The International Schools Review Forum

Greetings!!

I feel like the kid in class that bugs the teacher with a thousand questions. Oh well, I guess that's what the forum is for.

One of our big considerations is bringing along stuff past our bag allotement (which seems to be one bag on a lot of airlines, not the two I was used to when we were in Asia before). It seems we have three options:
1. Pay extra for any extra bags and have them with us (expensive).
2. Send them a few days earlier (or maybe weeks) on an air cargo shipment (less expensive, but have to deal with customs and pickup).
3. Have them crated and put on a boat a few months ahead of time (cheapest, but most hassles).

What would we be bringing? I and my family are avid cyclists and thus there would probably be bikes (in proper cases), perhaps hockey and other sporting equipment, some general teaching materials (1-2 boxes) and some small household stuff to make our place homey.

Any suggestions? We have about $1000-$2000 to play with.

Thanks!!

Please check out the following article in our Articles & Information Section. I think you'll find the answers you're looking for. Ben @ ISR

http://www.internationalschoolsreview.c ... ipping.htm

Almost all airlines ship bicycles in the box for a flat 75 dollar fee as "sports equipment". Check it out.

My advice would be pack 1 bag per person with essentials. Pack 1 bag per person for 'really really want it'. Bring the bikes (although aren't they cheap in Korea???).

As for the rest - sell it all, downsize, store, or whatever...

Usually your 1st to second bag is free and your 2nd 3rd bag is $25-$50, at that rate its going to be one of the cheapest options available to you compared to other shipping methods, and you have your stuff with you when you get there.

I would ship the books/teaching materials and possibly winter clothing by freight, the cheapest possible and send it early.

Personally id forget the bikes. You be better off buying inexpensive ones their locally. the main consideration being that if you need service and repairs or warranty work its going to be easily available and you shouldnt have warranty concerns.

I would bring and pay for the three bags per person.This is in addition to your carry on and personal item. It shouldnt cost more then $150. Thats pretty reasonable, and your not moving to the middle of nowhere. Unless you have some specific need or brand loyalty, whatever you need is likely to be available in some form. I bring a laptop and electronics in my personal item. I have one bag for clothes, one for kitchen/bathroom stuff thats split with clothing/shoes and the third bag clothing.

I dont bring teaching materials or sporting equipment. I brought skies with me once and only got to use them one time, wasnt worth the cost to bring them their and back.

Greetings!!

My problem is I have expensive bikes (many thousands of dollars) and Korea over the last few years has gone bike crazy building thousands of kilometers of trails. The problem is the cost of importing bikes makes them very expensive there, and there doesn't seem to be much of a domestic industry (maybe the only thing they dont' make)

Thanks!!

Check your airline - usually 75 bucks in a bike box/bag...

Definitely bring your own bike if you are really into cycling. In some places you may be able to find nice bikes, but you may struggle to find them in your size or they’ll be really expensive. I live in a city on the Pearl River Delta in China and there are Merida, Specialized, Fuji and Trek stores all within a few miles and they offer bikes that cost up to $10k (prices are similar to US prices plus 5-10%). However, it is nearly impossible to find any mtn bikes bigger than 19â€

Thanks Danda!!

I"m thinking of bringing my road bike and having a cyclocross bike made up because i think it gives me the most versatility (racks, off-road, better position for longer rides than a mountain bike). I also have two Trico cases, but might have to ship all the bikes on a cargo ship a couple of months ahead of time.

Thanks!!

I’m not sure about Korea but in China I’ve never seen a cross bike anywhere. You may have a hard time finding a cross bike or frame plus components to build one up. If I tried hard I could custom order one here but that seems like a bit of a hassle. I personally think that a cross bike would be the ideal bike if you plan to have only one bike. If you’re cool with two bikes, a road bike and mtn bike is pretty nice. I brought my road bike to China and left my cross bike in the states. So, when I’m home in the states I ride my cross bike with road tires or throw on some cross tires if I want to head off road. It’s pretty good off road but if you plan to ride anything too technical it will beat the crap out of you and the braking is weak. Maybe you already know this.

I initially brought my road bike to China because my cross bike was in rough shape after 3 seasons of racing and I had just upgraded my road bike. If I could do it all over again, I would buy a cross bike in the states and bring it abroad. I never liked the braking power on my cross bike, but with the new cross-specific disc brakes out there you could have a heck of a bike. A nice cross frame with disc brakes and some rack mounts (if that’s your thing) would be awesome to have abroad.

It sounds like you’re really into bikes. I wish you were moving to my neck of the woods.

@jbiersteker

With that kind of investment you should bring your bikes, you wont be happy without them, and the cost of transport will be far less then replacing them. A bike box is pretty secure for transporting a bike, i wouldnt get a special case, at a cost of $350, but then again i paid almost the same cost of my SCUBA tanks for a case for my SCUBA tanks.