The Great American Road Trip

Our move to Australia has motivated us to make the most of our last few months in the states. Pretty soon after we decided we were moving we also decided we wanted to take a road trip to see people we love and places we have always wanted to visit.

Our tentative plan has us covering 5,236 miles by land and about 3,000 miles by air for a quick trip to Mexico City for a wedding, which we know will be worth missing our last 4th of July for a while! Our dates are still a bit tentative, but we will be in these cities for sure, around these dates. If we are in your city we would love to see you!

If you have any recommendations on where to stay, things we need to do or must eats on our trip please let us know!

Arrival Date	City
Thursday, June 26, 14	Cincinnati, OH
Saturday, June 28, 14	Washington, DC
Monday, June 30, 14	Harrisonburg, VA
Tuesday, July 1, 14	Charlotte, NC
Wednesday, July 2, 14	Mexico City
Tuesday, July 8, 14	Charleston, SC
Wednesday, July 9, 14	Ashville, NC
Friday, July 11, 14	Sapphire, NC
Sunday, July 13, 14	Athens, GA
Tuesday, July 15, 14	New Orleans, LA
Thursday, July 17, 14	Austin, TX
Saturday, July 19, 14	Dallas, TX
Monday, July 21, 14	Santa Fe, NM
Wednesday, July 23, 14	Grand Canyon
Friday, July 25, 14	Tucson, AZ
Tuesday, July 29, 14	Los Angeles, CA
Friday, August 1, 14	Sydney, NSW

We will be selling the Jetta, single tear, toward the end of the trip in Tucson. Hope to see you on the trip!  

To Ship or Not to Ship

We have spent a lot of time talking about shipping or not, but talking is pretty much all we have done, until tonight! We definitely agree that less is more. We have also agreed that we aren't going to ship any of the big stuff (think couch, table, bed, etc.), but everything else we need to figure out still. Anything that plugs in is also out since the plugs are different. Personally, I kind of like that the decision is made for us on some things.

We know it is expensive to ship stuff - anywhere from $3,000 - $9,000 is our best guess. We have looked at a few companies, but in order to get an accurate quote, you actually have to know what you are shipping....duh!  So we created a system to start figuring it out.

The purple tab's are just for you Marlene!

Our strategy was to tag everything together to make sure we agreed. There were no fights or tears, so I am taking it as a success. So far we are done with the office/catchall room and living room.

Chris wouldn't let me tag the candles. 

Six hours later we have three bins of things to give to friends or donate - an entire bin of craft supplies, odds and ends including sunglasses, cubs jerseys and some Christmas decorations. We also have three bins of Christmas decorations and books to drive to Cincinnati tomorrow to store at Chris' parents.

Next up, the kitchen....I think that will be the hardest room of all....

Bone Crusher – Boring Stuff (Vet and Food)

This is boring stuff…so unless you are moving your dog to Australia stop reading now.  I will do my best to update the blog on stuff I have already done, but for now I will write about what I am still doing, moving wise. 

Today I spent about 2 hours working on a few of the details for Bone Crusher’s 5 week stay in Tucson, AZ with my Mom and coordinating food, vet visits etc. during that time. Chris and I will be on a 5 week road trip visiting friends, family and sites after we leave Chicago. While I would love to travel with BC, it would add an additional layer of craziness that we really don’t want. Plus the thought of being in a car for 5,000+ miles with a dog is not really at the top of my list. I love the little dude, but we would not be happy and I don’t think he would be either. The other reason and maybe more important is he has to have tests and shots administered during this time (21 days out from export) to allow him to get to Australia and I don’t want to manage that from the road. I could see the tears (from me obviously) if our car broke down and I couldn't get BC to the pre-determined vet location on the correct date. 

So here is what I did and some random thoughts as I was doing it. 

Finding a vet in Tucson, AZ that I trust to administer his last tests/shots before getting to LA and then flying to Sydney. I called 3 vets, and on my third call I thought to myself, what the hell am I doing….I mean really, I’m interviewing vets over the phone about scanning a microchip and giving a shot, get a grip.  So I just went with my Mom’s vet.

Letting go is a big lesson in this process, you have to trust that it is going to work out and frankly a lot of it is out of your control. Yes, I am a crazy dog lady, I have embraced it.  

Locating a store in Tucson where my mom can get his brand of food for 5 week stay. This was surprisingly easy, the horse feed store down the street can order cases of his food. I set a reminder for myself to order this when it gets closer since its takes up space in the freezer.

