Moving countries with a dog: a long post about packing!

Packing up your entire life in a couple of suitcases is a challenge to say the least, especially when you're taking your full art studio and everything your dog owns with you. Here's how I packed for my move from Finland to the UK. :)

• Start planning your packing well in advance: I wrote my list two weeks before the move, and added to it almost daily since I'd forgotten everything important, as you do. You'll also need to check how much luggage you can bring - if you're flying it's generally around 20kg per suitcase, and if you're bringing your pet on board you have to make sure it weighs no more than 8kg (or 6kg for some airlines) including the weight of it's bag. The pet's bag has to fit under the seat in front of you and should be a soft one so you can slightly squash the fabric to fit if it's not the exact size, bearing in mind your pet should be able to spend the entirety of the flight in it comfortably. You're also allowed a little carry-on bag in addition to your pet, so pack all your travel essentials in that. Before packing make sure to check what you cannot bring on the plane! If you're flying to the UK you can bring your printer ink, for example, but you couldn't if you are flying to the USA as they have very strict rules in regards to ink cartridges.

Helping @liserichardsonart pack up her art studio for our big move 🎨🐾 #etsy #etsycards #etsyart #shopsmall #cutedog #crossbreed #dog #doodle #doglover #dogsofig #dogsofinstagram #dogs_of_instagram #doodlesofinstagram #freija #instadog #instapet #instacute #instamutt #ilovemydog #mutt #pet #poodlemix #terrier #terriermix #terriersofinstagram #yorkiemix #yorkiepoo #yorkiepoosofinstagram #movingwithpets #movingcountries

A photo posted by Freija (@freijatheyorkiepoo) on Jul 16, 2015 at 12:29pm PDT

• Make a list: This seems like the most obvious tip ever, and if you've ever moved house you'll know how to do this in a way that works for you. However, moving from country to country you'll have to trim the list down a little unless you're prepared to dish out for a removal company (which is dead expensive if you're going on a student budget!), and consider what you can replace once you've moved or bring along later if you're able to leave things behind in storage or with family. Here's my list: 

• Paperwork:
• travel documents (pop them in a plastic wallet so they're all in one place for you to grab when you need to.)
• passports (for people and pets alike - make sure they're up to date and that the pets have all the correct vaccination details marked in there.)
• tenancy paperwork (everything to do with your rented flat that you'll need.)
• university paperwork (you'll need it to set up a bank account if you don't have one already, among other things!)
• medical records and prescriptions (although you won't be able to use them abroad as such, you may find them useful when going to your new doctor - also if you have a national insurance card bring that along too!)
• any other identification and legal paperwork
• a map or list of important addresses in your new hometown (because you'll need to know where the bank, GP, post office supermarket, and many other places are located practically as soon as you arrive, and that means before the broadband is set up.)
• Clothes: 
• two or three weeks worth of t-shirts/tops
• plenty of underclothes and socks (these can be used to protect fragile items in your suitcase, such as ornaments if you're a hoarder like me and can't bear to part with your collection)
• three or four pairs of trousers
• warm clothes just in case (that is if you're moving in the summer, in the winter this one is obvious!)
• a pair or two of thick or woolly socks (for cold evenings and wellies if you're moving to the UK!)
• jim jams (warm and cold weather ones)
• a pair of boots, a pair of nice shoes, crocs or sandals (wear trainers when you move!)
• at least one pair of gloves, hat and scarf
• jean jacket, sports coat, raincoat, warm autumn coat (I don't know whether I'll need a full-on winter coat in the UK, I may buy one later - but I've got a winter gilet which can be chucked on top of the autumn coat for added warmth).
• Dog clothes: 
•  two warm jumpers
• two raincoats (because on rainy days you really don't want to do two to three walks with a soggy coat)
• a set of booties
• lifevest
• hi-vis jacket
• spare leash, harness and collar.
• Soft furnishings and decorations: 
•  a quilt (I'm talking about a crocheted little quilt, not a duvet, you can buy one when you arrive!)
• a couple of throw pillow cases (if you have nice ones you don't want to leave behind that is, don't even think about taking the actual pillows for goodness sake - those are easily and affordably replaceable)
• a stuffed toy (if you're sentimental like me!)
• a few SMALL ornaments (I collect dog figurines, art, and prints, I'll pick and choose the best ones to bring with me).
• Books and DVDS: 
• any dvds you want to bring, packed in storage cases (I have A LOT of videos because I've always got something on whenever I paint, but instead of bringing all those boxes with me I've grudgingly agreed to pop all the disks into those big folder things - much easier to move with)
• a few important art and reference books I'll definitely need
• a couple of fictional ones to last the initial week or two (I may eventually have my collection shipped over, but for now there's simply too much to bring along)
• recipe book (I've got a homemade one with all my favourite recipes jotted down in it)
• Dog supplies:  
• food and water bowls plus the plastic mat they go on (if your dog is anything like mine, there's NO WAY they'll agree to eat and drink in a new enviroment from brand new set of bowls)
• brush
• nail clippers
• fur scissors
• heat pants (for intact girly girls)
• paw balm (only if you've already got a tin open!)
• frisbees (or any other sports equipment your dog may use that costs a pretty penny)
• one or two balls
• a soft toy or two
• Art stuff:  
• Printer (I'm shipping mine separately since it's MASSIVE - I'm using sendmybag.com which seems to be the best and most affordable option - just be aware that you cannot ship the ink cartridges along with the printer, so either use them up or pack them in your suitcase. I managed to pack all my paper and packaging supplies as well as some other studio bits and bobs in my printer's box too, since I paid for 30kg and my printer only weighed 16kg on it's own. I'll update this post once I've moved and let you know how that's worked out!)
• portfolio (only the best work from the past year or so - if you can leave your older work with family or in storage then do that because if you're like me and have accumulated an absolute mountain of originals, it's doesn't make sense to bring it all with you.)
• laptop and charger
• external hard drive
• painting supplies (for me it's a tin of gouaches, a watercolour set, any salvageable paintbrushes since I've not replaced most of mine for ages, pencil case with the most used pens and pencils, one full pad of good paper and all remaining painting boards, one or two of these fab clay yoghurt pots I use for watercolours, and two little palettes)
• wacom board and pen
• scissors (you'll probably need them during the move too!)
• In addition to all this, I've also listed my meds and makeup, a hair dryer (I've got a REALLY nice one), a few choice pieces of jewellery, a couple of my nicer bags, maybe one set of sheets and a towel or two. Basically make sure you bring things you're sure you'll need, and store everything else with family or with a storage service, and brin
• g it over in little batches when you can or sell it at a flea market or garage sale. 

