Getting Our Stuff To Kwaj

As more people learn about our move to Kwaj Island, we are constantly bombarded by questions by the curious.  Getting things half way around the world is no easy feat after all.  So how do we get things to the Island?

Well first off, our Island house will come furnished.  So we won't have to worry about too many bulky items being sent over.  We do plan to take our comfy sleeper sofa however as the furniture on Island is a rattan style and not very comfortable. We figure the sleeper sofa could come in handy too if we have guests.  This leaves minor items that we need to worry about.  Mainly organizational things (to appease my type A organizing self), dishes and kitchen tools, towels, etc.

Items are sent in 2 shipments.  The first is a sea shipment, where our items are loaded here in Mass. and sent to California to be placed on a large container ship.  We are allowed 2200 pounds however we can always pay for more if needed.  We do not expect that to happen.  Our movers will be taking this shipment on June 15 which is just over a month away! The items are scheduled to arrive on Island on Aug 8th, however it is never on time so we expect a later arrival.  As we won't arrive on Island until later in Aug though it is almost guaranteed to be there before we arrive.

The 2nd shipment is sent by air.  This shipment usually only takes a couple weeks but again we are sending it early to guarantee its arrival before we get to the Island.  This shipment will be taken by our movers the 3rd week in July.

Luckily we have lots of things that are NOT going to the Island so although our house is going to progressively empty out throughout each shipment, the house will never fully be empty.  Anything left over from these 2 shipments will either go to a donation house (that gives items to homeless as they get back on their feet) or into storage which we won't have access until we move back.

Other items that we will need on Island but do not have here will be ordered and mailed online (more than likely through Amazon).  We have an APO on island so we can receive items from loved ones via the USPS or order things online from anyone who ships to an APO. So although we will be on a tiny island, we can get almost anything we want...it just takes time as airplanes and ships do not arrive daily on island.  But I will save that talk for another post down the road!

Those far away from Mass. who have questions about our move, feel free to comment below and I will address these in future posts.