Packing for Nigeria was intimidating for me, but now that I
am here, I think I might have over-packed. So let me share some things
that I learned during this process.
1. I was told that I should pack everything that I will need for the next year. I brought ten pounds of coffee, tons of toiletries, etc. Now that I am here, I see that I didn't really need all these things. Mostly everything is here. The caveat is that many things are a lot more expensive here!! Since my school paid for moving costs, I don't regret bringing them, but if I had to pay to ship all these things I probably would have (When I flew Lufthansa on July 30, 2017, I was charged $200 per 50 pound piece of excess luggage). If you are very picky about your brands, then it would probably be worth it, because while you can buy anything you need here, certain brands are hard to find. I am not generally picky, so I would be fine buying whatever is available in most cases.
Things I am glad that I brought:
- little rugs for the bathroom, by the bed, etc.
- quality, comfy slippers
2. You can bring a sewing machine in your carry-on. And if you have something else unusual that you are wondering if you can pack, TSA is surprisingly easy to contact - I sent them a Facebook message and they replied almost instantly!
3. If you are bringing a lot of things as checked luggage, bins that zip-tie shut are a must. Pro tip: leave extra zip ties in the box, to ensure that if TSA opens it (and they opened about half of my checked luggage) then they can shut it up tight again.
The mess my life became while packing (this was just one room of many)
1. I was told that I should pack everything that I will need for the next year. I brought ten pounds of coffee, tons of toiletries, etc. Now that I am here, I see that I didn't really need all these things. Mostly everything is here. The caveat is that many things are a lot more expensive here!! Since my school paid for moving costs, I don't regret bringing them, but if I had to pay to ship all these things I probably would have (When I flew Lufthansa on July 30, 2017, I was charged $200 per 50 pound piece of excess luggage). If you are very picky about your brands, then it would probably be worth it, because while you can buy anything you need here, certain brands are hard to find. I am not generally picky, so I would be fine buying whatever is available in most cases.
Things I am glad that I brought:
- little rugs for the bathroom, by the bed, etc.
- quality, comfy slippers
Evidence of my over-packing. And those green bins are NOT recommended.
Me weighing all of my boxes to be 50 pounds on the dot. My back hurt!
2. You can bring a sewing machine in your carry-on. And if you have something else unusual that you are wondering if you can pack, TSA is surprisingly easy to contact - I sent them a Facebook message and they replied almost instantly!
The picture that I sent to TSA via Facebook Messenger. They said I could bring it!
3. If you are bringing a lot of things as checked luggage, bins that zip-tie shut are a must. Pro tip: leave extra zip ties in the box, to ensure that if TSA opens it (and they opened about half of my checked luggage) then they can shut it up tight again.
The extra zip ties and a note for the TSA people that checked my luggage.
Bins on bins at the airport.
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