Moving Your Luggage Abroad with My Baggage: review

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When you relocation overseas, how do you send your luggage to your new home? This is something that I had to deal with recently, with my relocation from the united states to the Czech Republic.

There was a time when the large majority of my valuables fit into one backpack — a time when I dressed exclusively in hippie pants and beer t-shirts. That’s not the case anymore (AND THANKFULLY SO!). I’ve acquired a lot of things that make me pleased over the years.

I moved out of my new York house in November 2019. I kept many of my furniture, books, and valuables in a storage unit for the time being; I brought an SUV’s worth of personal items to my mom’s house.

My plan was to spend the next few months in Cuba, Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador, then come back home and relocation to Prague in May; when COVID hit, my plans went haywire.

I ended up flying from the us to Serbia with two suitcases, plus my carry-on backpack and purse. I was originally planning to return home in September and possibly again for Christmas; had that been the case, I might have brought extra bags when flying. but with COVID, I didn’t have that choice.

So what did I do? I used My Baggage, a company specializing in door-to-door international luggage shipping. This way, I got to send all the items I wanted to have with me in Prague — and receive them just a week later.

Last fall, My Baggage reached out to me, asking for potential promotion. It was ideal timing! They offered me with totally free shipping for four bags, a value of $964, in exchange for this review. I paid an additional $179 out of pocket because two bags were oversized.

My Baggage Review

Why use a company like My Baggage instead of working with a delivery company? It works out to be less expensive than shipping with a conventional provider. Plus, it’s easier: they give you all the forms ready to go, it’s shipped from door to door, and they help you with the customs process.

MyBaggage started in the UK when Managing director Paul, a native of Scotland, was studying in northern Ireland. getting his valuables back and forth between Edinburgh and Belfast was a substantial hassle — not to mention expensive. and that’s just a domestic journey!

He knew there had to be a better way and founded Uni Baggage, a company developed to help students send their valuables back and forth easily. eight years later, the company was rebranded to My Baggage and their focus became people who were traveling and moving abroad.

Today their routes have grown from three to 40,000 (!) and they donate 5% of their profits to charity, including the Down Syndrome association and Comic Relief.

Now that COVID has hit, they’ve been helping people send their valuables back and forth.

Vacuum-sealed bags help you pack a lot more!
Why Ship Luggage?

There are times when you might want to ship pieces of luggage rather than wait months for them. especially if they tend to be bulkier items.

A lot of people say, “You can purchase whatever you need there!” but that is NOT always the case. try finding underwear bigger than a size 2 if you’re in Thailand. Or good winter season clothing anywhere the temperature rarely dips below 50.

I was particularly anxious for my heavy winter season coat and snow boots. It was getting colder, and what if I got a winter season campaign in a rural area? (Yeah, no winter season campaigns ended up happening, even domestically.) I could purchase something locally, but the clothing selection in the Czech Republic isn’t great. some of my Czech pals drive two hours to Dresden, Germany, to purchase clothes!

I also wanted much more of my home decor. Over the four years in new York, I slowly and beautifully decorated my apartment. as for here, this house is in need of some decor. You might remember from my post about redecorating our house that we were essentially starting with a blank slate.

This would give me the opportunity to make my new Czech house feel much more like home.

My mother sent me photos and I colored in what I wanted her to pack!
What Can You Ship?

You can ship quite a lot of stuff — clothing and personal items are no problem for the most part. but there are some items that are a bit dicier.

Most of the prohibited items aren’t unexpected — you can’t ship firearms, live animals, alcohol, tobacco, cash, lottery tickets. You can see the full list of prohibited items here.

But keep in mind that nail polish and liquids (including creams and gels) are prohibited as well. That might be an issue if you’re planning to ship your cosmetics collection.

Additionally, there’s a long list of items that you can ship but for which you’ll receive no compensation: art, electronics, musical instruments, confectionary itemnullnull