Previously, using a self-packing moving company was largely used as a way to save money. Understandably, moving can be very expensive, and our mission has always been to make the overseas move as accessible as possible to those who want to.

Some people have a strict budget, whilst others would simply rather but in a bit of legwork during their move, and spend the money they saved elsewhere (flight upgrades, new car, new kitchen…).

However, the last year has seen a huge shift in the way people move. Unsurprisingly, people are starting to think twice about packers entering their home, touching their belongings, using their toilets, shaking hands and being in close proximity to one another.

So, what’s the solution?

A UPakWeShip move!

Whilst other movers are suddenly scrabbling to get together a smooth, uninterrupted self-packing service in a matter of weeks and months, we’ve been perfecting it for years.

The UPakWeShip service has always been contactless (otherwise we’d have to have a serious think about rebranding) and 2020 has proven just how invaluable it can be to have this option.

Packing yourself may feel like a bit of elbow grease, but the money it saves and the safety measures it guarantees will be invaluable in the long-term. If you have a couple of trustworthy friends (within your country’s restriction allowance, of course), why not get them involved? Offer coffee, beer or buy them dinner – it will STILL cost you less money than having the ‘real deal’ enter your home – and you’ve got a better idea of where they’ve been!

Our EU self-packing services come in two forms: Pallets and U-Crates.

Let’s go through the difference…

U-Crates

A U-Crate is a specially designed, UPakWeShip ‘box’ which comes in two sizes: 50 cubic feet and 100 cubic feet. Upon booking, you will organise a day with your shipping coordinator for the U-Crate to be delivered in a flatpack form. On the pre-arranged ‘collection day’ you simply take it onto the curb, set it up (instructions are included), and pack your boxes into it. Our U-Crates are a bespoke design, created specifically to maximise the safety and security of your shipment.

Everything will be pre-arranged with your shipping coordinator, who will have walked you through all of the steps necessary for your move. We will come and collect the fully packed U-Crate, and it will appear on your doorstep in 6-8 or 10-12 weeks time, dependent on it destination.

Pallets

Most of us are familiar with pallets – they’re found around most warehouses, garden centres of DIY stores. If you decide to go with our pallet service, it’s worth finding out where they are locally, often you can save money an old, used one for free.

On collection day, you pack your belongings in boxes onto the pallets, secure it safely using any mechanism you choose (we recommend strong plastic wrap and plenty of cable ties) and we will come and collect your pallet from your curb.

However you choose to move, our contactless moving service offers a safe alternative. A further bonus to not having packers come into your home, is that we are also able to offer extremely competitive prices. Our prices are available on our website, and are all-inclusive and determined by the service, not the weight – so you won’t have any nasty surprises on the other end of your move.

Wondering how much your move will cost? Why not take a look at our website right now. We also operate in the USA, Canada and the UK.

The post UPakWeShip: The New Normal for Moving Overseas appeared first on UPakWeShip.

   WOW!!! Great Service – Great Experience!!!

Thank you for a great experience!

As a family we decided we wanted to experience living in Germany, but when the time came to return to the States we turned to UPakWeShip to help us bring some of our “Memories” back with us.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

What a great service you provided. Instructions are all straight forward and laid out step by step. The shipping materials arrived, we packed everything we wanted to take back with us and than watched as the crate was loaded on a truck and hauled away. Several weeks later, we got notification that our things were cleared through Customs and would be delivered the next day. No damage to the packing crate, no damage to the items inside! What a relief.

Thank You UPakWeShip for a great experience and a professional, simple process.

Hope to use your services again in the future and definitely would recommend UPakWeShip to anyone looking to ship items to or from Europe.

The post Moving Germany to USA review appeared first on UPakWeShip.

Man hugs…what can I say? When in Rome! Still feels a little weird though!
Eating cheese n crackers as a starter. Brilliant idea!
I still have not got my head around counter clockwise, it is still anti clockwise for me.
Cheesy advertising, directly dissing your competitor, speaking so fast on ads I still have no idea what is being said, and as for the side effects they list on drugs they try to promote. Scary!
Mexican food everywhere. Love it!
High medical bills, great facilities and doctors but just because you pay a lot for health insurance does not mean you are covered for everything.
It is Impossible to stay thin!
Great standard of living, nice weather, huge space. Walk in closets and basements!

