If you opt to do the packing yourself, there are a number of things you should keep in mind so your items are packed well and can withstand the journey overseas. In all, there are seven simple tips that you can follow to ensure all your personal belongings will be shipped safely and securely.

1. Make sure you do not get the boxes too full. Keep each box around 50 lbs. This way, one individual will be able to lift, transport, and load each box by themselves.

2. Try to put items inside one another. If you nest your items of various sizes, you will be able to conserve space within the box, and you will reduce the possibility of items breaking.

3. Attempt to pack your belongings as tightly as possible. Because items can shift during transport, and especially during international shipping, you will diminish the likelihood that your things will get damaged if they do not have much room to move around.

4. Use a variety of packing materials to keep your breakables cushioned. There are a lot of different things you can use to wrap fragile items, including tissue paper, newspapers, wadded paper, towels, magazine pages. You should also line the bottom and sides of every box to make sure these items will be cushioned if the boxes are shifted by movers.

5. Load your boxes with the heaviest items first. Then, you can place the lighter items on top these.

6. Plan how you will pack your things before you actually pack them. This way, you can pack similar items together, such as kitchen utensils and dishes, books and magazines, and other accessories. This will make unpacking easier, and it will also help you to find the things you have the most immediate need for.

7. Use a marker to plainly label all of your cartons. This is an important step because you can notate which end of a box needs to be upright, and you can classify some boxes as fragile if there are particularly breakable items in one of them.

Moving can be a stressful experience, especially if you are moving overseas. So if you employ the moving services of a moving company with expertise in overseas shipping, you will have the peace of mind that once you get there, all of your things will already be as well. A good mover will be able to help you with any phase of packing and loading, and they will make sure that your items arrive safe and sound at your new home.

The important question to ask is – Will it be cost effective to live and work abroad with the various tax rates?

It is crucial to weigh up the pros and the cons of working and living abroad to see if your are better off or actually out of pocket.

When you work abroad, like everywhere you get charged a tax, the first thing to look into is what the tax rates will be where you are going.

Here are a list of 5 countries and their approximate tax rates: (including income tax and social security contributions) assuming a salary of $100,000

• Germany 35%
• Japan 26%
• Turkey 34%
• United Kingdom 32%
• USA 24%

So lets take a look at whats on offer in terms of expat job compensations from employers.

Employers that require you to move abroad for your job role will compensate you in various ways for your extra expenses and changing your entire way of life.

The compensations from an employer that you will almost always receive are:

1. Living away from home allowance – this is important as you have left your home country and are adapting your whole life somewhere else so you must be paid for it.

2. Healthcare paid for in the destination Country for you and your family – the healthcare may be more expensive than it would have been in your previous home and you may have to go use private hospitals abroad or pay extra so it is only right the employer should compensate for this.

3. Your employer should either pay for your belongings to be shipped abroad or put you into fully furnished accommodation and air freight some personal effects – this is essential as you want certain belongings with you and you need to live in somewhere comfortable where you can go about your normal daily life and carry out your job role successfully.

4. If you are renting privately the company should assist you in paying the rent – this is important as you may be paying out for a mortgage in your home country.

5. They will pay for your child’s education if you have children of school age – this is an added consequential expense for you so employers should pay this.

6. Cultural and Language Training organized and paid for – You need to attend local language courses, it wasn’t your intention to move to this destination so they will rightly pay for the courses.

7. Work Permits and Visas arranged and paid for – In order to carry out your job role you need these so the employer should supply them as part of the costs of relocating you.

And here are a few of the more unusual things that some companies will compensate for:

* Telephone and Internet Costs

* Membership of local Clubs and Gyms

* Assistance to help your partner/spouse find a job

* Supplying a car with driver (depending on location)

Once you have been presented with your compensation package from your employer and have researched into the rate of tax in their chosen country I think it will be very obvious to you if you have a good deal or are going to come out of it worse off.

For example if your employer was willing to give you all the compensations listed 1-7 above and their chosen destination was the USA I think this would be a fair deal. They are offering you a lot of incentives and the rate of tax you will be paying is an average rate in the USA but a lot lower than most of the other developed countries.

