Ask a Travel Nurse Question:
What is the best way to ship items? I’m guessing it is expensive because you have to bring dishes, clothes, linen’s, etc. Also do you have any recommendations for shipping a car?
Ask a Travel Nurse Answer:
I actually just wrote to someone the other day on how shipping items USPS was a lot less costly than people might think. However; that was in regard to clothing items. But I did once send all of my SCUBA equipment to Maui for an assignment and I’m sure it wasn’t cheap, but I also recall it not be nearly as much as I thought ( and SCUBA gear is mega-heavy).
If you are talking about dishes and such ( and are having to fly to a location where it’s impractical to pack all that in your suitcase), then consider living on the cheap for a bit. Do you really need your gr and mother’s china to entertain while on assignment? A quick trip to the Dollar Store could probably provide much of the kitchen items you will need while on assignment. As for dishes, paper plates, and plastic cups and bowels are an option, or just buy a cheap set of glasses and dinnerware at Big Lots or Walmart.
My first trip to Hawaii had me packing two different sized pots and a large frying pan in my suitcase. I figured everything else I would need could easily be obtained once I got there. I was also happy to find that my housing actually had pots, pans, silverware, and even bed linens included. Although companies do not still advertise this as much as they once did, for some locations (where you can only take a few suitcases), companies will offer a thing called travel packs where the cooking items and linens will be included.
Some companies will offer this at no charge, but with some, you might incur a fee. If your company does not offer travel packs, you can always research the location online and see if there are any companies that rent out corporate housing packs with the things you might need. However, you would probably pay the same price to rent these items as you would simply going to a Big Lots store and picking them up new.
You can also always put together a “travel pack” and box up all the essentials you use on the road that are too cumbersome to pack in luggage. You can then ship this item to yourself several days before your arrival at your new housing.
As for auto transportation, I do not have a recommendation on a certain company. However, if you type “auto transport” into any search engine, it should bring up tons of companies that specialize in transporting your auto cross-country. Please do check with your insurance company how the coverage is h and led should something happen to your auto in transport. I knew a traveler that was transporting his truck cross-country and the car hauler wrecked and ended up totaling his truck.
Finally, if you are talking transport to the Isl and s, I have used Matson several times to ship my auto to Hawaii and back.It runs about $1000 each way, but the last time, my travel company even picked up the charge one way.