When we visited Göteborg to get a feel for the city and decide if we wanted to live here; I spent quite a bit of time researching toddler friendly activities within the city. There were so many available that I actually had to narrow down my list in order to not overwhelm the toddler and exhaust myself. Universeum was the top place I wanted to visit. How would I describe it? It’s not quite a zoo, not quite a museum, not quite an aquarium, and not quite a play area. It’s all of those things rolled into one compact package! This place should be on everyone’s list. Even more so because it is open 365 days a year from 10am to 6pm. Very little chance that you won’t be able to come on an open day. 😉

Our first visit, Drake’s admission was waived because he was two. According to the website, the winter fee is SEK 120 (Swedish Krona) for children 3-16 and SEK 175 for everyone else. Prices go up slightly in the summer. The U.S dollar is worth roughly 8 SEK. Two day tickets, family, and group tickets are also available. This is no more expensive than visiting the local zoo where I grew up. However, if you are around for a while like we will be; the yearly pass really pays off. A yearly pass is SEK 345 for children 3-16 and SEK 495 for adults. So, for the cost of less than 3 visits; you can go as many times as you want. We’ve been here less than one week and have already been to Universeum twice. The hubs plans on making it a weekend playdate with Drake and I plan on going weekly since it is very close to our new apartment (more on that in another post).

So, why do I love this place? Have you seen the pictures in this blog?? There is so much to do.

Today, they had a bit of construction going on in the rainforest, so we only saw a few animals; but the piranhas, sloths, and ibis were all so fun to check out. This is an open environment for the most part, so there is no barrier between you and most of the wildlife.

Sloth

Ibis

In addition to the rainforest, today we also visited the underwater tanks, space exploration, and the crafts area. Drake loves the tanks because there is a giant sawfish. He also really loves the stingrays in the smaller tank you can look down into.

Sawfish

After visiting the rainforest and the sea animals (twice), we headed to the space exhibit. There we launched into space in a shuttle, used pressure to launch our own, observed gravity, played space ship games, and checked our weight on all the planets. This is by no means a comprehensive list of activities, it’s just some of the ones we accomplished today.

The final frontier

From there, we headed over to build with the giant blocks; but wait! A distraction had us heading over to the guided crafts area where a wonderful Universeum employee let us help build arches and then two other employees helped us make our own musical instruments. All of the employees speak flawless English and are understanding of my own attempts to bumble through my few words in svenska (Swedish language).

Finally, my guy was hungry, so we headed down to grab our packed lunch from a locker. There may have been one short toalett (toilet) stop. Thankfully, this place is designed around kids and has toaletts on every floor. The lockers are downstairs and cost SEK 10 to use. If you don’t have exact change, they do have a coin machine. If you just don’t want to spend the money, they also have pegs on the wall for hanging your coats. Did you read that clearly? They have pegs on the wall for hanging your coats. Let’s be gut wrenchingly honest here; how many of us from the United States are 100% confident leaving coats hanging in a public place, fully in view of everyone, with no worry that they will walk away? This is one of the culture shocks I experienced when we moved to Guildford and it continues in here. In general, people are honest. That paranoia we have that everyone is dishonest is manufactured. I’ve lost my wallet on the bus in Guildford and it was returned. Likewise, I’ve lost my wallet in Costco in the United States and it was returned. So, why do we always suspect the worst of everyone? I’m not saying that people will not commit crimes of opportunity, but I do think we are a bit more paranoid about it in the States than people are in some other countries.

After lunch, Drake was ready to play some more, even though nap time was rapidly approaching. So, we headed to the Jobbis area and he was able to work in a supermarket, build with blocks, steer a boat, and even have a pretend snack before I finally dragged him away.

Jobbis

Thank goodness for my toddler carrier! That boy was asleep almost before we made it back to the tram stop. Also, thank goodness for a city with comprehensive public transportation that is reasonably priced.

Each day that passes in this new city, I enjoy myself a little bit more. Yay for new beginnings!

Until next time…

That’s right, no more Gothenburg here. Now that we’ve arrived (we’ve arrived!!!!) it’s time to assimilate.