Blending in with the locals is important if you want to fit in and be accepted. I am especially talking about the local born and bred communities not the British expat communities. Although being part of an expat group is nice and welcoming you will learn a whole lot more, including the language from the locals. Be friendly if you see people around a few times, wave or say hello as you pass by.

Learning the language is a top priority so that you can be respected by the local people, although I know for us British people we don’t discipline ourselves enough to learn other languages. It is important if you are wanting to do business and strike good business related deals and get good pricing for goods and property. Also it lets the locals know you are serious about living there and you are not just a 1 season fly-by.

Respecting the culture and local customs is essential as you choose to live in their country so should respect these. Although you don’t have to agree with their beliefs or their religions making fun or going out of you way to be awkward or hostile towards people will only make you an outsider. Some things that we think are acceptable in the UK are quite rude or disrespectful abroad.

Gaining friends is important but be wary and use your own gut feeling at the same time, not everybody is your friend. You need to be wary of people that promise you lots of things or say things that seem to be too good to be true (they normally are!) If people keep talking about how much money they have got or talking about your money its not a good sign! Just normal chatting over a tea and people showing interest in your lives and interest in why you have come to their country to live is a good sign.

If you are wanting to buy property do not be forced into the first thing that is thrust into your face. The estate agents will tell you everything you want to hear about it just to sell it. Step back and think about it yourself and visit various estate agents to compare prices. Try to research the estate agents on the Internet to see if other people have had a past experience of them. Do not let people know how much money you can afford as they will have you spend it all, be vague about the money you have, don’t mention actual figures and don’t go into places flashing wads of money. This is your hard earned pounds after all so you wont want to see it all frittered away.

For most people keeping in touch with family and friends at home is ‘a must’ so I am sure that you will want an Internet connection for emails also a phone line for calls. Some problems faced with using normal phone lines abroad are the costs of them and the call quality. So I researched on the Internet and that is when I came across Pingo.com, the call quality is great and the rates are really competitive. I was paying 1p a minute to call home!

If you are thinking of working abroad and haven’t already decided what you will do, a lot of companies want British workers to speak to their UK customers, help them respond to their UK customers emails and be a UK customer contact.

And if you want to drive a car or scooter check into the rules to see if your UK License is valid in your chosen country otherwise you may have to apply for a new license in that country or get an international driving permit.

Make sure you are not paying double tax. If you are working abroad you will pay tax there, however you do not want to find yourself landed with a bill also from the UK where they may want to tax you on the same work. Fortunately the UK has agreements with many countries to avoid this.

Investigate into the best banks to put your money in, read forums of peoples past experiences and check out the variety of interest rates and decide on what bank suits you best. Do you need to access money quickly? or can you give notice and wait a while for the money? or finally can you keep the money in the account without touching it for a long while?

Remember how dangerous the sun actually is. You must always apply suncream and be aware how easy it is to dehydrate or even worse get heat stroke. The worst time for this is when it is hot but the wind is blowing, this fools you into thinking you are not getting burnt so you stay out for longer but you still are getting burnt.

Lastly do not think that all countries abroad are crime-free, just be as vigilant as you would be in the UK.

Firstly do you know where you want to go?
Somewhere in Europe or maybe somewhere further afield.
What kind of life do you want?
Busy City Life, Beach Resort Life or maybe the Country Life.
Can you settle into different cultures and become part of the locals?
If yes, the countries are endless.
Would you like great temperatures all year round?
If yes, Mediterranean climates are ideal.
Do you have a budget?
If so researching the cost of living in your chosen country is important.

Once you have decided on ‘the place’ to go you need to look into whether you can work easily in that country.
Some countries may require you to gain a Working Visa which may need applying for in advance before you go or some countries may want you to apply when you arrive.

Look on Forums for local job ads on you chosen country and town to see if there are any jobs up for grabs. Think of some well known global companies and see if they recruit abroad.

Next step is to look to see if you need to apply for Residence Permit in advance, again some countries require you to do so within a month of arrival so you need to check out different countries rules.

