OKay.. m just looking for advice on what to pack if you are immigrating to some foreign land with your family? (That means Hubby, Baby & I) ..
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Leezay, that smiley doesn't fit in your post. Now we'll all think you're just messing with us!
Waise, are you really moving? :-o WHere to?
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
unless you are moving to the source of the Amazon river or the base of mount kilamanjaro, you dont really need to pack anything except a few clothes , family photos and other such stuff.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
^I agree....don't over board yourself....
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
okay.. i am sorry shinoo.. mayb i shoudn’t have used that one .. 
.. khayr.. that was a serious question… n yeah Shinoo m moving abroad..
so .. clothes and family photos…thats it!!! 
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
^yes otherwise you would repent that you had wasted a lot of your pakistani rupees on things that u could have purchased in pardess...moreover those things are not of much use if you are shifting to north america or uk.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Aleezay -
From what i remember long ago, my mum bought daighchaaz/pateelay for big dawats when we immigrated, but for you that won't useful immediately. We had also gotten a tava- but nowadays the tava-look-alike nonstick gridles work so much better than the original tava. If you use saffron in ur cooking then get that too cuz it's expensive abroad.
We had brought PLENTY of clothes. Basically everything else is available abroad, but whatever you think is of sentimental value related to Pakistan that you think you'll miss, take it with you. I don't know if you have family abroad, but we came from a huge family and even though we stayed with relatives for a first couple of months, we still felt home-sick.
If you have space, and you forsee that when you land your budget will be tight then it's better if you take other household stuff that'll be useful...like bedsheets wagaira.
I'm sorry i know it's not of much help. I'm in New York and for us everything is available here, but i'm not sure what the situation is where u'll be relocating to. Ask LegallyBrown, and CareBear. I think they'll point you in the right direction. Best of luck!!!!!!!!
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
aleezay bhanjee
If you are moving to good ole kaynaidaaa and specially to somewhere in the GTA (Area around toronto, including toronto itself offcourse 
) , believe me you will regret if you brought chaddar, takiya GhilaaF, loota, Pateeli, Chamchay, chaiey kay cup etc etc etc. This stuff is freely available all over the place. There are dedicated shopping spots , big stores etc. that only cater to such DESIFIED requirements. The investment worth doing is in WINTER clothing this is something that you cant live without, and its pretty expensive here. I had a few good tips from friends here before I landed with my whole family. We brought wollen stuff and winter jackets from pakistan (I got a winter jacket rated to -30C from pakistan for 1800, in canada expect to pay around $125-150 for the same). This is my second winter in canada and that jacket works perfect. So bring some wollen stuff, jackets, basic linen, and try to get the other household stuff from here. Its worth it. Saves you all the trouble of tugging along tons and tons of useless stuff which you will probably never use.
My 2 cents 
If you need any specific info please letme know, I have a good experience of moving a family of 4 , including 2 toddlers to canada
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
^tau iss mai itna bura munh bananay wali kia bat hai??? 
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Aw Mamoo jan … 
Thats a great help… well.. i only have 10 month ol in tag so basically i am more worried about him. i am aware of warm clothing and stuff… but basically wuts really bothering me is how to keep him entertained and comfortable? as we wont be in the familer environment…wut about his blankets and feeders and pampers n stuff? apparently we can’t have much luggage(that rules out all the degchays, lotas, baltis and charpayees ) with us so we do need to decide on wut is absolutely necessary to take with us. By the way wut about bed linen? is it worth while if we take a set or two with us… and towels or utensils?
Thanks for all the help you guys… i really really appreciate that!
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Leez main ko bhi lai jaao, ghar kai chhotai motai kaam kar doon ga 
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
It’s a good idea to buy some linen & comforters etc…
for your toddler & yourself…do buy some warm clothing…my pakistani black leather jacket(rs 3000)is available for 250 US $$ here…
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Leez, if you're migrating to another country, why can't you take a lot of luggage? I don't know about here, but Canada allows you to bring in a lot of stuff when you migrate.
Anyway, the country you're moving to is A LOT more expensive than say Canada or the States. I realized that when I moved here. I could've easily bought a lot more stuff from Canada, if I had known.
Anyway my opinion is somewhat different from what most people have said here. If you're relocating and you have a whole house set up in Pakistan already, why not spend a few thousand dollars and ship everything, instead of spending thousands and thousands of dollars and buying everything you already owned back there? But I guess that's only feasible if you've arranged for a house/appartment already. It also helps you emotionally seeing familiar things around you...cuz moving to a new country is VERY HARD.
