It's the little things

When it comes to moving (abroad) it's the little things that you have to take care of being departing. That often means the tasks that you don't think of right away, not because they're insignificant, but because they're not as obvious.

For instance, we had an XM radio hanging around the house that E bought years ago, and discontinued to use not even a year later. So this radio and all its accessories have just been sitting neatly in the box, collecting dust in the closet. So what do you do with it when you're moving to another country and know that you're never going to use it again (even if you could)? You SELL it! And you do so AND make a profit. It's not like the buyer knows how much you paid for it; you sell it for what it's worth (used, of course).

It's amazing what a difference selling the little things can do to help you reach your goal of emptying out your house.

It makes me feel a sense of completion when I slowly notice that I have less and less to do as we prepare to move. We still have so much to do with the shipping, selling our cars, goodbyes, final trip to New York to visit my family, finishing up our jobs, taking care of our bills/finances/mail, etc. etc. that at least seeing a near empty closest and cabinets make me feel a teeny bit relieved and accomplished.

Another of the "little things" that we should deal with before going to Brazil is that of our driver's licenses. In Brazil I've been told driver's licenses are expensive and a long drawn out process to get. In Florida they're cheap and easy (which of course would explain why there are so many poor drivers in this state). On a side note, it's more expensive and more difficult to get a driver's license in New York state - where I got mine from years ago.

We've decided to get an International Driver's Permit (IDP), take our Florida licenses with us, and pray to the Brasilia DETRAN gods that getting a Brazilian driver's license will be relatively painless to get. [For the application to apply for the IDP, click here. The AAA is supposed to be the only legal organization that issues the IDP, or the IADP, for those who will be driving in Central and South America.]

These are the "little things" (among others) that I can't forget to take care of here, if I want to make our lives easier, maybe even while putting money into our pockets - or at least prevent us from having to spend more once we arrive in Brasilia.