Make sure you know your financial situation and what you can afford and have enough money saved to allow you to live for a little while in case you haven’t got a job straightaway.

After this the next important step is to if possible have some accommodation sorted out before you arrive so you know exactly where you are going and where you are staying. Then when you arrive you can take some time to get to know the area and decide on where you would like to rent, if you would like to buy a home and you will get better prices face to face rather than on-line.

Health care is important so make sure you have an insurance policy in place as some countries will not treat you without one and others have badly funded health care.

Look into rates of tax abroad and see how much they will be. Make sure that you wont be taxed twice, by your home country and your new country.

Now start planning if you will relocate all of your belongings or just some of them and how will you do this. Either by using a freight company or an airline. Look into different airlines as it may be a cheaper method for you if you are not bringing too much to just buy some excess baggage in advance.

While you are abroad you will need to be able to stay in phone contact with friends and loved ones as and when you want to with a trusted source. I found Pingo.com to be this source, they charge you economic prices and the connection is always reliable.

Lastly buy a travel book or guide on your chosen country to gain more of an insight into what the country will be like. Try and pick up a few phrases or words along the way, the locals will really appreciate you for trying even if you don’t quite pronounce it right.

If you do these important steps you will find yourself on the right path and almost ready to go!

The expat community, irrespective of where they live, has a lot to cheer about! The reason this can be stated with so much confidence is that unlike a few decades ago, the whole world has now shrunk into one giant global community and expat calling solutions have seen revolutionizing changes therein. The feverish pace, at which networking and communication technology has grown in the recent years, has made expat calling, child’s play. Move over, cell phone roaming and ISD! 3G, 4G and Video-calling are the latest buzz words these days. These, however, have not reached all corners of the world just yet, and there are still many regions, where people prefer sticking to conventional methods. There are two means of communication, which have been there awhile and still feature fairly high on the popularity charts as far as expat calling is concerned.

Cell phone rental services are available in most countries and are still going strong as an inexpensive option for international calling. These are best suited for expats, who are on long-term assignments to foreign countries or students who have a 1 or 2 year course. This is obvious from the fact that, the longer you rent a cell phone service for, the lesser you tariff rates work out, and who can resist the temptations of a good deal, right? Another advantage with this option is that, country specific rental offers work out perfect for most people who want to call relatives and friends in their own countries alone. This also eliminates any additional costs and hassles that are associated with multi-country SIM cards.

Expat calling cards too are extremely lucrative when it comes to getting value for money services. These come with the additional flexibility of not having to spend valuable cash on fancy rental schemes and handsets. As the popular line goes “Keep it simple, stupid”, calling cards follow this truly universal principle to the T. These cards are very convenient, especially for people on short stints abroad. They are easily available and accessible, and they have ridiculously low tariff-rates. Considering that a majority of the expat community consists of people who have come for small duration projects, which do not extend beyond a few months, prepaid calling cards are the way to go!

So if, you are an expat who has just stepped into an alien land, and feel intimidated; do not fret. Just log on to one of the many websites available and pick out one of these two brilliant and time tested means to get back in touch with that familiar voice back home!

Sometimes the daily grind and stressful lifestyle that we lead in our normal everyday life gets too much for us and we decide it is time to leave the rat race behind and look for pastures new.

Normally we are drawn overseas by a hotter climate, a laid back and calmer way of life and healthier living, but it needs to be practical and affordable for us at the same time.

Do I need a Residence Permit in Canada?, How can I move my dogs to France?, Can I work in New Zealand? These are just a few of the kind of questions you may need the answers to before you decide to take the plunge.

That is why I have made things easier for you and collaborated 10 of the most useful websites that I have come across. They are full of useful and invaluable information to either help you decide where is best for you to relocate or if you already know where you are going why not check these websites out for further information on your chosen country.

Here are the Top Expat Websites (Listed Alphabetically)

Canada Anglo Info

This site is great if your chosen destination is Canada. It is a very fact full website that offers maps and news on Canada. It helps you compile a checklist for relocating. It contains links and contact addresses for all important sources that may help you with your move.