Our early morning flight to Göteborg went really well. Drake popped out of bed at 5:30am demanding to move to Sweden immediately. This was helpful; as our flight was at 7:35am. After boarding our flight with little time to spare, the man behind us inquired as to whether we were Americans. He turned out to be an American who moved to Göteborg thirteen years ago and hasn’t looked back. After a short discussion of the merits of living in Sweden; he explained to us that the proper pronunciation is “Yo-tuh-burr-y”. I’m not great with phonetic spellings, you get the drift. Apparently, it is better to avoid saying Gothenburg and our alternative pronunciation of “goat-burg” was way off. It actually reminded me of my first day at Gonzaga when I repeatedly mispronounced the name of my new dorm. Some things never change…

Upon arrival in Göteborg, we needed to find the cat. Not such an easy task. After being directed to the oversized luggage area and waiting in vain for twenty minutes; I decided to contact the cargo company directly. The only problem with this plan was my lack of a Swedish sim card for my phone and the fact that I hadn’t charged my own sim to pay for the out of country fees. So, what is a desperate tourist to do in these situations?

One awesome tip I can share is that most airports in the United States and every airport I’ve been to in Europe has free wi-fi that is easily accessible on your mobile. Some airports limit this to 45 minutes and others to 3 hours. In this case, I don’t speak Swedish, so I’m not sure the duration. I just blindly accepted the terms and connected in good faith.

Thankfully, the hubs downloaded Skype onto my phone and set everything up. This enabled me to call straight through to the Swedish cargo company. They explained that pet cargo is delivered to an entirely different building. Once that was sorted, we set off to find the cargo building. Contrary to what one would expect based on their reputation as a very reserved people; in my experience, Swedes are very helpful and forthcoming. After one gentlemen gave directions; he also suggested that I double check with the information desk. Did I mention that most Swedes in Göteborg and other big cities are fully fluent in both Swedish “Svenska” and English? This country is very serious about educating its citizens.

At the information desk, I found out that there are multiple cargo buildings at Göteborg Landvetter Airport (GOT). After another Skype call to allow the more knowledgeable parties to figure out directions; we set off. Thankfully, our cab driver from Göteborg Taxis had already arrived. He drove us the rather long journey and stayed with us through the next 3 steps it took to get Pongo. Step one, paperwork and visa on arrival payment for her. Step two, pass the paperwork to warehouse employees. Step three, wait outside a cargo bay for collection. She arrived safe and sound and very grumpy. Gotta love this cat 😃

“XL LIVE CAT” – the indignities..

Upon arrival at our temporary housing; we encountered another very European issue. Multiple doors with locks leading to many narrow staircases that did not lead to the correct apartment. Thankfully, after hauling quite a bit of our stuff up four flights of stairs to no avail; the hubs went off on a hunting expedition. He returned having found an elevator and having discovered that there are both inner and outer courtyard apartments. We were on the inner and needed to be on the outer. Phew. Should you be coming to Europe either for a move; or even just a visit; remember this experience. It is not the first time we’ve found ourselves wandering apartment buildings; knocking on random doors for help. Thankfully, people have always been very understanding.

Our first impression of the apartment was that it exceeded all expectations. It is about 127 square meters; which is huge for a two bedroom. Unlike housing in the United Kingdom; Sweden is also fanatical about insulation. Landlords are required to keep apartments at 18 degrees celsius (roughly 64 F) in the room at 16 degrees celsius (roughly 61 F) on the floor. This is not a cost they are allowed to pass onto renters. As such; these places are well insulated and heated. My best description of the apartment air would be arid. While I’m not too keen on using saline spray every day to keep my nose hydrated; I am ecstatic to have escaped the damp and mould so prevalent in every single dwelling in the UK.

After settling in for a short nap in the tiny beds that were pushed together (also very European), our band of world travelers set off in the snow to find food. Yes, it snowed! Drake’s only request for the move was to see snow and our very first day the snow began to fall. It was an idyllic evening and more than made up for any discomfort from moving day. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the night.

Winter Göteborg

Göteborg at night

Happy family = happy me.

Play in Snow

I have a feeling this move will be a blessed one.

Until next time…

Anyone who has ever tried to do anything productive with a toddler will recognize that making actual progress is tough. It takes ingenuity. My toddler’s favorite activity is doing whatever I am doing—albeit in his own misguided way. If I’m folding clothes, he’s standing on the pile. If I’m taking out the garbage, he’s trying to get into the bag. If I’m cooking at the stove, he’s trying to pull his stool up underneath my arms to “help out”. You get the picture.

Donatello “helping out”

Getting ready for this move with a toddler who was home 24/7 was not entirely realistic. Thankfully, my husband was on holiday from work and was able to take the boy out pretty regularly. So, the first way to make moving with a toddler easier is to:

Share your toddler with someone else for the afternoon.

