10 Tips for Moving Country (I've Done It 3 Times)

Last updated on 15 July 2026

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I’ve moved country 3 times, in both hemispheres, including England to New Zealand and back again in 2012 and 2014. These are the 10 tips for moving country I’ve 100% give you if you were moving. From decluttering ruthlessly, to sorting your shipping timeline early, and packing your hand luggage like your life depends on it (because for a few weeks, it kind of does 🙈).

And no, I’m not talking about packing a suitcase for a holiday, or how to survive a two-day trip to Amsterdam with just a handbag containing your pyjamas, your camera and your makeup (this actually happened). This is for the “I have to move my entire house to the other side of the world” kind of move, whether that’s the other side of the world or just the next country over.

Let’s get into it!

10 Tips for Moving Country – Across the World or Next Door

1. Go through your things and throw/recycle things

I know this is an odd one to start out with, but if you’ve been saying ‘I might use this one day’ for five years, you won’t.

Do you really need a box full of bottle caps? A bag of scrap material that you thought you might turn into a quilt one day? Or that hideous troll you picked up in the charity store for a dollar? Probably not. If it’s rubbish, throw it out or recycle it. If it’s not rubbish (or recyclable! Recycle where you can!), then see the next point.

2. Take it to the charity store

Do you really need 10 pairs of jeans? No. No you don’t. It may come as a surprise to you, but most people can only wear one pair of jeans at a time. 🤣

There is someone out there in the world who desperately needs your jeans.

And that book that you accidentally have 3 copies of? They really want to read that too. The charity stores love people who move house or move country. They do. As do the people and animals you’re helping support. If you are no longer using something and it’s still in decent nick, pop it in the charity store pile.

3. Sell things if you have the time

Sure, you can throw stuff out and take stuff to the charity store, but at the end of the day, perhaps you have some things that are so brand new you might as well have bought it an hour ago.

Try selling it. There are so many places to sell second-hand items these days that the only thing that will be difficult about the whole thing is letting it go.

4. Think about getting a moving company

To be honest, I don’t know of anyone who has moved countries and not booked a packing/moving company. If that’s you, let me know!

But having a group come in and pack up the majority of your things for you, while a bit nerve-wracking, will save you so much time and energy. Yes, you’ll end up packing some of the stuff yourself, but on the whole, they’ll do it for you.

The packers come for a couple of days before you’re due to fly out, and they will pack away your entire house. The container will come, they’ll load up your stuff, and off it will go. And you pray that you’ll see it again.

Haha I jest. You’ll get your stuff back, don’t worry.

5. Know what you’re taking on the plane

Make sure you know what you’re going to be taking on the plane if you’re flying, or in the car if you’re lucky enough to be able to drive to the next country over (not possibly here in New Zealand).

Normally, on international flights, you’ll get a checked-in bag that can weigh up to 30kg (some airlines will differ), and a hand luggage item that can usually weigh up to about 7kg. If you’re lucky, your airline might also say that you can take your handbag in addition to your hand luggage.

But if you’re moving country and you have a shipping container (see point above), then you won’t see your stuff for at least a month; in our case, when we moved from England back home to New Zealand, it was about 2 months. You need to know what it is you’ll need at the other end, and what things you can go without for a while.

Also, utilise that 30kg. If you can have 30kg, then you take 30kg. Perhaps you don’t really need to take that extra jumper, but if it fits, then take it. You never know if you’ll need it in the next few weeks without all your stuff.

6. Stock up on things from the country you’re leaving

This may seem silly, as you should be trying to get rid of things, not accumulate more, but if there is something in your current country that you know you either can’t get where you’re going or is very expensive, stock up.

Things in England were a lot cheaper than in New Zealand when we moved, so I stocked up some things like books and make-up before we packed up and left. Obviously don’t stock up on things you can’t actually take with you – that would be stupid. Know what you’re allowed to take on the plane or in the shipping container, and then go from there.

