We (my husband, me and our Lab) are moving to Zurich because of my husband's job offer from ETH (yayy!) from Princeton, New Jersey, US at the end of January.
We had spent a year in Zurich before we came to US, 3.5 years ago; but I can not figure out exactly what to bring with us from US to Zurich.
We are going to use a moving company, we are going to ship 8 extra large boxes, -not any of our furnitures because they asked a lot of money- so we want to carry small things. We have just bought a new induction compatible cookware, new comforter set, bathroom rugs, kitchen items, dry dog food etc. But we still have some empty boxes.
I am planning to buy a shower curtain, a medium sized living room carpet and you know this and that, small items. Maybe curtains? I don't know how are the curtains there. If they use hooks or the other system, like the small white plastic things..
You guys are more experienced than we are, so we need your ideas.
There's quite a lot of discussion about this already if you search.
Outdoor gear is much more expensive here, so if you like walking or skiing etc, bring (or buy before you come) walking shoes, warm/waterproof clothing etc.
You have lived here before and you state that you are bringing 8 boxes of small things such as shower curtains but then not bringing any furniture because of the cost.
Not sure why you would buy a shower curtain to transport when they are really cheap here in ikea its not like switzerland doesnt have showers. A shower curtain in Ikea will cost you something like 15CHF. I guess you have already checked the place you will rent to find out if you need a shwer curtain since there are plenty of places with glass shower suroundings where a shwoer curtain would not make much sense
Curtains on the other hand can be expensive just make sure they have a good hook insert at top for and you may need to adjust the length
I assume you have plenty of money to buy new furniture as you will be aware homes here generally are not furnished.
We are going to stay in a furnished house for a few months, and then move a permanent place. We have checked IKEA already from the website so I know what they have.
And I DO know Switzerland have showers??
The reason I am talking about decor like curtains or small things is, there are very high quality things here which are way less then half price of Zurich. We lived there before. I have space and if I can, why not? I want to bring as many things as I can. Because we don't have a weight limit. And I am just asking you.
I usually counsel folks to travel light - but if you have some space left in your boxes anyway... having been there, done that, there are only three things I would consider shipping around the world anymore:
My dogs and all their accoutrement .
My library.
A pastry cutter.
The dogs of course must come (or we don't move) - but their gear will cost you a fortune here. As will replacing your library - so if you can't live without your favorite titles, bring them. The last is unknown here... so toss one in your box before you seal it.
As for the dog gear:
Doggie first aid - much of the usual stuff is only available from the vet here, not sold OTC in pet stores. So if there are things you consistently use, stock up.
(Bring all your dog's medical records as well, as some of the meds you might be taking are not available here.)
Harnesses, leads and other paraphenalia. Prices for good quality dog stuff here will make you cry. If you do any dog sports, bring your gear. (Especially if you do Agility. A backyard set here will run thousands. So bring your own - or bring your tool set and plan on DIY once here.)
If you are shipping by sea, I might hold off on bringing too much dry dog food. Mine (millennia ago, I'll admit) got a bit musty and I had to toss the lot. What brand to you feed? We can tell you if it's available here, or not.
And finally... bring a bilingual dictionary to brush up on your Hund-Deutsch, because if your dog was born after 1 Sept 2008 you will need to take the SKN classes within your first year here. (And you should do it anyway, even if not required.) If you have a little bit of basic German you will have a much easier time finding a course in your neighborhood.
Wishing you and your doglet all the best as you settle in.
We have already bought the doggie first aid kit, his medicals (heartworm pills for 12 months, I don't know if you have them there?), ear solutions, toothpaste , his leashes, toys etc.
We are feeding grain-free (a new trend in US!!!) but I am not sure I can find lots of grain-free brands there. We checked Germany, they have some brands (Acana, Fromm, Orijen) and there is a place in Zurich (Sniffany), whichc also sells Acana and Orijen. So we switched his food to Acana to make him get used to his new kibble in Zurich. He is now on Fromm and Acana.
Maybe I can give up feeding him grain-free. I don't know
But I should buy hydrogen peroxide for him, thank you very much for reminding.
We have also bought lots of converters for plugs. Oh, I have stocked makeup stuff from MAC, it is very cheap here. You know, comforter sets, bathroom stuff, paintings.. we bought some.
Actually, we compare the prices from Amazon (here and Germany). If cheaper here and we know that we will need that, we buy that.
Zooplus also makes it's own grain-free brand, Purizon, which looks suspiciously like Orijen. That runs ca 60 per 13kg bag, btw.
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ETA:
FYI unlike in the US, Heartworm - that is, Dirofilaria immitis , as opposed to French heartworm or Lungworm Angiostrongylus vasorum - is not a threat in northern Switzerland. North of the Alps dogs are not routinely put on a heartworm preventative; south of the Alps the issue should be discussed with your vet. But as you will need to see a vet within 10 days of arrival in order to register your dog in ANIS, this should be a discussion point at that time. In fact, to avoid bringing unnecessary medication, perhaps you should chat with a local Swiss vet before you come over. ( Dirofilaria immitis preventatives are recommeded for travel to the south of France, Italy, any of the mediteranean countries, along with Leishmaniose and a few other tropical parasites - but one usually only begins this treatment 1 month before travel. Again, speak to your Swiss vet soon-ish.)
