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[farm_boy]

I need names of websites that give practical advice.

When I was young and single, it was easy.  I loaded up all my stuff in my car and went to Mommy and Daddy´s house, where I parked my car and my stuff was stored in their basement for free.  Also, they received my mail, paid some of my  bills, renewed license plates, etc etc while I went to South America to teach English for a couple years.

Fast forward 17 years later.  I´m married (no kids) with 2 mortgages (one rental house), 3 cars, lots of debt, and a whole bunch of American-consumer stuff.

Our plan is to return to South America to live in about 4-5 years.

Where do I start?  There are so many little details to work out between now and then.  Mainly,what are we going to do with all our stuff?  I´ve got many ideas, but I´d like to hear from others who have done it successfully.

[zharkov]

Like mom and dad, if you have friends or relatives, you can leave cars, etc. with them.  (I know I guy who left his car with friends while in the Peace Corps.)

You can store lots of stuff, including cars, but you need to judge what is really worth storing vs. selling.

Real estate agents will lease houses; you can have a relative or attorney handle various affairs.  In fact, you probably want an attorney to set up the legal stuff while you are away.

[seniorscholar]

Many many many years ago, my mother (as a new bride) stored her fancy wedding presents in her parents' attic while she followed my father (a military officer) to an overseas posting. Thirty-some years later, when my grandmother died, my mother retrieved her unused wedding presents from the attic and sold them to an antique dealer. Moral: there are a great many things you probably will not ever want to see again after they've been in storage for several years. Sell 'em now.

[expat_scand]

Is the motivation just to do something different for a spell or to move in a new direction?

4-5 years is quite some time, and the question you might consider is what is the plan thereafter? Is there one? If you have a fixed plan and have every intention of resuming your American life the moment after you return, then keeping everything somehow or other can be worthwhile. However, if this is an open-ended plan, then all of that 'stuff' is eventually just baggage (i.e. crap) that can get in the way. I would concur with seniorscholar that most things that go into storage already prove themselves to have no real value, because you won't be needing them for the next 4-5 years.

With the added life and work experience would you be able to return to your current home town/city? We left the US for Scandinavia for an initial 4-5 years with a rather open-ended plan (ok, no plan), and we ditched house, car and furniture both because of no pland and because the opportunity to return to where we lived was limited at best. To date we have about tripled that duration abroad so far - and still counting. Others I have known have been more specific in their plans and had pre-determined a definite time limit and intention to resume life at home afterwards.

[mischt]

Can I second some of what has been written here?
It might be good to start "paring down" now. Get rid of stuff on ebay or craigslist. And what about the debt? Do you feel weighed down by this stuff (or am I reading too much into your post about the difference between then and now and what is taking you back to South America)?
And another thing that is not clear to me (not living in North America): how could 2 people possibly need 3 cars?

[ideagirl]

There are some websites... let's see, Transitions Abroad (site and magazine)... that's a great place to start:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/living/resources/expatriatewebsites.shtml

[keepitmoving]

Well I am single, however I moved to my first overseas job with three weeks notice.  HOw...
1) I packed what I needed (or thought I needed), left everything else at my homein the US.  I had a friend look after my house while I was gone.
2) Came home for Winter break (four months later) Retrieved the things that I was missing and packed the rest away, thinking I would be moving back home at the end of my two year deal.
3) Found a renter (A friend starting a new job at local uni) Rented my place as a furnished place.
Update..
I am now moving to a second overseas post so now what..
I am clearing the POD (storage on wheels) and selling all furniture and things I have not needed in the past two years.  I will take some of the winter clothes I had packed up at first because of the new climate. 
I am renting my house and I have a real estate agent that is taking care of it.  The rent pays for the house and I have a home just in case I need to go back.

Hope it helps

[farm_boy]

Thank you all for your helpful input.

I also found some interesting book titles just by searching on Amazon "moving overseas".