Shipped treats, toys and freeze dried food to my mom’s house from my favorite website, wag.com. The freeze dried food is for after we leave AZ and head to LA and we will ship individual servings to the quarantine facility in Australia the week before we depart since he has allergies.   

It’s surprising how long this little stuff takes….I’m trying to do as much as I can now because I know as it gets closer I will be feeling the time crunch!  

Bone Crusher - Transport Crate

You just have to embrace that if you are moving your dog oversees they are traveling in the cargo hold of the plane and they will be in there crate for a LONG time, a very long time. No way around it, unless you are legally blind, glaucoma doesn’t count, I have it and I checked. No dice.

It took me a bit to get past this hurdle, but at the end of the day, there is nothing you can do about it just is what it is. On the advice of our pet transport company and just logic we purchased BCs travel crate 6 months out to start getting him used to it.

Selecting a crate – there are a lot out there. We went off the recommendation of our pet transporter and purchased a PetMate Sky Kennel (we found it on prime for $85, we are going to miss prime!). We measured Bone Crusher and they told us the crate size required by the airline based on his size and breed. Since he is a snub nosed breed, he needs a bigger crate.  This thing is not small, it takes up some serious real estate in our apartment! But when I think of him spending 20 hours in it, I realize how small it really is…

Anytime our apartment buzzer rings and a box arrives BC gets super excited. He loves the FedEx guy! 

T-Rex helping unpack the most recent soap.com order

The massive box with his crate arrived (it was almost as big as me) and I immediately assembled the crate. Mistake. All he wanted to do was stand on top of the crate. He does that when Gumbo visits, so I should have known better. 

Seriously, poor Gumbo!

So we disassembled the crate and now have the top with pillows in our room and the bottom with his blanket in the living room. For the last two weeks we have given him heaps (starting my Aussie speak already) of treats to “take it to the house.” He definitely likes the house and hangs out in there. 

 

Take it to the HOUSE

Next up adding to roof, then the door. As longs as there are treats I am sure he will still love it!

There are so many little things to plan for, I kind of look at it like a fun puzzle. Chris and I are taking a road trip and Bone Crusher will be in Arizona with my Mom. We have to get the travel crate to AZ since he is traveling in the cabin of the airline with her and the crate is too big for checked baggage. So I saved the massive box and will ship it to AZ. Hopefully planning for these little things will make it easier in the end, we shall see!  

Bone Crusher – Hiring the Expert

Post without pictures aren't very fun, sorry :)

Once I looked into the process of moving Bone Crusher to Australia, I quickly realized I was no expert and I needed one stat. There was no way I was going to feel comfortable doing this on my own. I'm worried enough about him being in the cargo hold of the plane, I don't want to worry about not checking the right box on a form or something completely stupid like that (which happens)! My worst fear was him getting to Australia and him getting sent him back, yikes. Deep breaths.

There are a ton of pet transporter companies out there. Do your research, I conversed with some strange people out there. I researched reviews/emailed about fifteen companies and did phone interviews with four. One of my front runners on paper turned out to be a total weirdo over the phone. I asked them all pretty standard questions. My decision makers boiled down to:

1. Overall trust and liking the person - Nathan @ Pacific Pet Transport is great! I noticed in most of my conversations there was a lot of trash talking other companies - not with PPT. That bothered me and turned me off, I wasn't calling to get an assessment of your competitors, I really just want to know what you do well. 
2. Experience shipping to Australia - I went with Pacific Pet Transport, they only ship to NZ and Australia and do it a lot so I felt very confident with them.  
3. Ownership of final paperwork and confirming/getting results from the Vet 
4. How they handled my strange question about what happens if, God forbid, Bone Crusher dies in the process. I know its rare and that it sounds really morbid and I hated asking/thinking about it, but what if it did happen? I needed to know it would be handled respectfully and what exactly would happen. One provider told me it wasn't possible. Well that's just not true...that they don't plan for it because it would never happen to their company. Really? Dummy, it could happen and not having a plan wouldn't prevent it. Needless to say I did not go with them. 

Anyway, use your head in selecting someone you feel comfortable with and has experience, but hire someone!

In my online searching there were a few things that made me smile that are different - the date, I keep writing the wrong date. I'll get used to dd/mm/yyyy soon. In the online system the US is also listed at the United States not United States. That made me laugh a little and think of all those annoying Ohio State fans that say THE Ohio State University.

