Moving to new country: my thoughts and advice

Hello! As you probably know by now, me and Mitchell moved halfway across the globe (during a pandemic) this year so Mitchell could take up a post-doc position at the University of California. It was definitely hard going at certain points and we could not have done it without each other. Seriously, this was a two person job and I am in awe of people who can do this solo. 

We were both working full time before we moved, so Mitchell took charge of the visas, temporary medical insurance and all of his job contract stuff and I powered on with the more practical side of packing, moving and finding an apartment to rent. 

When we moved, we were only taking a big suitcase, a small suitcase and a backpack each. That left a lot of stuff which we had collected while living in Nottingham for the last four years. We had major purges, starting 3-4 months before left, throwing away or donating whole bags of old clothes and random crap we would never need again. It seemed like a lot when it was in bags we were lugging to charity shops, but our apartment didn't seem to be getting any emptier! 

We managed to sell a lot of video games and some books which gave us a little boost in funds and a couple of items of furniture, but anything that wasn't sold or thrown away had to go into storage. We thought about renting a storage locker, and while it might have worked out if we were only moving for less than a year, it was a bit overpriced for just storing our winter boots and jumpers. Luckily, we have some very lovely parents who agreed to take some boxes each. So I have no idea where any of my stuff is, but I know someone has it! 

We had to be married to be able to get the visa, but changing my name and solidly identifying ourselves as a couple had other advantages too. All of our plane tickets were in the same name, it was easier for me to contact places and arrange things for Mitchell and it just gave us that extra level of security that if anything happened, we would automatically be each other's primary contact. It also meant that I could get health insurance as Mitchell's spouse and we could have applied for the family housing on campus. We were travelling as a team and being married made this a lot easier.

Mask mates

Getting the visa during a pandemic lockdown was not fun. We had to get not only an approved visa, but apply for special permission to travel to the States as well. We had to wait ages for an appointment at the embassy and nearly had to delay Mitchell's start date by several months before we were able to get an expedited appointment. In the end, we got one just three weeks before we were planning to travel. We were hoping to find out on the day if we would get permission to travel and approved for the visa, but after travelling all the way down to London, we still didn't know and had to wait for our documents to be returned by post! It took a couple of weeks and just a week before we were due to go, we got them back, with permission to travel, and frantically booked our last minute flights!

Once we had the visas and an official moving date, we also booked an AirBnB for a month in Riverside. This would give us a place to arrive late at night straight from the plane which would have towels, linen etc and we could stay relatively cheaply while we quarantined for two weeks and found a proper apartment. It was walking distance to the downtown area which had a grocery shop, and right next to the bus stop which could take us to campus or to the bigger retail park.

We stayed inside for two weeks, other than going out to get tested and buy groceries. Luckily, our AirBnB had a small patio where we could sit outside to enjoy the sunshine. Before we got on the flights, I also managed to create an online food shop via InstaCart so we would have breakfast and other food arrive the morning after we did. 

Lunch in the sun

We got quite a lot delivered to this AirBnB: food, university documents and our phones and sim cards. T-mobile and AT&T sims are the networks in the US which should be compatible with UK phones. My British phone was unlocked and compatible with American service, so all I needed was a new sim. I checked this on the T-mobile site and they said it wasn't compatible and I'd need to buy a new phone, but when I checked with Mint Mobile (which piggybacks off of T-mobile service), they said I was good to go! Double check this on a few sites if you can as I think T-mobile just wants you to buy things from them. Make sure to look around for contracts too, as the basic package with T-mobile was going to cost me $50 a month, but when I looked for smaller companies, I found Mint Mobile which offered the same package for only $15 a month! 

Mitchell also began the process of getting a social security number so he could get paid. I decided to wait as I'm not getting paid and I'll get one when my work visa comes through. He was warned by the University that it may take up to a couple of months to process, but because of where we were based in the AirBnB, we didn't go to the office close to the University and instead went to the one across town. This office was able to process it much quicker, although Mitchell did have to attend in person. 

While we were waiting for the social security number to process, we also needed to set up a bank account. This proved to be a little difficult as not all banks will open an account for you without a social security. We found that Bank of America would do it for us and there were bank locations all over the city which was a plus. It may not have offered the best interest rates etc, but it was a name we recognised and they had a fine basic account. Again, we had to go in person to open it, but we got to pick out a picture to go on our cards so all was good.   

Walking to the bank

Once we were done with quarantine, it was time to find an apartment! We took a leap of faith with ours and rented it without ever actually seeing it. I had researched it a lot online and knew I definitely wanted to live in that area and this complex seemed nice. We had some issues with renting as we didn't have American credit scores, but we were persistent and sent them all the information we could to say that we were employed and we had a lot of savings, and in the end, we were able to rent by paying an extra deposit (which while a lot, will be fun to get back in a few years). 

Once we had secured the apartment and were waiting for our move in date, we placed an online order for the furniture basics such as a mattress, bed and sofa so it would arrive as soon as we moved in. On the day, we rented a car for the evening and went to target to pick out our plates, towels, pillows etc so that we could live there, even if we didn't have everything. We were so excited and as the mattress had arrived that day, we spent our first night on the floor even though we still had the AirBnB for a few more days. 

Breakfast out after our first night in 

Once we had the basics and an apartment, we also needed a car to be able to go out and explore further than the bus could take us. We were looking at ex-rental cars which were cheap, but well maintained, but another international post-doc was moving away and selling their car, so we got in contact with them to see it. It was perfect for us; it was cheaper than the ex-rentals and we were more comfortable buying off another post-doc than from a random dealer or website. These people were absolutely amazing and gave us A LOT of their other stuff they weren't taking with them and even drove home with us to help us move it all into the apartment.

Once we had the car, we had to register it to us. Because of the pandemic, this process, which would usually take place in person in the DMV, could now be done online which was easier for us. We also had to get insurance, and while we had heard that it could be difficult to get without a Californian or US drivers license, we went with Geico which seems to be one of the biggest insurers in the US and had no problems. Like the banks, we might have got a better deal if we'd shopped around, but they were willing to accept us and being a big name company we knew they would have good customer service and a clear and reliable claims process.

We are looking at getting our US drivers licenses, but for me, I need a social security number first and it doesn't seem to be negatively affecting our insurance costs so we're in no rush.  

Things we have learnt since arriving in the US:

• Target > Walmart

• Stay in an AirBnB for the first month (you get a monthly discount after 30 days)

• Order a grocery shop for the morning after arrival for your basics, we used InstaCart

• There are phone contracts which aren't $50 a month (despite what the big names charge). We used Mint and Trello

• Don't sign up for free trials (with internet add ons, memberships etc), they are free, but there will not be a way to cancel online and you'll have to call up and be on hold for 30mins+

• If you are struggling to get a social security appointment, see if there is another social security office in travelling distance, you don't need to go to the closest one but it does need to be local

• Opening a bank account can be done without a social security number but only with certain banks. We went with Bank of America which might not give us the best deal in other respects, but it was easy.

• Monzo cards (or any online bank card which you can use in multiple countries) are ace

• Be aware of bank terminology - a cashiers check is not a cheque

Happy travels!