# hindsight ?



## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

Hi all , I,m new to the site and already a big fan , so much valuable information from people who know and in some cases ,living the life .
My wife and I are planning to move to spain next year when I retire, we wont be working there and have funds to sustain us .
My question ( one of a hundred, but this will do to start.) is aimed at those who have made the move ,but not confined to just them.
What do you wish you had taken with you when you left , and what do you wish you had left behind ?
I ask because we have mountains of stuff we could bring ,I know it would cost a fortune to bring it all .but what to bring and what to leave ?
To clarify things ,I am a Kitchen and Bathroom fitter ,with so many tools that I cant bring them all ,I used to be into racing cars and have a huge rolling cabinet full of spanners ,socket etc etc ,we have a shed full of garden stuff ,mowers ,petrol strimmer etc .the wife is into dressmaking and has embroidery machines ,and believe it or not 13 sewing machine ,
We are realistic and not sentimentally attached to anything (except each other ) so what would you have taken/left , please include everything ,even the kitchen sink ,of which we have two 
basically I,m asking what do you ,with hindsight ,wish you had done 
Thanking you in advance ,John and Karen


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

llamudos said:


> Hi all , I,m new to the site and already a big fan , so much valuable information from people who know and in some cases ,living the life .
> My wife and I are planning to move to spain next year when I retire, we wont be working there and have funds to sustain us .
> My question ( one of a hundred, but this will do to start.) is aimed at those who have made the move ,but not confined to just them.
> What do you wish you had taken with you when you left , and what do you wish you had left behind ?
> ...


:welcome:

Love your username  

I'm not retired, so my situation is nothing like yours - but what do I wish I'd done differently?

We came to live here 12 years ago when our children were 4 & 7. We came for a longish recce when the younger was a few months old. I wish that we had gone back, packed up & returned then, rather than waiting a few years.  

We sold our house & furniture etc., came with suitcases & shipped some boxes of bits & pieces over later. I've never regretted doing it that way, though I know many would never settle without their own 'stuff' around them.


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

I wish I had brought my petrol driven hedge cutters, they would have bee ideal for cutting back my very prickly Bougainvilleas.

Bring whatever you can fit into the container/van, you can always dispose of it if not needed in Spain, but I bet a pound to a penny, those items you leave behind, you'll wish you had 'em here.
P.S . Customs don't charge for personal items on your first declaration


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## The Quilt (Aug 19, 2015)

I left an excellent electric fan behind me which I should have brought...not bothered much about most of the other stuff.


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

We downsized our stuff twice and still had far too much. What do I regret not bringing? My telescope and my university books. What do I regret bringing? The wife. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I didn't mean it I promise, it was all due to predictive text and I would never say such a thing (yes I would) there it goes again I hate this predictive text thing which this site doesn't have....

Seriously, if you are moving out to retire, leave the job behind and try to sell everything in UK. You can replace almost anything here so if you don't bring something and regret it, buy a new one. I have a new telescope, but I really regret my uni books. Don't forget, moving here is an adventure. A new life. Of course, people often say, correctly, same life different country, but at the beginning don't try to make it exactly the same life you have in UK. You'll fail and regret trying... Oh, and welcome to the forum!!!


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## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> Love your username
> 
> ...


 Thanks its also our house name and will be the name of our place in spain,

I wish I could just uo sticks and move now but I need to wait for the pension 

I sold my previous house fully furnished even left the tea coffee and sugar and milk in the fridge ,so I,m not averse to coming over with just a suitcase ,I guess I,d hate to move and find something I left behind is either hard to find ,or three times the price .