Hey, I never purported to be awesome with children. The fact is, any time you do any activity with a toddler, it is going to be extra work. Therefore, it’s helpful to have someone else doing distracting the tot. If that’s not an option, try this one:

Modify your activity to include your toddler.

Before moving, I noticed that the floors were getting filthy every day. Winter rain is rough on the hard wood and moving stuff about is no better. We started a nightly routine where the boy and the hubs picked up the floor, then I vacuumed up the gunk. Finally, Drake was given a squirt bottle with my homemade cleaning miracle in it to spray about. I followed along with towels underfoot, scrubbing the resulting puddles. More about my miracle spray in the next post…

Another task that is necessary when moving out of a house is scrubbing marks off the walls. Drake of course wanted to help with this. I didn’t want his hands actually touching any kind of cleaning product, eco friendly or otherwise; and they don’t make cleaning gloves readily available in a 3T. Despite this, he wanted to help; so I would give him a cloth dampened with water and let him go to town. It’s better than painting it with markers 😃

My last tip for moving with a toddler is one that is universally achievable, but not any easier on you:

Wait until they sleep.

I know, I know, you are tired too! Sleep deprivation is nobody’s friend. This is why you should keep your nocturnal packings to just an hour or two after they sleep, then get some rest yourself (if you can). When you start packing a couple of months in advance, this is more achievable. As someone who procrastinated a bit on my organizing, I’m not the best at this advanced preparation bit; which is why I’ve been so tired lately.

Now that the move is over and we are officially in Sweden; I actually got a full nights sleep last night. As such, my next post will finish out this moving series and then I can get to the fun stuff—settling into Sweden.

Until next time 🙂

As I sit in an empty house, I can hardly believe the deed is done. The whole place is packed and we are really moving to Sweden. Tomorrow. I kid you not. We are moving to a new country where I do not know the language, there are no friends or family, and YIKES!!! WE ARE MOVING TO A NEW COUNTRY.

PHEW. Now that my panic is over, I have to say, I was going to make this post about how toddlers fit into moves; but I’ve decided to delay that and type this out while the sensations are fresh in my mind and body. Mind and body you question? Yes, both! I haven’t slept in 3 days! 3 days!! Just a couple hours here and there, probably no more than 5 altogether. Did you know I don’t drink caffeine? Yep, this is me running on carbs and water 😛

Last night I was frantic as I finally thought of all the things I’d forgotten. The carseat in the crawl space, the two boxes in the shed, the landlord’s document binder that she most definitely wants back…the list goes on. Anyway, I finally reminded myself that not everything is within my control. Then I took a moment to breath and made a list of those things that needed to be done. When my husband came home from his goodbye party, slightly tipsy, I set him on the things I couldn’t do and took care of the things I could (serenity prayer, anyone?). This meant a lot of last minute things got tossed into our luggage. Why is that? Well, when you are moving to a foreign country and staying in temporary housing, you want to bring everything you will need for 4 weeks. What does that look like? Check out the picture.

Before I get to the actual move, foremost on my mind has been what will happen with the cat. This morning, after dropping my son at his last day of nursery, I raced to the GP surgery to pick up his vaccination records then raced home so my husband could go to work. When I got here, the cat had been relegated to her new home…the bathroom. She was not pleased. I sat in there holding her for about a half hour and then left her to her own devices for another half hour. Right around 11am, PetAir UK arrived with the most awesome wooden crate ever. She popped right in and the nice gentleman whisked her off for a final medical check (they are a company of veterinarians). He called as soon as she was settled and will have her to the airport 4 hours prior to take off.

Now, remember that huge purge I just did, along with the stuff purge I’ve been doing for the past few months? Well thank goodness for that! The moving crew took from 9am until 2:40pm to load and pack our belongings. They skipped lunch… When everything was finally loaded, the truck was full! There were only two feet of space left at the back. No chance all the rest would have fit.

After they left, I checked over the house, picked up the trash, scrubbed the walls (more about all my scrubbing in a later blog), all those small things you need to do before leaving a home. Tomorrow, after our flight leaves, my awesome landlord will oversee the housekeepers and carpet cleaners (thank goodness for prepay!). Finally, I repacked our luggage, as the taxi comes in a couple hours to pick us up and take us to an airport hotel. 5am will come way too soon.

