You will find, as did I, that the international shipping companies are all very concerned and compassionate about your “precious belongings” when you're calling for prices and details.

Each international shipping company quotes about the same rate and offers the same basic services. At the time of my move (end of 2023), it was about $30 a cubic foot. The price covered packing materials, in home packing, hauling to the shipping site, loading on the ship, unloading (typically in the Netherlands), trucking down to Italy, and unloading the truck into the house and rooms that you specify (extra fees if they have to hand-truck your boxes from the truck to the house or go up more than one floor).

Here's where we need to talk.

I am being very intentional in separating what they say and what they actually do. Sadly, in my case (and others) it was not the same!

I seriously recommend that you sell everything you own, unless you really can't live without it or it can't be replaced in Italy. I can only speak to my experience, but I have heard other horror stories, so I know that mine is not an isolated incident.

The mover/packers who were sent to my home did not allocate nearly enough time for the packing. Of the three people, two of them had no experience in wrapping or packing and they handled my clothing and breakables with the finesse of an agitated gorilla! Needless to say, it cost me a lot more than it should have because of wasted space or using way too much paper, rather than taking the time to fit things together in the boxes. On top of this, my clothing was not folded. It was yanked off the hangers and dropped into boxes. They were a mess, when they got here – ALL needed ironing.

There was no time to have them send someone else, as I had to get out of my house. I was up against a wall. The shipping company talked as if they were very disappointed in the subcontracted movers and promised to have their “professional” packers do a thorough re-pack of my items at the shipping sight. At this location, they managed to create even more boxes and even left a box at the shipping site in California, which I'm still waiting for them to ship!

Out of 128 boxes, which arrived five months later, seven of them were missing. The local movers claimed that they unloaded them all and that I must have just missed checking them off. I was faced with three men glaring at me to trust them and just sign off on the checklist. Big mistake, because after careful sorting and unpacking, those seven boxes were absolutely missing, as one of them was still in the States. On top of this, I found many items damaged or completely ruined, as well as no rhyme or reason as to what they packed in the same box... underwear with kitchen items, etc. Far worse than how a child would pack.

So, what do you do? You send emails, make phone calls, take pictures, file reports, and then they ghost you. When they do respond, they make it very clear that you will be the one to prove what something is worth, find something to replace it with, and pay any shipping costs in order to get it to you.

When I look at what I paid to have my “precious valuables” shipped to Italy, as well as the time, hassle and frustration, I would have had very little shipped... necessary documents, pictures and a few items that would probably fit in a couple file boxes. The truly precious and valuable things would have come on the plane with me.

The positive side to leaving it all behind?

By leaving almost everything behind, you truly get to start over, fresh. It gives you a reason to shop all of the local stores and get to know everyone. You have a daily purpose to get out there and be seen by the locals. You get to replace all of the old stuff with new items—new colors...new shapes...different sizes...a true break from the past!

Ciao for now,
LeeRyan