Shipping, selling or abandoning is arithmetic rather than sentiment

Three destinations for everything you own

Everything in the flat is going to do one of three things: travel with you, be sold or given away, or be thrown out. There is no fourth option, and the mistake people make is postponing the decision until the final week, when the only remaining option is the third one.

The arithmetic is not complicated. For each item, compare what it would cost to move against what it would cost to replace, adjusted for whether you can actually sell it here and whether you would actually want it there. Most objects answer the question immediately once it is put that way.

What complicates it is that the calculation is emotional as often as it is financial, and it is worth separating the two honestly. Some things are worth shipping for reasons that have nothing to do with cost. Just be clear that that is what is happening.

Freight is cheaper than people think and slower than they hope

Sea freight for a modest quantity of household goods is often surprisingly affordable, and it takes weeks, sometimes considerably longer. Air freight reverses both. Excess baggage on a flight is the most expensive route per kilogram and the most convenient, which is why it makes sense for small quantities and not for boxes of books.

The costs that surprise people are at the receiving end: handling, delivery from the port, and any duty or clearance charge that applies. Rules on importing personal effects differ by country and often depend on how long you owned the items and whether you are returning as a resident, so check the destination’s customs guidance before booking anything.

Get the whole cost, door to door, in writing, before deciding. A quotation covering only the ocean leg is not a price.

Selling takes longer than the last fortnight allows

Disposing of a flat’s contents is a project measured in weeks. Listings have to be written, messages answered, times arranged, and buyers who do not turn up have to be replaced. The items that sell easily go in days and the rest linger, which is exactly why starting late guarantees giving things away.

Price to move rather than to recover value. A thing sold for less than it is worth is better than a thing you are still trying to sell on the morning of the flight, and departing residents consistently overestimate what used furniture fetches.

The last week should contain nothing that is still for sale. Whatever has not gone by then should be offered free, donated or disposed of, and having decided that in advance removes a great deal of stress from the final days.

Storage is a decision to postpone a decision

Leaving things in storage, whether commercial or in a relative’s spare room, is a reasonable option for people who genuinely expect to return or who are moving somewhere temporary. It is also, frequently, a way of avoiding the decision entirely, and paid storage has a habit of costing more over two years than the contents are worth.

If you are storing, be deliberate. Store what is valuable, irreplaceable or genuinely awaiting a known future, and dispose of the rest. Make an inventory, because two years later you will not remember what is in the boxes.

Set a date to review it. Storage without a review date tends to become permanent by default, which is the most expensive way to own things you never see.

The things to carry personally

A small category should travel in your hand luggage regardless of cost: documents, anything issued by an authority, medication, keys, and whatever is irreplaceable. Freight goes missing occasionally and is delayed routinely, and the items that would ruin your first month elsewhere should not be in a container.

Photograph everything you ship and keep the inventory, both for insurance and for customs, since some countries require a detailed list of contents for personal effects.

And be realistic about what arriving somewhere new is like. Whatever you send by sea will not be there when you land, so pack as though the shipment does not exist for the first six weeks. It usually does not. The suitcase you carry has to contain a functioning life on its own, which is a useful constraint to apply while deciding what goes in the container.