This blog post is overdue. When we were moving to a boat we would have loved to have had a checklist. Something that provided us with some direction from getting from house to boat.

This blog post doesn’t provide boating or financial advice. But, it summarizes a years’ worth of downsizing experience, and provides some details that I haven’t mentioned before in previous posts.

Medical preparation

• visit a dentist well in advance of your departure date in case you require interventions such as a crown or filling
• visit an eye doctor and get your eyes tested
• visit family doctor and arrange for a years’ worth of medication
• visit specialists (such as allergists, for example. Discuss risks and possible emergency procedures.)
• visit a travel doctor to acquire medications for your ship’s medical chest
• take a medical training course
• carry copies of your prescriptions in case they are needed for border/customs
• research border protocols for carrying medications – certain substances may be prohibited
• plan to buy or build your own first aid kit
• arrange medical insurance
• arrange to extend your provincial health coverage before you leave the country (for Canadians)

Offload responsibilities where possible

• hire a babysitter or childcare provider
• hire a housecleaner
• hire window cleaners

Decide whether to rent or sell your home

• engage with a real estate agent
• stage/clean interior for showings
• cut grass, landscape, etc.
• determine where you might live if you find yourself in limbo – between house and boat
• If you decide to rent, hire a property manager to look after things while you are away

Sell your vehicle

• develop a plan to for your vehicle
• will you sell it yourself? Or, a dealer?
• can a friend sell it for you?
• where will you sell it?  What country?
• research cross-border duties and taxes (if need be)
• arrange an online ad with AutoTrader or equivalent
• consider how you will manage after your vehicle is sold (taxis, friends, buses, bike, wagon, etc.)

Envision your final weeks before moving aboard

• Will you fly or drive to your boat?
• will you be staying in a hotel just prior to moving? Or, a campground?

Determine a storage plan

• Determine your storage plan (cost out, can things be stored with a friend or perhaps your own basement?)
• arrange for piano storage

Downsize

• Begin to sell your things immediately
• ship a pallet of things to your boat (for us, this was largely tools, and some homeschooling and kitchen supplies)
• Create four piles: those you plan to keep, to donate, to sell and to throw away
• keep creating the four piles to pare down. As the days progress you will become more ruthless
• take pictures of the books you treasure, and then get rid of them – few books these days are irreplaceable
• buy an industrial scanner – scan all paperwork, and store data online. Get rid of paper clutter, while keeping valuable documents like birth certificates
• then, sell your scanner

Friends and family

• decide how and when to tell your kids
• decide how and when to tell your friends and family

Homeschooling

• Arrange homeschooling supplies
• Write note to school board re: intentions for homeschooling

Miscellaneous

• renew your passport
• arrange to forward your mail
• arrange electronic billing wherever possible
• update contact information with utility companies (if appropriate)
• give power of attorney to your lawyer (or someone you trust) to help streamline your affairs in your absence
• arrange a new bank account – for us that meant we opened a US bank account
• prepare yourself to cross a border as a cruiser (have on hand, boat registration documentation, as well as bank account or income information)