big thing called “going to college,” including packing tips and must-haves.

Many people come up with a humungous checklist of What to Bring to College. But come moving day, they suddenly find themselves juggling five pillows, a wheeled office chair, and a huge new stereo they bought to “enhance their living environment.” People always say freshmen bring more “stuff” than the average upperclassman. Having seen my freshman peers drag boxes and indistinct lumps of stuff on the campus lawn, most of which they could’ve done without. I get it: Parents have good intentions. They want to make sure we’ve got everything we could ever need. But I promise you that you’re never going to need that fancy espresso machine or ergonomic head massager. 

College Must-Haves Checklist:

• Bedding (You don’t need more pillows, but definitely a mattress pad or two to soften those back-splitting dorm beds.)
• Towels
• Shower caddy (especially if you use communal showers)
• Clothes hangers (But not too many – usually, the college will provide you with a wardrobe where you can fold most of your not-so-easily-wrinkled clothing.)
•  Power strip (for plugging in your tech stiff when the wall outlet only has two plugs or is hard to reach)
• Laundry basket (This saves your room from being a mess when you have clothing sprawled out everywhere and are too busy studying.)

College Optional Checklist:

• Water purifier (North America has generally excellent tap water; take advantage of it!) 
• Mugs, spoons, and bowls (These are always useful, but don’t overpack.)
• Bedside caddy (I found this very useful for storing my phone, earphones, electronic chargers, and even umbrella, but not everyone needs one.)
• Bed raisers (A little-known item, bed raisers make any dorm bed as tall as the most luxurious queen bed.)

College No-Nos:

• Flashlight (Most people have a smart phone or some type of device that lights up these days.)
• Alarm clock (Again, most phones have this.)
• Dishes and utensils (Unless you live off-campus or don’t have a meal plan, you won’t need a full dining set.)
• Storage bins (Piling your stuff under your bed is perfectly OK most of the time, as long as it’s neatly stacked.)
• First aid kit (Keeping some band-aids in your room is OK, but there’s a school nurse for anything more serious.)
• Tool box (Unless you plan on fixing all the little things that squeak or rattle in your dorm room, maintenance can take care of repairs.)

These lists are based solely on my own experience, but feel free to tell us about what worked or didn’t work for you in the comments section.

“Life Beyond Beijing” is a series of posts that chronicles a former international school student’s experiences in college. They’re written by Elizabeth Wu, a returning beijingkids summer intern.  A former student of BWYA and CISB, she just completed her freshman year of journalism and will be returning to The New School in New York City this fall.

Photo by ofeverydaylife via Flickr