My husband just arrived with some Five Guys Burgers and Fries (thank goodness they have a Guildford location!) to stave off my hunger. Now we are off to pick up the boy and then return to catch our taxi.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for part 2, Moving with Toddlers and part 3, Frantically Scrubbing. 😉

As I soaked in an industrial amount of Epsom salts and lavender oil tonight; I reflected on all the ways I could have avoided the aches and pains coursing through my body.  Two ways in particular:

Don’t be such a hoarder!

Be more exacting when culling the belongings

In four days we arrive in Sweden.  When that time comes, I don’t want to have huge amounts of clutter.  To that end, for the past few months, I’ve been taking approximately 3-4 sacks of stuff per month to charity shops (thrift stores for my US friends).  Does that shock some of you? So many belongings that I can bring that much and still have more?  Sometimes it shocks me.  I’m really not sure where all of it was.  This is not exactly a huge two bedroom…

Primarily, I’ve been bringing toys our toddler has outgrown and clothes he’s outgrown or we are through wearing.  Yet somehow, as I type this I have 5 large boxes as well as other miscellaneous items ready to go to the charity shop.

Boxes for donations

Thankfully, the debra charity shop (debra.org.uk) will pick up items of furniture or boxes as long as you have a large load.  It is a charity dedicated to “individuals and families affected by Epidermolysis Bulls (EB).  Those born with EB have skin so fragile they are called ‘butterfly children’ – their skin is quite simply as fragile as the wings of a butterfly.”  The debra website says it more succinctly than I could.  So, they help me out and our gently used goods go to help out children who are suffering from a horrible illness.

Enough of the sad stuff though…back to the results of these hoarding tendencies.  I have spent quite a bit of time the past few weeks culling, but today was epic.  Hubs took the boy out of the house and I worked so hard that every bone is my body is aching and I had to bathe not once, but twice!  I’m not a fan of stink…

Thankfully, I think we have most of it ready.  Tomorrow, the garbage bin will be picked up and Saturday, the recycling.  Of course, we will be gone by Wednesday so my landlord will hopefully help out with that.  She is amazing.  She will let in the cleaners and the carpet cleaner I am hiring so we can leave without any worries.

If I could only get through to the airport in Gothenburg to give the “Ok to forward” for our cat. So far, no dice.  Cross your fingers!!  The cat is a no negotiable.

The saga continues…

My next post will be kind of fun.  I want to discuss with you toddlers and their role in a move.  Help or hindrance?  That is the question.  For now though, I will take my aching back, legs, neck, feet, and wrists to bed.  I’m really going to miss living so close to Epsom. Having access to unlimited Epsom salts rocks my world :). Signing off!

You read that right, this is our final week in the UK; our final week in our cozy little house in our quiet neighborhood. It’s almost time to begin our new adventure.

So, what was done this week for the move? Well, all those niggling details finally came to the surface. Guildford Borough Council was awesome even with our last minute notice and sent paperwork for a refund right away. Thames Water was equally responsive and is working on a refund and then interestingly enough, they will send a bill. I find this odd. Why not just hold onto the credit and deduct the final amount owed? There is bound to be some logic to it, but we just accepted and gave them the temporary address we are using in Sweden. Virgin, our internet provider, turned out to have a 30-day notification requirement. So, no refund there and we will need to pay for the full month of service. Lesson learned—make a detailed to-do list more than one month prior to a move. Our power company…oops! Guess I know who needs to be called tomorrow.

The most important travel detail that we are handling is the transportation of our cat. She is almost 13 years old and this will be her second plane journey. In case you are moving within the EU and need some tips, let me help you out. You will need a pet passport. This is not expensive, but it does need to be accurate. The most important detail is that the transponder number (microchip) needs to be recorded by the veterinarian on or before the date of the rabies vaccination. This way the veterinarian can prove they confirmed the identity of the animal before vaccinating. Weird, I know, but this tripped us up. Our vet did this in July, but we didn’t get the passport until November. A different vet filled out the passport and put the date she filled out the document as the date of confirmation. Thankfully, Pet Air UK, the company we are using, caught the issue and let me know. If they hadn’t, we would be in a pickle later. You may wonder why we hired someone to help with this…

When we moved to the UK from the USA, we were lucky enough that the new job paid for a pet travel company. Still, there were several details that we had to handle ourselves. After nearly botching our small role in that, it seemed prudent to have someone help. When I contacted the companies for assistance, I found out that airline tickets were cheaper with their custom made crates instead of the travel kennels we used previously (several hundred GBP cheaper). Additionally, we don’t have a car and our packers come the day prior to the move. So, having someone to pick my girl up and keep her overnight as well as check her in at the airport is a blessing in itself. The peace of mind of having someone double check all the documents is nice too.