Many of your suggestings line up with what I was thinking (renting our house, lending/giving stuff to friends, etc).  What worries me most are the little business errands.  We'd like to come back to the U.S. now and then to visit, and if things go badly overseas, to live again.  So how can we do the little things like renew license plates, driver's license, pay life insurance, etc etc etc while overseas?

I'm kind of looking forward to paring down our posessions.  Or maybe my wife's.  Her possessions are junk, while mine are all useful (for example, you never know when those foot-long pieces of 2 by 4's and other scrap lumber, half-empty caulking tubes, and those assorted cans of rusty screws might come in handy!).

And Mischt, I'm an American!  That's why I have 3 cars.

OK, seriously, we are a family of 4 (wife, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law, who drives the old clunker to work).  My wife and I drive to work together in our new hybrid, and the 3rd vehicle is a pickup in semi retirement.  Where we live there is virtually no mass transit.  If we move in 4 years, I´d probably sell 2 of the cars, and put one in storage.

I´m still ¨high¨from the trip overseas (we just got back to the U.S. today), so I may not see the pros and cons clearly right now. The main reason to move is that I could have meaningful work there teaching part time to students who really want to learn, and volunteering at an NGO where I think I can be of some use.  Also, eternal springlike weather...

Thanks again for the input.

[octoprof]

OK, how long do you plan to be overseas?  1  year? 5 years? Indefinitely?

That, to me, is the most important question. The answer to that dictates what is sensible and what is not and what is doable and what is not.

[farm_boy]

10-45 years, unless there are dangerous political events, which is entirely possible.

[mischt]

good luck to you! It sounds like a great plan!

[octoprof]

10-45 years, unless there are dangerous political events, which is entirely possible.

In that case, I suggest keeping very little here. For example, a car, 10 years from now, will be rotted and useless, unless you leave it with someone who will drive it regularly, and then it'll have maintenance costs and so forth.

You can pay life insurnance through automatic debit (makes no difference where you are these days).

You don't need to renew license plates if you don't have a car.

You can renew your driver's license when you come home, whenever that is.

Are you and the wife going to move, or is the MIL going with you?

Moving possessions long distances (continents!) is expensive. Take only what you require.

[language_geek1066]

What worries me most are the little business errands.  We'd like to come back to the U.S. now and then to visit, and if things go badly overseas, to live again.  So how can we do the little things like renew license plates, driver's license, pay life insurance, etc etc etc while overseas?

Hi, farm,

I'm new -- this is my first post. And I think I have a suggestion that might help. This company, Earth Class Mail is a virtual private mailbox. If you need an address in the US, or if you just want to travel light and eliminate paper clutter, try them out.

They will receive your mail for you, and make it available online. Then they will shred it for you or forward it. They can also receive UPS deliveries and forward them, if you like.

They seem to be quite aware of possible identity theft issues, and therefore have measures in place to guard against it.

So, you could still receive statements through them.

Or you could, like I do now, pay your insurance and other bills online. Lots of companies are making that available, even without ECM.

Still, it's nice to have a US address when you are away. It can come in handy.

I'm trying to eliminate all paper clutter from my life, so I'm trying Earth Class Mail now myself. Also, I'm gearing up for more travel, and don't want my life to fall into disarray while I'm away.

www.earthclassmail.com

From their website:

With an online PO Box you'll manage your postal mail as easily as your email

View scanned images of your sealed envelopes online, then choose to have your mail securely scanned into a PDF document, recycled, shredded or forwarded to you or someone else.

- LG

[admithopeful09]

What worries me most are the little business errands.  We'd like to come back to the U.S. now and then to visit, and if things go badly overseas, to live again.  So how can we do the little things like renew license plates, driver's license, pay life insurance, etc etc etc while overseas?

Additionally, depending on what state you live in, you can sometimes renew your driver's license and/or pay you registration fees online, without ever having to set foot in the DMV.

[johnstevenson]

Just sell everything you won't need.