Whether you’re in the military, retiring or studying abroad, or relocating overseas for a job, using self storage and following a few tried-and-true practices can make your move much easier.

Determine your length of stay. If you’ll only be gone a couple months, you can probably get by with a traditional storage unit. But for longer stays, invest in a climate-controlled unit.

Insure Yourself, and your items.  Protect your storage unit. Designate an at home contact in case of emergency0 obviously someone you know and trust. identify an alternate person that can access the space if need be. In other words, leave a key with your mom, sister or best friend—someone you trust that can check on your self-storage unit periodically and retrieve something from it if you need it. As the saying goes, if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel. In some cases, it will be a requirement of the visa that you have travel insurance that covers you for your entire stay — if you can only show them six months’ worth of insurance, you could be issued a six-month work permit at the border, even if your application is good for two years.

Organize.  If you’ve ever been sent to retrieve something from a friend’s house, you know how annoying it is to find something in a haphazard maze of clutter. So, do everyone a favor: Since you won’t be around to sort through stuff, make it as easy as possible for whoever will be.

Make a list. Make yourself a checklist of things that you need to do that you can access from anywhere. It could be a to-do app on your smartphone, a notepad that you always have on you, or a plain text file that you keep in Dropbox. I used Evernote because I’m already familiar with it and everything I write down syncs across all my devices. You’ll think of things while you’re on the go, and it’s important to write them down right away before other distractions make you forget. You can use the points in this article as a broad starting point, but what you really want to do is catch specific details, like “return Doctor Who DVDs to Angus” or “see doctor for one last checkup”.

Get all of the necessary paperwork out of the way

You’ll need to get in touch with everyone who sends you important mail to let them know you’re moving overseas, such as banks, insurance providers, accountants etc. Figure out if youre going to have your mail collected by a friend or relative or if it all needs to be forwarded to you (which can get quite expensive over time). Go to your local post office shortly before leaving and update their systems with your future address. Oh, and don’t forget to let the DMV know as well.

Get a checkup. Unfortunately, travel insurance usually doesn’t cover non-emergency medical appointments. Seeing a doctor at your destination country could be a costly exercise until you become eligible under the public health care system — if there is one. Australia has a reciprocal health care agreement with the UK and other European countries, but there will be waiting periods and exclusions. Considering all that, it’s a good idea to see your family doctor for one last checkup before you leave. Explain where you’re going, get any necessary vaccines and stock up on medications where appropriate. If you think your meds will raise eyebrows at border security, get a letter of authorisation from your doctor.

Ship your things. There are some items and comforts we all have that just couldn’t be left behind- and that is where Aris Export/Moving steps in. We will help you find ths most cost effective way to ship your items to your new residence. Whether it’s a family car, furniture or even smaller boxes- we can help.

Will You Be Driving? Even if you think you won’t need a car where you’re going, it may be worthwhile getting an international drivers permit

• An international drivers licence allows you to drive overseas without further tests or applications
• It is also a requirement for renting a car in most countries
• It can be used as an additional form of identification if your passport is locked away in a safe place

Sort out your finances. Don’t underestimate the importance of seeing an accountant before you leave. Ideally, you’ll already have one that is up to date with your financial situation, but if not it doesn’t matter. There are many fiddly tax implications associated with a permanent or long-term move overseas and having an expert explain them to you will save you headaches later on.