We also knew that we wanted some more bookshelves to take home, from Ikea. New Zealand didn’t have Ikea back then (first store arrived in Auckland in 2025), so we took a trip and got a few to trial in our England house a few months before we left. Things like that.

7. Make sure you do the ‘important’ stuff in good time

Make sure you do all the important stuff in advance. I’m talking about selling houses and cars, making sure you are getting the best deals in regards to flights, cancelling all those magazine subscriptions (trust me, the people after you don’t want your shopping catalogues), make sure all your bank statements have gone electronic (or cancel them altogether if you’re not going to keep your account open), give your kids’ teachers warning that they are shipping out, make sure your passport is actually valid…etc etc.

You have to do all these things, but they are best done with oodles of time to spare; you never know when it might come crashing down.

8. Make a to-do list

Normally, you may not be one for to-do lists. Or lists at all. But it seriously helps when moving country. There will be the one little thing that you forget and it will be incredibly annoying and ridiculous to sort out once you’re on the other side of the world.

Make a list of all the things you have do, and, if it helps, when you have to do them by, or who needs to do them. You aren’t just going on holiday, you’re moving your life. It’s important, so you have to be organised. If you’re not an organised person, make sure there’s one person in your household who knows what they’re doing.

9. Plan your trip to the next country

You might as well make the most of getting on a plane and flying who-knows-how-many-hours away. Or driving for days.

Stop along the way. See the places you haven’t seen before, or visit the friends you said goodbye to last time. There’s no point going around the world if you don’t stop along the way. It doesn’t have to be for long, and in fact, even a day is enough. See some more of the world on your way to settling down again. It’ll be worth the tiredness you’ll have for weeks after.

When we moved from England to New Zealand, we made a 5-day stop in Hong Kong, both as a way to break up the trip a bit but also do a bit of reminiscing. We lived in Asia for 3 years when I was a kid and went to Hong Kong quite a bit. It was also a chance for my youngest sister to see Hong Kong, as she wasn’t around when we lived over there.

10. Have a party / celebrate your time in the past country

The people that you have grown to love and have shared so many memories with will want to see you off. They will want to say goodbye to you properly, and what better way to do that than with a party? Make it big, make it happy, don’t make it sad.

Chances are, you’ll see them again, ‘much sooner than you think’ my Dad always used to say. And it’s true, you’ll see these people again.

If you’re moving somewhere tropical or simply to New Zealand, then they will finally have a reason to go to the places they’ve always wanted to go, and because you’re already there, that’s another incentive. Goodbye isn’t really goodbye these days. So let your hair down, drink some of the bubbly, throw a party. It’s the best way to leave the country.

Quick fire questions you might have

How far in advance should I start planning a move to another country?

Most people planning an international move give themselves somewhere between 3 and 6 months, and that’s a good rule of thumb whether you’re using a moving company or doing it yourself. It might sound like a lot, but between visas, selling or storing things, and organising the shipping container, it goes fast.

How long does it take for my belongings to arrive when moving overseas?

It depends entirely on how you ship them. Sea freight (the shipping container option) commonly takes anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months depending on the route and customs, which lines up with the 2 months I waited when we moved from England back to New Zealand.

Air freight is much quicker, often a matter of days to a few weeks, but it costs a lot more, so most people only use it for the odd urgent box rather than the whole house.

What should I pack in my hand luggage or suitcase when moving country?

Pack it like you won’t see your other stuff for weeks, because you probably won’t. Medications, a change of clothes, chargers, important documents, and anything sentimental you’d hate to lose in transit are all worth keeping close, rather than trusting them to the shipping container.

Is it worth hiring an international moving company?

If you can afford it, yes. Having a team pack up the bulk of your house for you saves an enormous amount of time and stress, even though you’ll likely still end up doing some of the packing yourself around the edges.

Oh and one more thing: Have fun. Moving can be stressful and chaotic, but if you have fun with it, then the load will be lighter, and the moving easier.

There we have it! 10 things that I think are important to do/remember when moving to another country! How about you? Have you ever moved your entire house and family to another country?