Escape Artist

Many guides to living overseas are on here. As well as the popular destinations to emigrate to, it includes the more unusual ones, which are searchable by region or country. It is jam-packed full of information and contains a lot of referenced material. Escape Artist is updated frequently.

Expat Arrivals

There are expat guides included on various countries. There are Q & A’s, blogs and expert advice. You can join an online community and even buy an e-book. Expat Arrivals offers inside knowledge on your chosen culture and procedures to buy property and land plus much more.

Expat Forum

This site covers many countries. There is an individual forum for each country so you can easily find the relevant information you are looking for. It is updated daily so all information is very much current. There are many members and the forums are large. Lots of great articles to read also.

Expatica
Offers 11 of the popular destinations to relocate to. Expatica gives you the important facts you need to know. From where to live to what the healthcare is like. Also features the latest news on each country and has a forum and discussion board.

Getting Down Under

This website gives you an insight into life in Australia. There are communities to be a part of and blogs to read. It tells you the latest news for living in Australia and gives you great hints and tips for your move. Also has useful sections on visas and working.

Just Landed

This site has an extensive range of countries that you may wish to emigrate to. It is easy to navigate around. Just Landed points you in the right direction with getting visas or researching the culture plus loads more. You can be part of the community for your chosen country and find suitable jobs and somewhere to live.

My UK Move

Contains all information to help you decide if you would like to relocate to the UK and planning your arrival. Gives information on costs of living and a general insight to what it is like to live in the UK. It also gives you advice on settling in and finding your way around.

Spanish Living

There site contains a lot of information about Spain and helping you to relocate there. There are a wide range of varied articles. It gives advice covering all aspects from getting internet and telephone to starting up your own business. The site is easy to find your way around.

Turkish Living Forum
This forum offers extensive information on relocating to Turkey. The members tell you about different areas to live and their experiences good and bad. There are sections to help you with all things associated with moving to and living in Turkey. You can communicate with people living there and no what to expect before you relocate there.

While most expats are very happy to immerse themselves in the local way of life by meeting all new kinds of people, some find it more comfortable to continue living their normal, quiet lives, save for the local festive occasions and get-togethers. But almost all expats would readily agree that nothing fills them up with joy more than communicating with their loved ones back home. Getting that one birthday call from your childhood friend across the globe lightens up your day; a student hearing the good luck wishes from his parents back home over the phone on the day of his exams holds his head proud all day; a working professional gets his peace of mind after hearing his wife’s voice 3 continents away over the electronic lines every night before going to sleep. Such is the importance of staying in touch with family and friends back home.

The one stop shop of solutions for converting all this to reality is a calling card. In age of electronics and communication, the expat calling cards have risen to prominence more than ever. With a growing population of expats, there is a correspondingly growing number of ways of communicating with your folks back home. However, it can be very confusing in this day of explosion of technologies to make the optimal choice. Prepaid calling cards, cheap voice calls over the internet, international monthly tariff sim cards, nation specific calling cards are just some of the many available avenues.

Prepaid expat calling cards have been in the market for a while now. They provide a good flexibility in procurement, a hassle free-usage, and a good usability in the short term. However, the tariff might not be as lucrative as in some of the other long-terms options available. A short-term exchange student, a professional in for a small business trip or even a globetrotter might want to go for this fast and easy option.

Monthly tariff systems, on the other hand, can provide better deals with contract handsets (these might well be one of the latest and most awaited gizmos) and a very reasonable international calling tariff with special plans. Expats who are settled abroad for long term assignments would usually prefer this option.

The country specific calling cards also deserve a special mention. These are much better and economical if you are sure to be calling to a particular destination regularly. But there have been known issues with most of these cards, for instance: complicated usage requirements, like 16 digit pin entering every time you make a call, hidden fees, etc.

It is therefore imperative to find out more about the service providers, take feedback from other expats and then decide on the kind of card you want to go for. There are surely many good services out there with ease of use and reachable affordability for all kinds of expats, students or working professionals alike. “Affordable Calling Cards” is currently offering these services to many expats around the world.