What else have we been focusing on this week? Well, the purge has continued. A huge load has amassed of giveaway items that we don’t feel the need to keep. Also, the recycling truck took a huge mass of recycling away. This may seem easy, but emptying the open cupboard items into the compost and then washing and recycling the packaging can be labor intensive. Lastly, thanks to Gumtree and Freecycle, bits of furniture and a rug that we didn’t want to bring have now found new homes. The only furniture left consists of two dressers, two beds, an ottoman, a dining room table, and four chairs. Whew. Needless to say, the house is a lot more spacious than before.

The human aspect of moving should not be forgotten. I bought an address book and asked all our friends to send addresses, phone numbers, and birthdays. Hopefully that will help for long term contact. Tomorrow, for the first time in two years, a small group of my girlfriends and I will be going out for drinks. Friend time with no toddlers; what is that and why didn’t we do it before???

Nice drinks at Three Pigeons – Guildford High Street

The last thing we’ve completed this week is shoe shopping. You are wondering why I feel the need to call that out, aren’t you? Well, we are moving to Sweden, and everyone says that when you move to Sweden in the winter, you need to have sturdy shoes with traction. Oft repeated advice is worth following; hopefully.

Tomorrow is another day and I’m sure more of those last minute tasks will pop up. When that happens, I just remind myself that the Visa was approved; the flights are booked; the temporary accommodation is set; and the rest will get sorted. Then I close my eyes, take a deep breath, square my shoulder, and brace myself for whatever adventures the day will hold. Breath on friends 😃

One month from today, our little family will set off on a new adventure. We will be leaving the idyllic town of Guildford, Surrey UK for a much bigger city, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Guildford High Street

Prepping for this move has been both easy, because my husband’s new company is handling a lot of details, but also hard, because there are so many variables to consider. Visas? Handled. Moving company? Handled. Temporary housing? Handled. Lucky, right? Absolutely.

Now why is anything stressful? Well, when you have a toddler and a pet to consider, everything gets just a bit more complicated. Here are just a few things to consider:

Moving date? Dependent on Visa processing. Pet moving date? Dependent on Visa processing.How to handle check out and cleaning of rental when leaving the country with a pet? Thank goodness we have an amazing landlord… New nursery? Eeks!!! Where will we live after the first month? No idea until after we get there.

That’s just a few things to consider. So far I’ve contacted the pet movers to tentatively set things up, gotten an EU pet passport, emailed several Swedish nurseries to learn about them, contacted women’s groups to try to set up a network, cancelled my gym membership, cancelled the current nursery, the charitable donations, posted belongings for free or sale on the internet to de-clutter…the list goes on. There is always a lot involved in a move and moving to a new country just compounds that.

I’ve also spent countless hours after the toddler goes to bed researching our new city—AMAZING! And trying to learn how to cope with 3 hours of sunshine in the winter (hint: fancy lights and lots of layers!)

After trying and failing to do a fun blog when we moved to England two years ago (thank you, toddler for trashing the laptop…); I’ve decided to really commit to this. One of my biggest sources of angst has been the lack of information about moving to this awesome city with a toddler and with next to no knowledge of the new language. My hope is that as I overcome these hurdles, others who are embarking on similar adventures will stumble across this blog and realize you are not alone, this has been done before, and in a way, we will do it together. Alternately, maybe you will stumble across this blog and realize you too can have a big adventure, it is possible for ordinary people to live and thrive in new places. Or maybe just have an occasional vicarious thrill.

I hope you stay with me during this adventure. Grand adventures are always better when shared with friends 😃

Gothenburg, Sweden

Our 2014 started on a wet and windy day in Greenwich, London. After more than an hour debating on the merits of heading out in the rain, and after realizing the cafe we were intending to find was closed, our better sense won out and I decided to cook rather than face the wet and wind.

So did I prepare eggs and toast or pancakes or cereal?  Heck no!  This is a new year and a new country. I used the last of the brown bread to make toast and slapped a can of beans in tomato sauce in a pot. I also got out some jam and butter…my tomato allergy is not something I mess around with 😉

As I placed the plates of beans and toast in front of Raymond and Drake, their reactions were very different. Raymond approached with caution and slowly warmed up to his breakfast. Drake dived in head first and continued to feast for about a half hour. That kid loves beans on toast!

So here we are, new year, new country, new breakfast. Life is good.