Move Across The World

So, Merlin and I decided to move across the world. Well, OK, I decided, and didn’t really tell him but just put him into a strange white van then picked him up two days later from a freight terminal on the other side of the world. He seems OK with the decision though. I decided I should write some things about it as they may be useful to someone else one day (or be amusing to my family and friends). These are little things that will come out gradually, not really worth a blog post on their own, so I thought I’d hide them in this page back here, then I can add to them gradually and when I think it’s worth something, I’ll tell people about it.

Things I’ve had to (/still have to) do once I got here:

• Get a bank account (needs ID, plus proof of current address – see below). This is also hindered by the fact that there is no bank branch in my town, but there is a mobile one that comes once a week. Luckily this mobile one is one of the three that seem OK about opening an account for people new to the UK!
• Get a National Insurance number (NINO), so I can work – haven’t tried this yet but apparently it takes ages on hold on the phone to make an appointment in several months time. Hmmm . . . something wrong with this system maybe???
• Get a phone – Luckily the one I had last time still works but is not particularly cost effective so I’m waiting for a SIM in the mail for a much cheaper alternative.

Some things I should’ve done (but didn’t):

• Change address with a bank and get a paper statement sent to new address BEFORE I left (so I can get a new bank account)

Things I had to do before I left (and did):

• Change my address and contact phone number for a billion different organisations (banks, government, tax, medical, charity, magazine subscription, memberships, etc) – this is made a bit easier by the internet but surely it could be a whole lot easier if more of these services were linked?? Oh, it would make identity theft a lot easier and may have some privacy issues, but somehow right now I feel like it would be worth it!
• Mail redirection – incredibly easy, done online. Thanks Australia Post!!
• Try to find ways to still access my money from overseas – turns out my main bank is not particularly good at this so I’m going to have to move back to using my old bank. Thankfully I still have the account!