Brainstorm

• Sit down by yourself first and make a list of everything that needs to happen. Ask your spouse or other adults moving with you to join you in brainstorming or review the list to find any forgotten steps. Getting a passport, finding a moving van or international moving service, discontinuing phone, cable and other utilities and having them hooked up in your new home are just as important list items as having a goodbye party, calculating moving costs and making plans for family pets.
  
  

Prioritize

• Find out any deadlines or time constraints. Passports take eight weeks to obtain, sometimes longer. Moving trucks or options should be secured in advance to make sure the size or type of service you need is available. Prioritize your list or note due dates next to time sensitive actions so that you can focus your attention on what to do next.
  
  

Moving Supplies

• Whether moving across cities or countries, everything you own will need to be placed in a box and moved with you, or placed in a storage unit. Begin collecting moving supplies early on in your moving process. Boxes can be obtained from a moving company or found at grocery stores for free. Be sure to save newspapers to wrap breakables in or contact a friend or neighbor to save theirs.
  
  

Selling and Donating Old Things

• Sell or donate anything you know will not fit in your new residence and do not plan on using in the next year. If you are moving overseas, evaluate how long you will be overseas and how much is necessary to store. Consider advertising items online and in local newspapers first before having a garage sale. Generally, organizing items for individual sale is much more time consuming than putting together a garage sale where all items are clumped together and bargain hunters expect to pay less. Whatever is left over, do not keep. Donate the leftovers to charity by arranging for a pick-up time or dropping them off at a donation center.