But if you don't mind that, then just bring the essentials. Maybe a small set of dishes, some linen, etc. that you'll need when you first get here. Bring everything you'll need in the first few days before you can find your way around.
I guess LB can help you better with info on the city you'll be going to.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Is it a migration in terms of permanent residency. If u let me know the country I might be able to help you regarding rules a bit more (I am not 100% aware of rules of all countries but for some I have good knowledge). Keep following basic steps in mind. Keep in mind that if u or your spous has arranged a job already in that country then things can be little easier in terms of finances.
1) Check with the customs & read the rules carefully of the country u are migrating to. See what they allow to migrants.
2) Check the rent of house/flat/apartment, and see if u can fit ur stuff in it if u ship it from Pakistan.
3) Most of electric stuff is useless is u are moving to North America. Even in Europe 50% things wont work if purchased in Pakistan.
4) Calculate the expenses for shipment and check how much do u have to spend if u buy stuff in that country.
Good luck with ur migration, usually its a painful step.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
James_Bhand, ones needs to know few tricks & sometimes they work. I bought a jacket from Dixie Mall for $50 though the sale price was $100 on it. Just had to flirt with the shop owner (or lets say with her daughter, because shopowner wasn't there) & she gave me further discount :) The same thing here in Pakistan costs more than Rs 5000.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
I had been planning to write in this thread for some days, but didnt have much time. Anyway, my opinion is lot similar than carebear's. When we moved out of the country, my husband's employers gave us the shipping allowance which was sufficient enough to move a whole house furniture + utensils. But unfortunately we didnt have much to bring here, because we lived in a joint family. I didnt bring my bedroom set because I wanted my room to be the same whenever we went back to visit, instead of sleeping on charpaies or stuff. So I only brought some of the kitchen utensils + dinner sets + Bed linen etc. I had in mind that I'd get everythign from here. But it was more expensive here, it would have been saved me a lot of cash even if I bought the furniture from Pakistan and had it shipped. But we didnt have much time to do that at the end.
My suggestion is, if your company doesnt provide you with the shipping
alowance, look for some shipping company with reasonable rates. But at the same time, make sure that the reputation of the company is good, if you're shippind from pakistan. Because we had a mishap in shipping procedure, some of our things were stolen. Make sure that they come to your home and pack everything infront of your eyes.
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Thanks everyone.. i can do with every llittle information i can get from anywhere. Actually i am moving to Aussi land in few weeks… it was kinda frustrating as not many people know about the aussi rules and migration packages from here to Oz.i talked to the airlines and the airlines with reasonable airtickets are only offering max of 35 kg luggage per person with 10 kg handbags… that is around onle 45 kg per person!!! i cannot cram everything in 45 kg!!! i dunno wut to do!
**Goliko : **linen and comforters are already in my list
**CB : **Hey buddy 
well… i hope you kno all the basic tips for moving buddy.. i really need them right now…
Najim :
- Already done that
- Migrants do have special package allowance but its upto airlines how much they allow their passengers to carry with em.. so m kinda stuck here with airlines. I am checking on these flat and units for rent these days so its under process.
- m not carrying any electric appliance.. except my hair dryer mayb
- I did check with TCS for courier … it is kinda expensive 6000 Rs per 5 kg .. thats a lot isn’t it ? still have to check with others
**Sadaf : **My company isnt providing me with any thing… doing all this moving and stuff on my own.
btw. Anyone have an idea if the bank account is neccessary for the first few weeks over there?
Thank you so much everyone!
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Aleezay, a bank account is most certainly useful.
Credit cards too, if you can manage them online. When I moved from the UK to Canada, I left a fair portion of my money in my UK bank account and bought stuff on my UK credit cards. It had a 2.75% foreign currency premium on everythin I bought, but was worth it because it stopped me from being forced to carry large amounts of money.
For a bank account, you should carry over money in the form of a bank draft in australian dollars written against an australian bank, so that local banks will accept it.
As a new immigrant, you are unlikely to have good enough credit rating to get a chequing account but you should be able to open a basic bank account that comes with a debit card. That will allow you avoid carrying large amounts of money.
Also, with a local bank account, whilst you will probably not able to get cheques until your credit history is built up, you should be able to get bank drafts written to cover large payments like rents etc.
In a WORST CASE scenario, if you don't have a bank account and pay rent etc by cash, ALWAYS GET RECEIPTS!!!
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
Don’t forget to take your passport 
You are moving? 
Good Luck
Re: What to pack & What not to pack?
OYE !
Where the hell you been larkee.. ?!?!? i was missing you so much the other day 