Large V8 gas-guzzlers that are fun to drive in the USA but would not fit in the lane on the road in England let alone park in a multi-story car park!
Plenty of drive through so you don’t actually have to get out of the car when collecting your prescription, dry cleaning, buying coffee, lunch or banking.
Crappy bread but great chili and soup, talking of soup, grilled cheese n soup is great America tradition, great burgers and steaks, BBQ in general, smoked meats like brisket, homemade corned beef, and cheesy grits. I must say contrary to most other Brits, I do like American bacon but the sausages not so much!.
Great coffee but lukewarm tea with no milk or super sweet over ice!
Talking of tea, Ice with all drinks and water automatically given to you in restaurants. This is very good if you are a Brit, as if you try and ask for water yourself they won’t understand you as they have a totally different pronunciation for water..
Great cocktails, everywhere, do not feel bad for asking for a mojito and a margarita in your local bar!
Tipping is not a place in china and I now tip 15-20% and can work it out in my head and write it on the bill, adding up the total while having a conversation ….well nearly and sometimes I use fingers and or imaginary dots to help my terrible math, or maths if you are British. Reverse logic on Lego btw, they add an s on that one to make legos!
  Sports….I have been to a few football games, baseball and hockey which have been fun and an experience but very different to what I was used to.
The gun culture is scary here, I followed someone into the supermarket the other day, he was wearing a t-shirt and shorts and had a gun holstered to his side. I can never get used to a member of the public armed with a gun next to me while I buy bananas!
In addition, scary and awesome, depending where you live is the wildlife in the USA. There is so much of it and so varied. I am not fond of the snakes or the large spiders but who doesn’t like the deer roaming freely, we also have wild turkeys, Heron, humming birds and sometimes mink in our back yard / garden. Raccoons are funny to watch and I must admit I can watch alligators and dolphins for ages……
Only thing on me bucket list that I did not get a chance to do….go to a drive in movie. May be next time I am back.
Politics, where do I start? Nope, I am going to avoid this one, as I would be guaranteeing to upset at least 50% of the population, suffice to say it is never a dull moment! It will be interesting to see more closely, how Europeans perceive America soon.
Land of the free, not so sure about that, I have certainly come across more than my fair share of red tape and bureaucracy.
Air Conditioning: Have to love it everywhere, until it packs up on the hottest day of the year! I think they are programmed to do this!
Open casket viewings are common which I had not experienced before, and you pass here not die!
Religion is still very alive (pardon the pun lol) and a lot more go to church here than back in the old country.
25 years later I still go into brain freeze mode when writing the date and which way around to put the day and month. Also 8.45 is still and always will be quarter to nine in my world!
People on bikes cycling on the wrong side of the road eg into on coming traffic…..crazy!
  Last but not least, you have to admire America’s patriotism. They all believe they are lucky to be in the best country in the world and for many reasons they are, however they do not sell bacon sarnies or Cornish pasties so there are some limitations!
I have really enjoyed my time here. The USA has given me amazing opportunities, a great life style, many friends, family and a great shipping company in new capable hands.

Onward and Upwards to the flatland’s we come!

Thanks everyone for your help and support.

The post What this Brit has learnt (and not) in America over the past 25 years appeared first on UPakWeShip.

When you’re a Brit and you live in the USA, everyone back home thinks you are so lucky living in America. They think it’s all larger than life, “have a nice daaaayayyyyyyyy” cheap living , great weather, humongous food portions, V8 trucks and guns. Well basically they are right but having said that, there are some things that The Land of The Free doesn’t have and every Brit worth his salt would hopefully agree with me. Obviously there was some stuff back in Jolly old England that we wanted to move overseas from, so neither place is perfect, but I must say living in the USA is bloody brilliant but there are a few things that regardless of my V8, suntan, fat tummy and still no gun, that I miss.
Here is my list of things I miss from back home in England and they are not in any order.

1/ The Real BBC.
Not that pretend BBC America crap that shows replays of Kitchen Nightmares, Star Trek and Top Gear (not that there is anything wrong with Top Gear) The real deal with the news at 6, great British comedy shows, drama and documentaries that sometimes would warrant some naughty stuff after 9pm! (and since when is Star Trek considered an English thing?)

2/ Brit Food
Crisps, twiglets, Pimm’s, full English breakfast, pasties, sausage rolls, club biscuits, instant whip, scotch eggs, crunchies…and a few more food items I’m sure. Every Brit has their favorite food items that are missed and are smuggled back in suitcases after visits back home, all slightly different tastes we have but all variations on a theme!

