In an earlier post, I discussed liquidating my belongings. It was a lengthy and tedious endeavor that required many hours of planning. After inventorying all the items accumulated over the years, I created categories. Items I am taking, selling, donating, gifting, and storing. Understand that when you sell your items, you expect to take a loss on almost everything. Gifting and donating can help reduce your tax liability. The items in storage are for family members and should be picked up as soon as arrangements can be made. Finally, moving everything I want to keep and take with me was daunting until I learned about the Balikbayan box.

The Balikbayan box is a solution for individuals seeking a budget-friendly service and are willing to wait up to 3 months to receive their items. United Airlines only allows me to bring two suitcases. You may add on additional cases @ $200 each, and I soon realized that it was too costly.

My original plan was to make the move and take what I could, and then every time that I visited the US, I would take more back. The problem with that is that doing it would take a few years to get all my belongings I wanted back in the Philippines. I then considered using a container service, but it was completely out of my budget. Only after speaking with an expat who had made the move did I discover the Bilikbayan box, a service I could utilize. I thought that the service was only available to citizens of the Philippines.

I am using a company called LBC, which has a branch in Chicago. Since I am currently located outside their service area, I could arrange for UPS to pick them up and deliver them, or make the drive myself to deliver them. You may ask, Where do you get the boxes? I drove to the warehouse and purchased what I needed, and if you contact them, they will make arrangements to get you some. I am using extra-large boxes, and there are no weight restrictions. The shipping price is $100 per box. The individual boxes cost me $7 each.

When packing, use plenty of bubble wrap to protect fragile items. You are responsible for ensuring that your items are packed correctly, and if the box is particularly heavy, that your tape job will withstand the rigors of a 3-month voyage on a boat.

There is no doubt some of you question sending items via the Balikbayan box in the first place. Why bother? You can buy everything when you get there, can’t you? The answer is both yes and no, after speaking with a few expats who have firsthand knowledge. I was told that you can buy most items in the Philippines. The problem is that the quality does not match what is sold here in the United States. Between quality and items that are complete knock-offs, they recommend that I avoid making the same mistakes they did. I then posted a survey on one of the Expat forums and simply asked if they could do the move again. What are the top 5 things they wish they had brought with them? Their answers basically are most of the items that I decided to bring.

I am finishing up the packing and will drop off the Balikbayan boxes soon, and expect them sometime in December. It will be well worth the wait.