A small mention is demanded by VoIP or internet telephony (For eg: Skype, GTalk, etc), a growing space favored by the student expats over the globe. While it makes international calling to mobile phones and fixed lines highly economical, it is severely limited in the quality of the calls by virtue of the data-packet nature of the signals over the internet. However, with better 3G and 4G services being promised in the near future around the world, the international calling space is poised to see a whole lot of competition, followed by reasonable pricing by most players like www.Pingo.com. Surely, the expat community and all our expat friends won’t have any problems with that piece of news, would they?

I didn’t have exciting grades or tons of university credits.  I didn’t have money; in fact, I had some debt.  I didn’t have any sort of prospect for a regular work visa. I thought overseas assignments were just for executives making the big bucks.  There were times when I was downright sad that I couldn’t figure out a way to get over the pond and have my adventures.  The truth is, however, that no two expat stories are the same. In my travels, I have learned some ways to be creative in living abroad.

1. Au pair in Switzerland. Now, I say Switzerland and not Europe because as far as I know, no EU countries have an actual “au pair” visa (in fact, I hear they convince you to get a student visa to be allowed to stay as an au pair).  I, on the other hand, lived in Swizerland for 8 months, in 2002.  I found a family through an au pair agency, they took care of getting me the proper domestic worker visa, and I was on my way.  What is an au pair, you ask? It’s a young adult who lives with a family and helps with the children part-time in exchange for a small stipend, room and board.  There is the chance that upon arrival you find yourself working more as a maid and teaching the child English instead of learning the local language, but there you go.  Being an au pair.  While there were a lot of things I didn’t like about it, it was a great way to get my feet wet in Europe and immerse myself in another culture.  I fell in love with the beauty of Switzerland, was just a couple hours from Italy, and, most importantly, I was legal.

2.  As a student. Well, in Italy if you want to enroll in a University as a regular student it’s not so easy.  You have to have somewhere around a zillion college credits, and when you move over there you start from the bottom. If you enroll in several months at a language school, it is rarely possible, as the school must be recognized by the Italian education ministry.  But, there are a few which are recognized.  In my case, in 2006, this was the University for Foreigners of Perugia.  I enrolled for six months, took the program on language and translation, and off I went.  The classes were boring but I had my way into Italy.

3. Citizenship. Okay, this isn’t always available to everyone.  But in my case I qualified for Italian citizenship because of a direct line to my great-grandfather who never renounced his citizenship.  It took a long time and was frustrating at some points, but in the end it happened.  It’s worth it to look into your family history and see if you may have a blood connection to another country, and see what your options are.  (If you’re looking into Argentina, your options for residing permanently are, if I remember correctly: marry an Argentine, be born to an Argentine, or give birth to an Argentine.)

How did you find a way to move abroad legally?

Tina Ferrari is a tango dancer, translator and writer currently based in Lecce, Italy. She writes atAffordableCallingCards.net as well as on her own blog, Tina Tangos. Comments are always welcome!

Aim High, Ask for Expat Benefits

Thinking of moving abroad? Below are five things to consider before signing a contract.

One: Housing Stipend

Many limited-contract expat packages offer housing stipends. In essence, this is so that it’s possible to live abroad but still maintain a house back home. Whether you intend to do this or not, it’s important to check that you’ll receive some kind of housing allowance, especially if the cost of living is significantly higher abroad but the salary you’re being offered is not.

Two: Language Training

Does the package include language training for both the employee and their spouse? If you’re moving to a country where they speak something other than English, the language training is just as important for the spouse as the employee. If this is not included, it’s something to bargain for. Up to 150 hours of paid language training is not unreasonable to request.

Three: Transportation

If you’ll be using public transport in your new country, will the company give you and your family free transport passes? Or if you’ll be driving will they pay for a company car? Will they help with the leasing of a car? If they are not moving your vehicle abroad, this is something that should be considered in the contract.

Four: Flights home

Will the company pay for one flight back home per year per family member? If not, this is also something that can be negotiated.

