Logistics of moving to another country - need advice please

[packingupandmovingon]

I've nc'ed for this as I might be identifiable from my normal username and don't want people to know our plans yet!

We're hoping to move from England back to NI (where I'm originally from) early next year. It'll probably be a case of renting somewhere until we manage to find a house to buy. We know the area we'll be going to. When I moved here in the early 2000s I only had a suitcase and a backpack but now we have a three bedroom house full of stuff, most of which we'll want to bring but store until we have somewhere permanent to put it.

I have no idea how to organise transportation and storage of a house full of stuff. I'm assuming there are companies that do it all for you but it would be extortionately expensive. Has anyone done a major move like this and can advise how you organised it all?

Also how do you bring a cat? For the actual move we'll have to drive over separately in two cars but it's about 12 hours door to door and that seems like a hell of a long time to keep a cat in a carrier.

We have done it several times internationally. Never moved an animal, but it should be able to go in the car with you.
As far as belongings go, be ruthless. Dispose of as much as you can.
Get quotes from several movers.
Good luck

Yes, normal international movers will give quotes for what you want. We used Careline, but don’t know if they cover NI — they moved our belongings from England, stored them for months while we house hunted, and then moved them to our house in Ireland once we’d bought it. Just bring your cat with you in the car.

Can one of you fly with the cat at some point? Or break the journey in a hotel that will allow a cat in the room. I have no idea how common this is in the Uk but a lot of the hotel chains in the US allow cats.

I moved from UK to Ireland . Maybe try to rent an unfurnished house ? Should be cheaper and means you dont have to pay for storage. I had it all set up my family before we moved . If you are going by car , the cat doesn't have to stay in carrier all the time, does it? Just on the ferry ?
Good luck with the move.

You will really need to be ruthless with your stuff. It costs more to bring it, in a lot of cases, than it does to replace it.
I'd suggest a very large dog crate in the back of the car for your pet to move around more. You could take a smaller carrier as well, if you need to.

@Chemenger

Can one of you fly with the cat at some point? Or break the journey in a hotel that will allow a cat in the room. I have no idea how common this is in the Uk but a lot of the hotel chains in the US allow cats.

I don't think we could fly, we'll have to drive over separately as we have two cars to bring with us.