3/ The British Pub

“Obviously”, you say, what would a post from a Brit be without the mention of pubs? Yes you can get a beer anywhere and there are many fine bars in the USA, that serve great beer and free poor cocktails but it’s just not the same. A bar is a place in which one goes to have a beer, maybe grab something to eat and watch some sports. A pub, on the other hand, is that almost sacred ground in which you can visit after work, after soccer, after chores, after shopping and after anything else for that matter, give a nod to other locals and the landlord (owner of said pub) and allow the stresses of the day to fall into oblivion, talk about the footie, racing or your mean boss or have a nice chat and a pint with the misses. Most pubs offer a sense of belonging and familiarity that a typical bar just doesn’t have. They also have Crisps. Ploughman’s and pork scratching’s.

4/ The Weather
Every Brit talks and moans about the weather and not without good reason! Actually I love drizzle, low cloud cover and wind, wrapping up warm and hearing the wonderful crunch of leaves underfoot from the frost in autumn.
Just kidding, how could anyone enjoy that when you could be sitting here typing this blog with blue skies and 85 degrees?

5/ English English
Having been here over 20 years my English English keeps getting accused of being Australian, Australian! It can get a bit rusty but my American wife makes sure I go back every year for a brush up. English, English is the way we say stuff and I don’t mean like “aluminium” I just mean the way we talk between ourselves, the speed, the banter, the slang, the humour, you know what I mean.

6/ Christmas Build Up
If your living in a cold damp climate what better way to celebrate that than have Christmas lights strung up in every village center, window displays, Christmas markets with carousels and mulled wine for sale that you can drink while walking around all the stands with Christmas goodies for sale while listening to Christmas carols. The whole festive atmosphere, the food, even the shopping is fun and I it’s all wonderful. I know most people here in the USA celebrate Christmas but for some reason it’s just not the same. Also as soon as Christmas day is over everything is put back in the box and next day everyone returns to work! No boxing day, no left over cold meat and piccalilli, volovants, cheese and Branston, sausage rolls, curry, bubble and squeak, I could go on. More importantly, no traditional visit to the pub on “Boxing Day” lunch time. The kids don’t even get a chance to show off their new toys and play with mum and dad for a day as its straight back to work! If you are in retail you might as well not even bother with Christmas with the Christmas Eve late openings and the sales beginning Christmas day at 6pm! Christmas dinner with everything loaded on your plate, wearing silly hats and telling silly jokes from your crackers just doesn’t happen here. I believe this is partly due to the Americans having eaten a huge thanksgiving meal the month before and are still recovering and partly because they don’t want to appear looking stupid on face book.  Lastly all the English classics come out on the radio from when I was a lad. Classical hits from bands like Slade, Mud, Wizard, Chris Rea and The Pogues are just a few of that never seem to have made it across the pond.

7/ Harrods and Marks and Spencer. America just doesn’t have an equivalent. Yes they have Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Trader Joes and stuff but sorry it’s not Harrods! Yes you have some great sandwich shops here but there is something about the Scotch Beef and horseradish or English breakfast sandwich from M&S that can’t be beat!

8/ Sunday Roast. What a fantastic tradition to bring the family together. I used to regularly go home on a Sunday in my late teens to fill my tank up for a week on meat, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puds filled with gravy, veggies etc followed by trifle. Using my mums washing machine during the visit was an added bonus but I think that happens here too!

9/ The Pavement and walking. I do miss walking to the pub, even the shops sometimes. It’s a bit hard to walk anywhere here as there are very few pavements, meaning the thing you walk on next to the road as opposed to in the USA pavement meaning the thing you drive your V8 on and the curb that you might be lucky enough to find and walk on!

10/ The Indian Restaurant
Now this country does great BBQ, Italian, steaks, sea food and much more but sadly lacks a lot of good Indians, meaning Indian restaurants. Did you know the most popular dish in England now is Chicken Tikka Masala beating the old favorite of fish and chips. I personally think Chinese and Thai food is a lot better in the UK as well.
As the weather one was silly I would also like to give a quick mention to the also rans….. The NHS, English Plugs, (not pubs) the electric grid being all underground and more stable, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Stonehenge, Bacon Sarnies, Cornwall, Prince Harry, The London Cab, The Underground, Guy Fawkes and lastly James Bond, ……..

Moving to America? UPakWeShip can help you get here. Email move@upakweship.com Call 1 866 868 6386 or visit the web site www.upakweship.com
We have the best rates, a lot of experience and 5 star international moving reviews for people moving to USA.

The post 10 Things Brits miss when moving to America. appeared first on UPakWeShip.