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## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

Hepa said:


> I wish I had brought my petrol driven hedge cutters, they would have bee ideal for cutting back my very prickly Bougainvilleas.
> 
> Bring whatever you can fit into the container/van, you can always dispose of it if not needed in Spain, but I bet a pound to a penny, those items you leave behind, you'll wish you had 'em here.
> P.S . Customs don't charge for personal items on your first declaration


Hi , that's what led me to ask ,I have an almost new petrol strimmer/brushcutter ,,,
Leave and sell or bring it ???? I guess I might always leave or bring something wrong but deciding is proving difficult 

Thanks for the news on customs


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## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

thrax said:


> We downsized our stuff twice and still had far too much. What do I regret not bringing? My telescope and my university books. What do I regret bringing? The wife. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I didn't mean it I promise, it was all due to predictive text and I would never say such a thing (yes I would) there it goes again I hate this predictive text thing which this site doesn't have....
> 
> Seriously, if you are moving out to retire, leave the job behind and try to sell everything in UK. You can replace almost anything here so if you don't bring something and regret it, buy a new one. I have a new telescope, but I really regret my uni books. Don't forget, moving here is an adventure. A new life. Of course, people often say, correctly, same life different country, but at the beginning don't try to make it exactly the same life you have in UK. You'll fail and regret trying... Oh, and welcome to the forum!!!


Thanks for the welcome ,and I hear your advice about the adventure and the new beginning ,sound advice ,luckily that's what we are both after ,and the reason we are coming over 

my predictive text is dyslexic and cant smell


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## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

The Quilt said:


> I left an excellent electric fan behind me which I should have brought...not bothered much about most of the other stuff.


oooh just when I thought I might get a list together you mention an electric ,we have an excellent one on a stand 
bought it a few years ago when we had 2 hot days in a row and thought summer was here


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Here's an old hindsight thread you might enjoy
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/spain-expat-forum-expats-living-spain/93112-hindsight.html


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

thrax said:


> We downsized our stuff twice and still had far too much. What do I regret not bringing? My telescope and my university books. What do I regret bringing? The wife. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I didn't mean it I promise, it was all due to predictive text and I would never say such a thing (yes I would) there it goes again I hate this predictive text thing which this site doesn't have.... Seriously, if you are moving out to retire, leave the job behind and try to sell everything in UK. You can replace almost anything here so if you don't bring something and regret it, buy a new one. I have a new telescope, but I really regret my uni books. Don't forget, moving here is an adventure. A new life. Of course, people often say, correctly, same life different country, but at the beginning don't try to make it exactly the same life you have in UK. You'll fail and regret trying... Oh, and welcome to the forum!!!


 I trashed or gave away 10 years of university books. When I retired I considered myself (no longer in practice). Therefore, I needed none of them. We sold everything in the US except 14 boxes and a road bicycle. I wish I had kept my beer brewing equipment as my beer was much better than anything I have had here.


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## The slow walkers (Nov 10, 2015)

I found this thread good for ideas what to take / not take.

http://www.expatforum.com/expats/sp...s-living-spain/552490-getting-ready-move.html


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

As somebody else mentioned - BOOKS, especially old books. Many are irreplaceable. I sold many that I wish I'd kept such as bound copies of the first issues of Punch magazine (1841), some copies of *The Times* newspaper including the one with the dispatch telling of the death of Nelson. Also on the irreplaceable list is old china (especially ornaments) etc. etc

Of course, if one is coming from a country where there is a different voltage, then electrical things may be useless unless one lugs around several power transformers.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I wish we hadn't brought over 64 boxes of books. They take up so much space and just gather dust. Now they are almost impossible to get rid of. If it were down to me I would keep a hundred or so, those with sentimental value, and pulp the rest. I rarely read hard copies these days anyway. Same with cassettes and CDs - everything's on Spotify now, who needs 'em?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Alcalaina said:


> I wish we hadn't brought over 64 boxes of books. They take up so much space and just gather dust. Now they are almost impossible to get rid of. If it were down to me I would keep a hundred or so, those with sentimental value, and pulp the rest. I rarely read hard copies these days anyway. Same with cassettes and CDs - everything's on Spotify now, who needs 'em?


Ah, but a hundred, or more, years-old book has a smell, a perfume, and aura that modern books and, even less, electronic ones, lack. I still have my old LPs (classical), even ones I bought over 60 years ago.

