The virtue of packing light

Of course, the problem I’m facing now is, how to get all this new crap back to Australia. My luggage was close to the weight limit coming over, and now I have more clothes. Let alone all the other cruft I’ve accumulated. Extra bags for the plane start at $80US each, which I guess isn’t too bad – some of the stuff I want to bring back is worth that – but the airline makes no guarantees that they’ll actually get there. Or that they’ll even put them on the plane – as I understand it, it’s on a space available basis, and you won’t know if there’s space available until you’re onboard. Hmmm.

There’s plenty of people which do international ocean shipping, and I’ve requested numerous quotes, but many expect much larger volumes than I want – they focus on the people moving whole homes, or commercial shipments. The only quote I’ve received so far is some $300US or more. Hmm.

And shipping via USPS isn’t actually that bad, if you can get the individual package weight down… problem is a lot of the stuff I want to move is bloody heavy. They’re talking $120US or so for a 25 pound box, which is a little steep, but nothing compared to their $360US for a 50 pound box (which, for reference, is about 22kg, which really isn’t much).

So, whoever moves in here after me may get a whole bunch of great stuff. Good for them, I guess.

Leave a Comment