•  Time your packing well: If you're moving with pets like me, do not pack their day-to-day belongings until right before you leave. This may not apply to every pet, but my dog will work herself into a panic if she sees me packing too early - when we go for holidays I try to pack and leave as quickly as possible so the trip will go as smoothly as possible, and that same idea will apply for moving too. Obviously everything else needs to be packed earlier, so what I've done is laid everything out into a couple of washing baskets ready to dump in the suitcases quickly and easily. I started really packing this weekend before the move begins on Monday evening.

• Set aside things to be moved at a later date: If you're moving countries and you've got friends or family who'll be visiting you after you've moved, it's a good idea to have them bring over some of your non-urgent belongings with them. Make sure these things will be easy to find - bag them up ready to be packed later!

That's about it, tomorrow (Monday) we head off to Helsinki for the night before flying out on Tuesday. If my blog goes back to radio silence, I can guarantee it's due to lack of internet connection in the new flat. But I'm sure I'll have lots to talk about after the move, so I'll write to you on the other side! :)

Getting out of a slump

Long time no motivational art blogging! Actually, this time I'm going off on a bit of a tangent, but it's all applicable to anything and everything that you might be working on a lot at any given time, plus it's a quick read so ho hum. ;)

Today hasn’t been great, I’ve been a bit off-colour in the art department (’scuse the pun) and things have been feeling a bit iffy with my webite, shop and general social media stuff, like I know there’s more I could do, and that I could do it all better, but something is holding me back. The thing is I’ve had this sort of crises with my work so often that I know it always inevitably precedes a kind of leap of progress, so I’m not getting too worked up about it (it also helps that one of my favourite video bloggers, Lachri Fine Art, mentioned having a similar sort of revelation with her work: a slump generally proceeds a big improvement). That’s not what inspired this blog post though, funnily enough – but it does involve the exact same thought/panic/revelation process as art!

See, it’s actually dog sports I wanted to talk about. My dog is fantastic, as I’ve mentioned many times before, she’s all you could wish for in a sports companion: endless motivation, enthusiasm, very fast and agile, is willing to work for toys and treats alike… So colour me surprised when every now and again (not frequently, thank goodness!) we have a really terrible training session.

Tonight it was frisbee. Freija girl LOVES those disks to bits, and usually I have no trouble getting her to at least attempt a catch (we’re not great at flying catches yet, not least because I am completely useless at throwing what is essentially a rubber pancake in such a way that it’ll fly smoothly). That was not the case this time, she wouldn’t go for the disks till they simply dropped in front of her to pick up. We wrapped up the training session fairly quickly when I realised things weren’t going to work, and left the little football pitch we practice on in a decidedly frustrated mood.

As a dog owner it can be difficult to hide that frustration, especially if it’s aimed at yourself (“why can’t I get this throw right?” “why am I not giving commands clearly enough?” etc.). What I try to do is take a deep breath, pause the training for a few minutes and figure out what’s going wrong while giving girly girl a chance to sniff around for a moment. If it seems like she’s too excited to focus on catching practice, I’ll let her chase a couple of rollers (where you throw the disk on it’s edge so it rolls instead of flying) and end the training there. If it seems like she’s getting irritated at not getting the catch right and receiving no praise, I’ll have her do a trick she knows and end the session on a happy note. And if it’s simply me being rubbish at throwing, I’ll go and practice that throw without Freija so I can get it right for her next time.