I only ever know of the Hoopoe from what I had seen in a book about birds (dated 1895) until I came here and found a colony of them quite nearby.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

baldilocks said:


> Ah, but a hundred, or more, years-old book has a smell, a perfume, and aura that modern books and, even less, electronic ones, lack. I still have my old LPs (classical), even ones I bought over 60 years ago.
> 
> I only ever know of the Hoopoe from what I had seen in a book about birds (dated 1895) until I came here and found a colony of them quite nearby.


You obviously have the same hoarding gene that my OH does, Baldi. I would happily live in a digital world. After all, you can't identify a hoopoe's call from a book, like you can from the Aves de España app!


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## llamudos (Jan 31, 2016)

thanks for all the input ,and links ,read them all and inwardly digested them.
By the look of things my shortlist will include , winter clothes ,all my tools , the wife's embroidery machines, our best furniture,(no point shipping tat ),garden tools and machinery, a car or MPV, computers and tv,s, ,,,,,,,,and everything else that will fit in the truck , think we will leave the books 
Thanks again people , regards to you and those you love


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

I have enjoyed reading this tread, we will leave all our furniture, the hot tub and just bring the animals, my ornaments, photos and all personal items oh and the tv. We can buy new furniture & white goods and the house we buy might have furniture included.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

llamudos said:


> thanks for all the input ,and links ,read them all and inwardly digested them.
> By the look of things my shortlist will include , winter clothes ,all my tools , the wife's embroidery machines, our best furniture,(no point shipping tat ),garden tools and machinery, a car or MPV, computers and tv,s, ,,,,,,,,and everything else that will fit in the truck , think we will leave the books
> Thanks again people , regards to you and those you love


Also to *Sandra P*:

When considering whether to ship or not ship - consider one big question first - is it irreplaceable? Many of the books I got rid of, were, and now I miss quite a few of them. Vinyl records (assuming you have them and the means to play them) are difficult to find in decent condition.

Do you really want to ship a car/mpv when you can buy one here that won't have all the hassle of matriculation to put it onto Spanish plates (changing headlight dip - which may also mean changing the complete unit), reversing and Hi-vis rear lights, etc.) and having the inconvenience of driving on the "wrong side" (difficult for overtaking, carpark machines, etc)


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

we won't be bringing our car, we bought a brand new one 3 years ago & won't replace it until we are moving to Spain, but we will buy a vehicle in Spain. We don't have much that is irreplaceable, just my ornaments & the photos (in photobooks so easy pack) we also have a few pictures on the wall that we will bring with us. Hopefully everything will fit in a van that can be driven over whilst we fly over with the cats. That is in the future yet though.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

SandraP said:


> we won't be bringing our car, we bought a brand new one 3 years ago & won't replace it until we are moving to Spain, but we will buy a vehicle in Spain. We don't have much that is irreplaceable, just my ornaments & the photos (in photobooks so easy pack) we also have a few pictures on the wall that we will bring with us. Hopefully everything will fit in a van that can be driven over whilst we fly over with the cats. That is in the future yet though.


Why* fly over* with the cats? All go in the van. They will be with you instead of panicking in the hold of an aircraft, even better if you take the tunnel and make the journey all part of the new adventure.


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> Why fly over with the cats? All go in the van. They will be with you instead of panicking in the hold of an aircraft, even better if you take the tunnel and make the journey all part of the new adventure.


We just took ours in carriers and put them under the seats.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Elyles said:


> We just took ours in carriers and put them under the seats.


On the plane? You can't do that from the UK. They have to go in the hold.


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

xabiachica said:


> On the plane? You can't do that from the UK. They have to go in the hold.


 And to top it off, the day we arrived to finally live here there was a huelga and all the hoops my wife jumped through to import our cat legally were a moot point. We were only a sled the sex f the cat and la aduana only wanted to see him and remark about how cute he was. Hell, that day we could have brought in an elephant loaded with drugs and it wouldn't have mattered. I think the reason we were able to transport him in the cabin was due to the larger jets for international flights.


