Moving my household to Panama - the last step in the emigration-process

Over the course of our lives we collect "stuff". Some of that stuff is easy to get rid of, there's no emotional connection. Other stuff is easy to leave behind, as it is easy to replace, if needed again. But some we want to retain...

In my case, I trimmed down as much as I could. But I still had a 3m by 3m (10 x 10 ft) storage unit full of items. Mostly, they were tools, books, DVDs and CDs, and memorabilia - a picture we had bought in India and which Suzanne had framed for me for my birthday, a wooden relief I bought when living in Tobago, photo albums, and similar items.

A week ago I came back to the USA to prepare these items to be shipped to Panama.

I contacted several moving companies in the US, but received quotations that were way beyond what I was able and willing to pay. The worst was 25,000$! When I looked in Panama, I found a customs broker who provided a reasonable quotation, and who was able and willing to answer all my questions. And questions I had many - I'm not doing this kind of thing every other week, so I'm not familiar with the process! 

RS Aduanas offered to provide a 20ft container, have it delivered to the storage facility, where I could load it up, then transport it to Panama, arrange for the customs process, and have it transported on to my new home in far distant rural Panama (10 hr drive with passenger car from the port) - all for about 5,400$. What a difference!

Panama customs requires a detailed list of all the items that are being shipped. So I had to go through everything, open every box to see what's in it, and inventorize everything.

Originally, I thought I'd rent a second storage unit just for a week, into which to move items that I already added to the list. However, the storage company wanted to charge me a full month's rent. Their offer of 1$ for the first month had a * next to it, and the fine print allowed them to exclude just exactly the unit I needed! They wanted 200$!

During one of my sleepless nights the idea occurred to rent a Penske truck instead. (Penske, BTW, is a much better company to use than UHaul! Penske gives you a quote and you pay what they quote. UHaul always adds many other fees afterwards, and when paying you get hit with a much higher amount than originally quoted and expected. Penske you can trust! UHaul you can trust to charge you way more in the end!)

Turns out, renting a 16ft truck for 5 days was just 150$. In addition, loading everything into the truck had several other advantages:

First of all, I can back up the truck all the way to my unit, and loading is much easier than carrying everything across the storage facility to another unit. Secondly, loading the truck means I'm already lifting everything 1.2m onto the truck bed, so getting it into the container will be just 30cm (1 ft)  more. And, the best part, I'm not tied to the storage facility anymore. That facility would make life of the trucker very difficult, to back into it and park the truck so the gate can safely close. If some other renter arrives, we might have to move the truck out again, and back in all over again...

Using the truck, I was able to redirect the truck to the motel where I was staying and move the load there.

Yeay! Everything in the truck - 4 hours, including making the list!

I was very concerned about how much effort it would be to take everything out of the unit and create the list. But, it took us only 4 hours to get that part accomplished!

My dear friend Cherryl had taken off the day from work to help me with this process. That woman worked like I would have expected a hired college hunk to work!!! Even the ultra heavy Bosch washing machine we were able to roll up the ramp into the truck using the dolly. 

I had booked the motel for 4 days, expecting to need at least 2 or 3 days. But, we got it all done before I even checked in! Well, I had a few days where I could try to source a few other items I had on my list, which are not available in Panama.

So much crap!!!! 😖

In case you end up near Elkton MD one day and need a motel, I would like to put in a plug for the Sunrise Inn where I stayed. It is a lovely old motel, like out of a 60s movie. Nicely restored and operated by a family. I found the room to be clean and very spacious, the rate affordable, the mattress to be comfortable, and the nights to be nice and quiet...

So, yesterday the container came. This time we loaded it in 1 1/2 hours! Well, The driver was a very friendly and helpful man! We connected well, as he's originally from Haiti, Cherryl from Jamaica, and I used to live in Tobago... He, a true gentleman, didn't want Cherryl to deal with the heavy stuff and helped me with it.

Darn! There's so much space for more stuff!!! 😝 

Well, we were done before noon, and the container went on its way! Yeay!

Off you go! Have a nice trip! See you in Chiriquí, your new home...

Now there's only my Prius left. I am planning on dropping that off on Friday at the Baltimore harbor for Roll-On-Roll-Off shipping.

Then I have no more physical ties to the US. Only emotional ones to the friends I made there... Next week on Tuesday, I'm flying back to my new home country. If Iris should get a visa, we might come back to the US to visit my friends. But I won't "have to" return anymore...

Whao! The second volume of my life, from age 30 to almost 60, is now about to be finished! The third volume, the autumn of my life in Panama, has started! I'm excited to see what experiences it will bring. So far it was very, very nice! And with Iris in my life, I think this third chapter will be amazingly wonderful...