Preparing for a self-pay move

mst3kmoxie and I moved around plenty, most notably Ohio to Rhode Island to Massachusetts, but my next impending move is my sixth transatlantic one, and there is nothing like those to encourage downsizing, especially as I am heading to a British furnished apartment which means negligibly much storage space for anything that I might bring.

A cost of applying for remote work is that relocation tends not to be included. Furthermore, shipping containers remain in short supply, meaning that the quote I ended up choosing will cost me $3.565/lb. I have plenty of stuff but how much of it is worth that much? A small fraction, and a fair chunk of that is in sentimental value, like the landscape painted by my grandfather's friend. Much more of it is interesting stuff that I picked up over the years, or supplies that I knew would probably come in handy sooner or later, like computer cables and adaptors, but that could be rebought if necessary. At least, rebought for less than the shipping would cost. And, in some cases, like the frequency-hopping walkie talkies, the noise meter, the stethoscopes, etc., probably never.

I have thus started out on the sorting and the harder decisions. Fortunately, not much of what I own is rare in any important sense. Soon I shall own very much less.

Update: As I am shipping less, the quote is now just over $5/lb.