• Get letters of recommendation from your bank(s). You will need them in order to open a bank account in the UK.
• Get letters of recommendation from your insurance companies (car, rental, homeowners, etc.). These need to include your claims history.
• Without a UK driving license, car insurance will be very expensive. Shop around and ask for recommendations from other expats and/or your relocation company.
• Remember that you will have NO CREDIT when you arrive in the UK. Your home-country credit rating does not follow you here.
  • Decide how you will handle buying a car or a home
  • Keep your US credit active by keeping some accounts in the US(credit cards, bank account, etc.). You may need to draw upon your US credit. This could also affect you returning home if you are abroad for a number of years.
  • Make sure you have enough cash on hand to cover a full year's expenses where you will need to pay up front due to a lack of credit (auto insurance, mobile phone, rental insurance, etc.).
  • Keep an account in US funds (either by banking at your current bank online or by using the services of a bank that handles expats such as Citibank)

• Bring US extension cords where you will want to hook up multiple US items (i.e. stereo) to a single transformer. This will save you having to have a transformer for each individual appliance provided that the transformer is of a sufficient size to handle the load.
• Make sure you value your goods in transit at the replacement cost at your destination - not your home country. In the case of US to UK, there can be significant differences in replacement costs.
• Some US electronics will work just fine on transformers, others will not. The basic rule of thumb is that if it has a timer or a very long cord, it will not work well or at all on a transformer. Some things to leave at home: bread makers, washers and dryers, televisions, US video gaming systems (unless you bring a US TV just for that purpose), vacuum cleaner, drills, clocks, telephones that have answering machines/clocks in them, cordless phones, microwaves. Appliances that work just fine: stereo systems, kitchen aid mixers, hand mixers, Cuisinart, refrigerators, blenders.
• Computers are normally made with dual voltage built in. Monitors generally switch over automatically (just buy a new cord for the UK). The hard drive will have a switch on the back (make sure you do switch it over or you will blow out the power - it will cost about 50.00 to fix this if you forget). If you have a sound system that needs to be plugged in, you will need a transformer for it.
• The UK is on the PAL system for television. The US is NTSC. This affects your television, VCR, DVD, Gaming systems, and any other television-based appliance. You can buy multisystems that will work in most countries. VCR's and DVD players that will handle Region 1 or NTSC are common here, they just cost a little more.

You can find many US food items on UK grocery shelves these days. You can also find comparable replacements for many US items as well. But if you are very attached to a specific brand, you may want to bring some with you until you can figure out how to get it here. Additionally, check out some of the expat grocery sites to see if you can order it from here (it will cost you a lot more, but worth it when you are going through culture shock!).

Some foods that are still difficult or impossible to find here:

• Dill Pickles
• Chocolate Chips
• Stove Top Stuffing (or equivalent), the British version is not even close
• Crisco (lard is the shortening of choice here)
• Boxed macaroni and cheese
• Saltines (though Costco is carrying them more regularly)
• Ready-made cake frosting (other than chocolate or vanilla)