When we practice anything, whether it’s painting, crochet or even doggy tricks, there will be moments when it feels like we’re up against a brick wall. The first time (who am I kidding, the first ten times) this happens, we’ll get annoyed or even angry at ourselves for not being able to overcome the obstacle. That is not going to solve the problem – you have to make yourself take a step back, take a deep breath, and work out what’s going wrong. This can take a minute, a day, or several weeks, but you’ve got to let yourself get over that frustration and really focus on what you can fix in order to get better, and once you do you’ll soon forget that you had to go through that process in order to progress. That’s why I’ve written this post, as a little reminder that you’re capable of improving in whatever you’re working towards, as long as you give yourself a fair chance. :)

Moving countries with a dog: The paperwork bit

Long time no blog, eep! I've got a very good reason for the elongated silence though, I've spent the entire month of June emailing, working out, and generally just arranging the rental agreement. Turns out it's ridiculously difficult and bureaucratic renting a flat in England, who'd have thought it?

I'll keep this short and sweet, since I covered a lot of the arrangements in my previous post, but these are the complicated ins-and-outs that I've dealt with after that:

• Guarantors: As my grandad so aptly put it, unless you're a millionaire, no pensioner has enough yearly income to act as guarantor. No begging, pleading, or weeping will help with this, if your guarantor doesn't make 30x your rent, they won't be accepted, and that's a fact. The thing is, agencies may not tell you this before you've already paid for the guarantor check, so to avoid that extra £50 fee for a guarantor that won't make the cut, make absolutely sure that they're making enough each year to cover it. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful family friend who stepped in and helped me out, so make sure to explore all avenues before giving up.
• Tentant's and Landlord's rights: This is really easy to overlook when you're renting for the first time by yourself, but for goodness sake make sure you've read all the legal papers - there can be some really nasty surprises in store if you don't! Especially when you've got a dog in tow, there can be some clauses in the drafted agreement that you need to be VERY aware of, or even re-negotiate depending on the situation. But don't worry too much, because it's all in legal-speak and often isn't quite as strict as it seems - for example I didn't know that basically every rental in the UK says you aren't allowed to run a business solely from the apartment, which scared me since I have my own online business, but as it turns out that only means you can't run, say, a brothel! :D
• Paperwork: Things I requested before signing the tenancy agreement included the following; landlord's insurance documents, gas and electric safety checks, lease documents, and the deed of guarantee. You'll also want to hold onto all the invoices you've been sent, just in case!
• Signing the agreement from overseas: It seems pretty obvious, but if you're based abroad like me, it works like this; the agent sends you the drafted tenancy agreement which you need to approve, then they get the landlord's and guarantor's approval. Then the agent sends you the final version of the agreement to print, sign (you also need a witness to sign it, and make sure to add your initials on each page - they do require this sometimes!), scan, and send back to them via email. They then fill it out at their end, email it back, and that's that. When you move in you'll exchange the original documents. 
• Furniture: If you're buying any of the furniture left in the apartment by the landlord, make sure you have it on paper that you've paid - and invoice is good to keep for this, so you can avoid any confusion to the ownership of bits and bobs at the end of your tenancy.
• Visitors: I'm moving in with help from my mum and granddad, with our older dog (hopefully!) in tow. This may not be the case with all rentals, but my landlord does require me to inform them of visitors staying more than a few days, especially if there are pets involved. Since I already had approval for my own dog, negotiating about my mum's dog didn't prove too difficult - but definitely ask permission before booking any tickets!!
• Travel arrangements: This can be a bit of a nightmare - England is NOT an easy place to move to with pets, especially if you're not willing to fly with them in the hold, which we are most certainly not. It seems impossible, but with a bit of working out it's doable. I suggest flying to Brussels or Paris CDG airport, then making your way up to Calais (please note that Eurostar does not accept pets in any shape or form, so avoid them at all costs!) via train, bus, rental car, or taxi. We opted for taxi to avoid any additional panic in renting and returning cars and driving in Belgium - eep!  Then get on the Eurotunnel shuttle with your taxi (you can't rent a car from the continent to drop off in the UK, it's all to do with driving on the wrong side etc.) to Folkestone, the price of which can vary from around £100 to over £1000 - do your research!! Once you're in the UK, getting to where you need to go is fairly easy, trains generally allow pets free of charge (South East trains do, and that's where you're setting off from), and if you can rent a car or have relatives in the area it's a piece of cake. :)

So that's as far as I've got in the past month. It's not been easy, but it's done! Next I'll tell you about the actual traveling bit, which is a bit nerve-wracking to say the least. :D