Five: Relocation Agent Services

It’s hard enough to find an apartment in a place like New York City. Throw in another language, the fact that housing discrimination is legal (and practiced) in many countries, and you will want the services of a relocation agent abroad. These people speak the local language, know the safest neighborhoods, know the market, and can help you translate leases and/or mortgages. Some will even go so far as to introduce you to the neighbors.

What do you look for in an expat contract?

Chantal Panozzo is a writer in Switzerland who has written for a variety of publications on two continents. She’s the author of One Big Yodel, a blog about life in Switzerland and moving abroad, and also discusses living abroad as a freelancer at Writer Abroad.

See what I mean?

Even though the food is simple and straightforward, deciphering menus and choosing courses can make eating out in southern Italy a challenge. Here are a few tips to help with that.

Courses (in chronological order):

1. Antipasto
Antipasto is the Italian equivalent of the appetizer and in many cases, contains both hot and cold dishes. Cold plates are typically lean cold cuts, such as prosciutto or salami, assorted cheese, particularly Pecorino and olives or bruschetta. Hot dishes are typically prepared in-house and can include anything from potato and peppers, eggplant, grilled vegetables or other chef specialties.

In traditional Calabrese trattorie, the antipasto is typically overly generous and diners can easily fill up on the first course. However, you wouldn’t want to do that, because then you’d miss the primi.

2. Primi
Primi, or first plates as we’d say in English, are usually either pasta or risotto dishes in southern Italy. Some restaurants allow diners to choose a sampling of their first plates so they can try more than one dish. I *love* this tradition!

3. Secondi
Secondi, or second plates are typically meat or fish entrees. Vegetarians might choose a secondo platter of mixed grilled vegetables, but otherwise, vegetables or other side items are rarely served on your secondo plate. If you’d like a side item, be sure to order it separately when you place your order.

4. Contorni
Speaking of side items, contorni is the side item heading you’ll see on a southern Italian menu for side items. While side items vary by restaurant and region, you’ll usually find salads, potatoes, vegetables and local specialties listed here. Notice that salads are never served before the meal like they are in the US. If you order a salad, it will be served alongside your secondo dish, in a separate plate.

5. Frutta
Most .. make that all … southern Italians I know finish their meals at home with a serving of fruit, however they rarely order it in restaurants. Still, it is on the menu and if you’d like to order fruit to finish your meal, you’d do so after your second and side dish course.

6. Dolci
Oooh, desserts! If you made it through the rest of the meal without pasta coming out of your eyeballs, you might want to order dolci. To be sure you are getting the best bang for your, uhm, euro, ask your server which desserts are homemade and order one of those.

7. Caffè o Liquori
Most restaurant meals are completed with either a caffè (shot of espresso, not a cappuccino) or a shot of digestive liquor. In Calabria, Amaro del Capo is a popular choice, as is the old southern Italian favorite-limoncello.

Tips:
1. You do not have to order something for each course. Many Italians do … but you don’t have to and you won’t be the only people in the restaurant who don’t. I never do.

2. Diners are typically charged a cover charge, called coperto, in southern Italian restaurants, so if you see an extra €1-€3 charge, per person, added to your bill, you’ll know why.

3. You do not tip in southern Italian restaurants. Let me repeat that … Do Not Tip in southern Italian restaurants. I can always tell when a restaurant I’m in is accustomed to serving American tourists … one word comes out of my mouth and they are hanging around expecting a tip. Servers are often either the restaurant owners or one of their children and unlike America, staff servers are paid the minimum wage. If you tip, you are making it harder for those of us who live here to, well, live here.

4. Doggie bags are frowned upon … so, don’t ask. Arrive hungry and plan to spend as long as you like savoring your meal.

Cherrye Moore is an American freelance writer and Calabria group tour consultant living in southern Italy. You can read more about living and traveling in Calabria at her site, My Bella Vita or visit her in person at her B&B in Catanzaro, Italy.

Photo: Sara’s Kitchen, BrianandJaclyn and Premshree Pillai via Flickr