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

Elyles said:


> And to top it off, the day we arrived to finally live here there was a huelga and all the hoops my wife jumped through to import our cat legally were a moot point. We were only a asked the sex of the cat and la aduana only wanted to see him and remark about how cute he was. Hell, that day we could have brought in an elephant loaded with drugs and it wouldn't have mattered. I think the reason we were able to transport him in the cabin was due to the larger jets for international flights.


 what a trip!


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> Why* fly over* with the cats? All go in the van. They will be with you instead of panicking in the hold of an aircraft, even better if you take the tunnel and make the journey all part of the new adventure.


Two of our cats get really stressed in the car and cry for the entire journey, one was so bad on an hour journey that his paws had got wet from the stress, but they were so wet that all the underside of him was soaking.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

SandraP said:


> Two of our cats get really stressed in the car and cry for the entire journey, one was so bad on an hour journey that his paws had got wet from the stress, but they were so wet that all the underside of him was soaking.


Had you made any attempts to familiarise them with riding in the car beforehand? Many years ago (late 60s) then, wife and I used to regularly take our two cats with us in the car. and they travelled quite happily right through the centre of London on a four hour journey.


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## Elyles (Aug 30, 2012)

Yeah, our cat who we decided to take with us across the US prior to bringing him here really liked looking out the window but after three weeks we had to have the hair removed from the Audi professionally.


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

Poor little Cheeky has been on lots of short journeys in the car and is the same all the time, he sits on his cushion on the front seat so I can stroke him and talk to him, it makes no difference


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

I am taking drawing classes and have dusted off my, otherwise little used Metal Detector, both in preparation for my Spanish move. 

I am also going to research Blogs, see what they are about.

Is anyone planning a visit to the Worlds most _'Tongue in Cheek'_ Rock Festival? I attended it in Lindos, Rhodes, a few years since, absolutely awesome experience but probably not so good if you like Wham and Kajagoogoo, but then again you are never_ 'To Shy'_ to head-bang, a little 

Classic Rock Tours presents Rhodes Rock on tour Live at Barcelona


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

EdofWigan said:


> I am taking drawing classes and have dusted off my, otherwise little used Metal Detector, both in preparation for my Spanish move.
> 
> I am also going to research Blogs, see what they are about.
> 
> ...


Alarm bells ringing!!
Metal detectors are not legal here or they are very tricky to use. I know (Spanish) people who got into all sorts of trouble for using one.
Please check it out on blogs/ forums.
I'd love to use one, but, in the past at least, it was too "risky"

Just to add, one of the problems of metal detecting in Spain is the number of civil war bombs that are still around which is what actually ended the story for the person I know. Not only was he prosecuted, nearly losing his job as a security guard, but one of the many shells that he had on display in his house blew up!! Maybe you wouldn't make that mistake, but still something to look into carefully.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

SandraP said:


> Poor little Cheeky has been on lots of short journeys in the car and is the same all the time, he sits on his cushion on the front seat so I can stroke him and talk to him, it makes no difference


It would be illegal to do that in Spain. All animals must be secured in such a position that they cannot interfere with the driver. Our two small dogs ride in the back seat tethered to one of the seatbelt fixings (you can get special straps to do that)


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## EdofWigan (Jun 28, 2015)

Thanks Pesky W , sound advice, I shall ebay it before leaving the UK.


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## SandraP (Apr 23, 2014)

I know animals have to be secure in cars in Spain, we may just have to get some sedatives from the vet for the 2 boys, the girls travel well - typical boys, probably attention seeking lol.


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

EdofWigan said:


> Thanks Pesky W , sound advice, I shall ebay it before leaving the UK.


Seems such a shame and would hate my sketchy info to be the cause of an Ebay sale, ut it does need looking in to. Look here for example
hthttp://www.metaldetectingforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=11660tp://


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## Maria2016 (Feb 8, 2016)

Hi all, I am new in this forum and I am finding interesting and usefull information about moving!

Actually, I have just come back to Spain after a big clearance in London, and now I am sorting and clearing because I would like moving to there again.

Thanks for all your comments!

Maria


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