Things to Buy BEFORE Moving/PCSing Overseas

It goes against the grain. When moving overseas, you should be getting rid of things, not buying more stuff! Well, I wish I had bought more stuff. I realized this the first day I walked into our PX and was faced with empty shelves, or the store clerk saying, "We don't carry that". I even tried a few German stores, but either the price chased me out the door, or they just didn't have it either. So now what? What gets to me the most right now, is our stupid cat, tracking litter and filth up and down the hallway. We are on our second litterbox....and have again struck out. Only a top entry litterbox will do for him apparently and much to my dismay, every store that sells these Clevercat litterboxes in the States does not ship to the APO because of its large size. I thought about trying the ShipitAPO.com service, but the litterbox is already oversize and items shipped through them must still follow the USPS guidelines. But, this is only an example of one of the many things I wish I had brought over. Here are some more.

• Our bed. Not the mattresses but the actual bedframe. We got rid of our rickety one right before we moved and thought we would look for one here. One, the German beds are a different size. Two, our selection at our PX furniture store is VERY limited and VERY pricey for beds.
• Little replacement doodads, clips and hardware. Yes, the PX has the basic supply of nails, screws and such. I've even had success at the German hardware store with some things. But try finding those special clips for my sideboard and entertainment center over here.
• Sheets, comforters and blankets. If your old ones are raggedy, then plan to buy these on sale before you move. Again, the PX is overpriced with such things and rarely do they go on sale, and I just hate paying all those shipping costs when I don't need to. I won't even begin to go into the poor selection of choices either.
  
• Any special pet products you may need. Here they are either not available at the PX or too expensive on the German economy. If your pet takes a prescription, try to get as much of it filled before you come. The onpost vet has very limited space, and you can forget it if your pet has an emergency. Ours books appointments two months out and first come first served. If you need to go to a German vet, you will pay through the nose. Yet another thing to budget for if you are bringing a pet overseas.
  
• Your favorite 110v appliance. The PX has a limited supply, and depending on the size and weight of your item, should you buy it while over here, it may be too cost prohibitive to ship or be over the USPS requirements for size and/or weight.

I'd say half of our neighbors traveled over here like minimalists. Most of their things are in storage. Many of them wish most of their things were not in storage. I got rid of all our kids' old bedroom furniture, and thought we would have a shopping spree at IKEA...but up til now, I've only had to buy them a workstation-desktype contraption. The furniture you can borrow from the government, at least where I am, is newer, lighter wood and IKEA-like, so it fit in perfectly with their decor. The only old piece of 1950s dark-wood furniture we have is our loaner coffee table, and it seems to fit in just fine with our antiques. For those living off-post, the biggest furniture hurdle seems to be no closet space. German closets are not built in with the house....neither is the kitchen...but that is another story for another day.

Anyway, those are the hightlights anyway...if I had to do things differently, that's my list. You learn from your experiences...and every one else's if you can.

What do you wish you had brought with you?