Essential Things To Bring To Ba When Relocating?

What I bring down when I visit the States:

- ZipLoc bags - they have them, but very small selection and they come in like 10-bag increments and are expensive.

- Clothes (bad quality or very over-priced and I have a very hard time finding shirts to fit me. I'm not fat, but need XXL, which often is like L)

- Some spices. You can find jalapeños and such (though they are not as hot as where I come from), curry powder and other things sure. But I like Cajun spices (impossible to find AFAIK), barbeque and chili powders (never seen either here, although there is a barbeque meat spice for putting meat in a bag, not quite what I look for) seasoned salt (like Lawry's - they have seasoned salt here, but not the same kind of stuff and in my opinion somewhat flavorless). In other words, spices that are not world-wide "common" that you like at home.

- Electronics. Can't stress this enough. Anything electronic is more expensive than most places in the world these days. And often the technology is at least a couple of years behind. Montauk made a good point about e-readers - if you like to read in English, there are English books available here in some places, but the selection, in my opinion, is horrible (not that I blame Argentina for that, I just don't like what's available). I have Kindle apps on my iPad, MS Surface tablet, Samsung phone and my Windows-based laptop and computer. I love Amazon for that!

I don't know what all you have available in AU that's different from what I mentioned, just think about what you use everyday that you feel you must have and if you can pack it easily, think about taking it. As others mentioned, do a search on some of those items on Mercado Libre, or look at Jumbo's website and see what they have available (although just them saying they have it online doesn't always mean they actually have it) and if you don't see it, you might want to bring it.

Wouldn't hurt to make a trip here of a couple of weeks before you actually relocate just to get a feel for these things, if you can.
 
Thanks everyone for your time taken to really to me! Am grateful for all advice.
We are relocating only at this stage for a term of 2 years, but who knows, it may be longer.
We are a fairly flexible family, and are not too materialistic, so should not be worried about particular brands and not planning to bring kitchen sink or car! Ha ha? Am hoping we can get by without a car.
That's for the advice re lighter skinned cosmetics, kindles and bathers too.... Wise counsel.

I suppose I would love to bring a few things for our kids... They had new bikes for recent birthdays and some toys that will be hard to say goodbye to.
If we were to ship maybe equivalent of 10 tea chests of stuff, or if shipping is too crazy, we may have to forgo and just bring check in luggage.

I've tried to read various extracts from forums, but there is very varying responses about shipping, probably dependant on personal experiences.

Visiting BA prior to relocation is not possible.... To the tune of about $2500. I have been to BA previously though, in my former life as a Flight attendant and also spent a year backpacking around Central and South America in my twenties, quite a while ago now, so although I imagine it has changed a bit, I assume much of the culture is not too different. I'm looking forward to it.

Please post more advice as it pops to your heads. I'll keep checking.
Smiles
 
plenty of bikes here.

public transportation is safe, cheap, and 24/7.
My wife and i take the buses at 3 in the morning without the slightest hesitation. We are both close to 60. It costs virtually nothing.
The subway gets crowded at rush hour, but there is no doubt you can get along just fine without a car, as long as you dont live way out in the suburbs.

shipping is expensive, unreliable, and very slow.
pay extra for added bags on the airplane- it is much cheaper than any alternative, and much more reliable.

I think you will have a wonderful time.
My parents took me to Mexico City for a year and a half when I was 6, I had a wonderful time.
Your kids will enjoy it. People here love children, and they are welcome pretty much anywhere, anytime.
 
Most expats adjust with time to the things they miss from home and you will find local alternatives that you might even like better. Just keep in mind that the first three months are hectic so anything you really need, bring. With time you can figure out how to get what you need, or as close as possible, or figure out that you don´t really need it anyway.

Assume that you will NOT be able to receive packages from home. There are many threads on this.
 
I bruoght a lot of clothes, mainly because they are comparatively expensive here. Some items of clothing here are not bad in terms of quality, some are good. Shirts & shoes are pretty good in my experience.

Trousers (pants are things that go underneath trousers!) and jeans are frankly a disaster so I would recommend bringing those. If you unfortunate enough to need a suit for work, bring at least a couple with you. Local versions are way more expensive, cheaper local versions will fall apart.
 
Things i`d suggest

Clothes
Nowadays clothes here are expensive and the majority are poor quality imho unless you go for the top brands. Trainers and Shoes are expensive, at least double the price.
Same goes for towels and sheets. Unless you hunt down the top quality ones normal towels and sheets arent very good here. The towels seem to turn into sandpaper after
a few months (might be the washing powder here?) and the sheets are scratchy polyester. You can find egyptian cotton but expect to pay high prices for them. I even ended up bringing a bath mat from back home on one trip because after going through 3 of them I couldnt find one that would obsorb some water and not fall apart in a few months.

Technology
Everything is more expensive and usually older models in Argentina. Bring tablets, laptops, cameras, phones,game consoles,etc with you if you can. Otherwise you`ll end up pay 2-3x as much and it will be a year or more out of date. Dont bother bringing a TV as they usually use a different type of PAL here for their cable, unless you intend to use digital satelite or media streaming. Then it might be worth bringing a TV. We bought our 32" as part of our airplane luggage and then discovered it wouldnt pick up the local channels, so now its a playstation tv.

http://www.fravega.com/ check here to give some idea of whats available and the prices.

Bring some wallplug adapters for your tech. You can buy here but you dont want to hunt around for AUS/UK adapters when you first arrive.

Medicines
Cant seem to find antisceptic cream here, so bring that. They just give you alcholol to rub on everything.


And then bring all your favourite foods if you can, i find things like teabags, curry powder, cooking sauces/gravy, marmite or vegemite for you aussies etc are always high on my shopping list for trips back home.

Check http://www.mercadolibre.com.ar/ for prices. It gives a good idea of the cost of things here.

oh and u.s dollars, bring a suitcase of those ;-)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
J Expat Essentials: Your Guide to Successful Relocation (Video) Expat Life 0
garryl EU bans nonessential US travelers, again Expat Life 7
MilHojas Why is rewilding Argentina essential for our survival? Articles 0
domthegreat Moving Around in CABA without Essential Worker Permission Expat Life 9
MilHojas Some non-essential stores reopen for business in BA Articles 47
Similar threads
Expat Essentials: Your Guide to Successful Relocation (Video)
EU bans nonessential US travelers, again
Why is rewilding Argentina essential for our survival?
Moving Around in CABA without Essential Worker Permission
Some non-essential stores reopen for business in BA
Back
Top