We decided to move back to the UK in the middle of 2023 and then it seemed so far away! Six months later, Dick has a new job (which he loves), and I don't have one at all, The latter being part of the moving plan. Technically, I finished working at the nursing home in October but I have worked two separate weeks in the mean time to help train my replacement and still maintain ties there.
Since then I have kept myself very busy completing small projects in the house- all strange things that you only really notice when you are thinking about selling and what other people may notice! Paint flaking in a corner, and patching and painting a closet among other things. I've also started what I can only say now is phase 1 of the sorting and clearing out process. I say phase 1 as I've quickly realized that you need more than one go through 'stuff'.
Aside from that, I wanted to start recording the processes we are going through to move our lives back to the UK.
I am using Trello as a project management tool to keep track of important dates and web pages that I want to keep for reference purposes. We usually use it to plan our holidays when day to day planning is needed. This time I have broken it into months. I love it as it is easy to maneuver tasks and project around.
One of the first things on my list was to find out more about moving our dog, Dottie. She is a 13 year old mixed breed 67 lb dog.
Therefore, Dottie cannot travel in the cabin on a plane with us. As a result, my research gives us three options:
1. By commercial plane in the animal part of the hold
2. By private plane
3. By cruise ship
These are the issues we see so far with each option:
1. We have been given two quotes so far, both approximately $6000 from companies who specialize in pet transport. This was a bit of a shock at first! The fees are to help prep all the paperwork, book the flight and help deal with customs etc. There is no guarantee that Dottie would travel on the same plane as us.
2. The best option as Dottie would travel literally in the cabin with us but the cost is $8995 per person, so it is the most expensive. Admittedly, one of us could fly with her and the other on a commercial flight which would make it a little cheaper.
3. It takes seven days to travel across the Atlantic. Dogs stay in a kennel on the boat, although you do get to see them as often as you want. The cost for us depends on the cabin we have but Dottie would be an additional $1600. So far, this is actually the cheapest option.
So far, we are opting for the cruise ship, however Dottie is on a wait list for a space. We were advised to put a deposit on a couple of sailings and have done so. We should know whether we have a place for Dottie.
The second choice would be the private plane option- I think this would also be the least stressful option for Dottie but it is also the most expensive.
Comments