I can certainly understand why you'd bring decorative stuff here with you, from the States. The selection of that kind of stuff here is very limited and/or very expensive. (e.g. I have never found a place here that sells affordable wall decor that doesn't look like it was mass produced in China and belongs in a dorm room).
Also, maybe you know this already, but standard 84" curtains from the U.S. will probably be too short to use here. So you would most likely need at least 95" curtains from the U.S. and then to hem them up a bit. It's wise to bring curtains from the U.S. though, because they really are VERY expensive here (especially if you want quality ones). I always buy mine from somewhere like JCpenney.com or Macys.com, which both offer international shipping.
FYI -- Queen-sized bed sheets from the U.S. will fit a 160 cm wide x 200 cm long bed here quite well. Flat/top sheets are very hard to find here, as are large blankets. Most of the blankets sold here don't cover the entire bed and are more like a twin-size from the States.
Will you have a furnished place here? The reason being is that when we moved here (from the US) we performed as cost-to-benefit analysis on every item we owned and weighed it against the cost to ship it and/or replace it. In almost each case, it was about 60% cheaper in the long run to ship everything. We moved our whole home (plus extra planning supplies) for about $9,000. The cost to replace our furniture alone with in-kind replacements would have run us easily 10,000 to 15,000 CHF on the local economy. Not that we have anything fancy, but a mattress here and sofa there does add up in a hurry.
If I may, please consider bringing as much as you can in the beginning. In our experience, it has saved a lot of money and time. Unless of course you already have both...then in that case...don't forget to invite me for shopping!
I second the sheets advice. They are quite expensive here, and unless you want to spend an absolute fortune then I'd bring your favourites. After we arrived and I HATED the ones I could find here in a reasonable price range (ie almost $500 for fitted sheet, pillow cases and duvet cover, but not flat sheet), I ordered some 1000 thread count from Target (!) Australia online, and had Mum bring them when she visited!! Much nicer at a third of the cost.
I'm gonna add my vote to the sheets thing too, flat sheets are hard to find and you'll get far better quality on sale in the USA than here...
Pillows and the right size pillow cases were an issue for us with our mis-matched Swiss/Australian linen selection...
Most apartments have curtain runners build into the ceiling, which take the little plastic runners. It's fiddly but not difficult to fit the right ones to your pre-made curtains... definitely go for long curtains with the intention of hemming them up later (iron-fusible hemming tape is probably smart too)...
We brought '1 of everything' for our kitchen, and didn't regret it, because stuffing around trying to find the bits and pieces we needed, when we were completely unfamiliar with the local area, shops and language, would have made a difficult experience even more painful. These days, we know where to find just about everything.
Not sure about the pastry-cutter advice...but I'm currently on the hunt for a cake/pie server with a serrated edge... haven't spotted one yet...
I'm with MC and usually recommend you travel light. Lots of things just won't fit properly. The bed sheets could well not fit unless you get flat sheets.
However, If you still have room and no weight limit bring your favorite shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, etc.
Bring spice mixes if you use them and your favorite salad dressing. They keep a long time.
Great GREAT advices, thank you for all your time. I appreciate, thaks a lot.
We are good to go with sheets, blankets, bed cover, pillows, good towels, bath rugs
We have bought an induction compatible stainless steel cookware - good to go! Some spices as well.
I have also stocked some shampoo and some other cosmetics
I will bring all my decorative stuff, some kitchen tools etc.
Now, the reason of not shipping the entire furniture... They cost average $12.000 without the insurance. Also, shipping them means storing them somewhere in Zurich during our stay in a furnished place, for 5 months. That was also another cost. We thought everything, decided not to bring them.
We have just bought them actually, they are like new (sigh) It was sad for me too, but whatever, sometimes you need to start over..It can be fun, right? Right? Right?
By the way, anybody wants anything?????????? We would be happy to bring!
Bring lots of batteries, not just the AA and AAA but also replacements for your watch, scale, and calculator.
Another thing that might sound silly, spray bottles such as those for cleaning supplies. I have mostly found ones with metal nozzles here, and those corrode quickly when used with vinegar or bleach. You can get plastic- nozzled ones in the States super cheap.
Edit: I forgot to say that I don't advise bringing tons of electrical appliances. You can use stepdown converters, but they aren't designed to be used 24/7. Plus they hog valuable real estate. We did bring our blender and juicer because we only use those for short periods at a time, and we have a small converter for the counter top.
If it helps, we did buy 95" curtains Stateside and modify to work here. Outfitted the whole house for less than one set of curtains would cost here.
For what ever its worth...we found these spray bottles at Jumbo on the cheap. Well...swiss cheap anyway (8 chf if memory serves). We can find batteries too...but...not so cheap. I recommend getting NiMH batteries and a charger.