Here are what some of the instruction screens on the process:

The online calculator gives you a timeline based on your county of origin and export date. 

It has a ton of details, but I think it still confusing...easy to miss something.

Furry Child

Bone Crusher, our Boston Terrier, is about to be an Australian puppy! Sydney isn’t going to know what hit ‘em. We are bringing the little guy with us. For me, there was really no other option. I have a hard time without him when we are gone for a week, so he is coming with! 

Last time in snow for a while!

Moving your animal to Australia is a time consuming process and it is not cheap - I think its actually more difficult than moving yourself. It is at best a six-month process, at worst an eight-month process. Thus far my estimate is about $4,000 for a dog of his size (20#). I am mostly completed with the process. He is endorsed by the USDA, has his import permit from the Australian government and his quarantine reservation. He has all of his shots up to date and his remaining vet appointments booked (only 3 more!). There are a lot of detailed steps you need to follow - the Australian agriculture department has a good online tool that spells it out for you. I would describe it more as time consuming and annoying than difficult. 

In early 2014 the Australian quarantine rules became less stringent; it was the best Christmas present EVER! The quarantine rules, once arriving to Australia, were previously 30 days; it has been reduced to 10. WAY more manageable. However, I hear you can't visit them as easily now, buts its only 10 days.  

My basic advice from the US:

START NOW - you want to get blood drawn at least 6 months prior to departure to test for rabies, but if your dog doesn't have a current rabies vaccination or micro-chip already you have to start sooner

Know the Australian regulations – all current regulations are on their website, the website was updated January 2014, its way more user friendly and quarantine was reduced from 30 to 10 days!!!!!

Hire a Pet Transport Company - It's already an expensive process and I realize this is yet another expense, but its not something I'm an expert at or willing to mess up! 

Have a Vet you trust
Purchase a travel crate - start training your dog to love this little place - he will be in it for about 20 hours. 

Plane Tickets Home!

We bought our plane tickets to our new home! August 1^st, here we come! Not gonna lie, it felt a little strange to purchase a one way ticket to Australia!   

The First Post

This post has been looming on my to do list for quite some time now. I’ll start by telling a brief story of who I am and why I am writing this blog. I’ve shared so many different details with different people about our pending adventure, that I will pretend you don’t know anything, here goes!

Our brief story…my name is Megan and I currently live in Evanston, Il. My husband, Chris, is finishing up his MBA. We are long time Chicago city dwellers, but the suburbs called our name in the Fall of 2012 when Chris was accepted to Kellogg. It’s been a jam-packed, crazy two years that will end June 20^th with graduation. At that time we will embark on about a month long Great American Road Trip with a visit to Mexico City in the middle visiting friends, family and landmarks along the way. The road trip will end in LA where we will fly to our new home SYDNEY, not Sidney, Ohio, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA! Yep, we are moving across the globe, you heard that right! Our second to last stop will be in my hometown of Tucson, AZ where we will pick up Bone Crusher, our three year old Boston Terrier to make the trek with us to Australia. 

Now for the why am I writing this blog…there are many reasons, I’ll try to keep it short. I said try J

Reason #1 – to keep in touch with those we love! Obvious reason and a little cliché, but it’s true. I’m not much of a phone talker anyway, so I am hoping this gives me and loved ones a fun outlet to share what we are up to and have a glimpse to life down under. Everyone is excited for us and very eager to take part in our journey. So now they can!

Reason #2 – I have done a lot, I mean A LOT, of research on what it will be like to live in Australia as an American and moving to Australia. A lot of the “real-life” blogs I came across gave great glimpses into the adventure once you are there, but not the process of moving and changing your whole life. That is why I am starting now, to maybe, just maybe help someone in my situation down the road. 

Mind you my research has not always been productive, I’ve gone down a few rabbit holes that I would not like to re-hash, but they give others a good laugh so I will post about some of them. The most ridiculous rant to date has about tampons. Sorry gentleman, but yes, I had a minor meltdown about tampons, apparently they are different. More to come on that later, maybe…it’s slightly embarrassing, but I think the little things are actually the scary part of uprooting and moving to the unknown. Maybe that’s just me. 

Reason #3 – So that I can remember and reflect on how great this adventure is. Chris is much less excited about this blog than I am, but I think he will come along.

Also, public disclaimer that grammar is not my strongest suit. I also use lots of explanation points, smiley faces and ellipsis. So if you can’t handle these things, you should just stop reading now J