Brian Burton

Before you arrive…

So you have your papers in order, your plane ticket in hand and you’re gung-ho to make the jump across the ocean and start a life over here. Not so fast! I received two emails this week both asking the same question: “Is there anything from the US I should bring that I can’t find over there?”

Why yes, yes there are.

Below is a short list of what you should bring when moving over here. This is, of course, after you’ve gotten your visa, passport and documents in order. From your bank to international calls, this list will save you a ton of time and money and, to be honest, I wish someone had written this when I moved over.

Finances

First of all, you need to get your finances in order. Nearly all large US banks will nickel and dime you to death with international ATM fees and even Visa/Master Card will charge you an extra 1% on all of your international purchases. As you’re already going to be experiencing a 30% devaluation of your savings just by stepping on Italian soil, it’s important spend as little as possible in useless fees.

You have three options:

1. Capital One – If you would like to stay with a major bank, their Money Market Account works just like an interest-earning savings account with an ATM card. You can withdrawal $500 per day and there are no ATM fees, credit card fees and they’ll even eat the 1% Visa/Master Card surcharge on international purchases. I’ve been with them for over a year now and my only complaints are trivial and un-important. All other major US banks from Bank of America to Wells Fargo currently have international ATM fees, Capital One being the only holdout.
2. Small Credit Unions – Some expats have reported good experiences with small credit unions not charging exorbitant fees like the large banks do. It is worth checking out if Capital One is not your cup of tea.
3. EverBank.com – This is an internet bank that is FDIC insured and offers a variety of foreign currency accounts, savings accounts and normal checking accounts. I have no personal experience with them, however their offerings are very attractive and the introductory interest rate on their money market accounts are currently higher than Capital One’s.

Phone

Most likely you’ll want to keep in touch with your family and friends you left in your dust back in the US. Unless, of course, you owe them money. Thanks to the internet, the “Oh I really wanted to call you, but gosh, you know how expensive it is!” excuse no longer flies.

The least expensive reliable option available is Skype. For about $8 a month, you can have a US telephone number in an area code that you choose and unlimited US and Canada calling. You no longer even need your computer turned on thanks to products like the Ipevo SO-20 Wi-Fi Phone. When you sign up for DSL here, choose the option for a wireless router and your phone will work just like a normal cordless phone anywhere in your home.

People in the US will be able to call your US phone number to reach you and you can call them without spending a fortune on international long distance. Call quality is sketchy at times, but hanging up and redialing usually resolves most problems. Skype’s long distance rates are pretty competitive too, especially when calling other parts of Europe.

Food & Spices

Ok some of this might get confiscated in the airport if they find it, but I’ve never had any problems. You’ll be able to find spices such as cinnamon, brown sugar and chili powder but they are nothing like what we use in the US. (Is brown sugar considered a spice?) The cinnamon has a more muted flavor, the brown sugar is actually cane sugar, the chili powder is chili powder but not good for using in Mexican food (in my opinion, anyway) and vanilla extract is only a mythical substance here. Oregano, basil and other staples of Italian food should be bought HERE! If you like to make snickerdoodle during the holidays, a little American cinnamon is a must.

Electronics

My mantra is: If you can plug it in, leave it in the US. The only exceptions are items that you can’t easily or cheaply find here and the Skype phone above. Actually you might be able to find that here, but I haven’t seen it.

The only big exception to the rule would be a computer keyboard if you plan on purchasing a computer here. The Italian keyboard layout is much different than the English layout and if you don’t want to relearn how to type, bring along a cheap $10 keyboard from Wal-Mart to get you by. It will plug into Italian computers without a problem. You might also want to bring along an English version of Windows if your Italian is still a little sketchy.

The only other plug-in electronics you should bring are those that support up to 220V. That way all you’ll need is a plug adapter and not a big inefficient power inverter that will hit you on your electric bill.

To know if your electronics support 220V, look on the label for the word “Input” followed by something similar to, “110-240V.” That means that it will accept between 110 and 240 volts. If it just says, “Input: 110V” it’s only good for the US. Here’s an image of the power brick from my laptop as an example:

A few plug adapters will come in handy over the years. (Note: These don’t change the voltage, just the style of plug so that you can plug your 220V compatible electronics directly to the walls here.) Obviously bring along a power inverter as well, but only for occasional use. They’re extremely inefficient and create a lot of heat and you’d be better served to just repurchase your electronics here.

Entertainment

Bring some of your favorite movies, TV shows and/or books with you. Not the whole collection, but those that you can slip into to pass through those homesick moments. My dirty little collection includes M*A*S*H, the John Cusack ’80s catalog, Lord of the Rings and Casablanca. Books in English are pretty easy to find in the large book stores where they’ll usually have a shelf of the more popular books, so don’t think you have to bring an entire library over.

As some of you may know, DVDs are region encoded meaning that US discs won’t work in Italian players — or so they want you think. Most DVD players have an unlock code that you punch into the remote control and magically (as if the ability was there all along) your player will become compatible with discs from anywhere in the world! Philips players usually are the easiest to unlock. (If you’re worried, it’s not illegal to unlock your DVD player.)

If you’re a magazine reader and looking at getting your subscription here, many of the popular magazines are now available in PDF format that you can purchase directly from their websites (or procure in devious and dastardly internety ways). As long as you don’t mind reading the lastest edition of Cosmo on the crapper with a notebook on your lap, this could save you a ton of cash. The new Kindle e-reader with the larger screen is a great option as well, but unfortunately it’s only in black and white.

That’s all that comes to mind right now, but I will update this post if anything else pops into my head.