Just a little update while I take a green-tea-and-sesame-pudding break from final packing hour. I’ve taken on the role of Chief Relocation Officer while G finished up last-week deadlines at his soon-to-be-former job, and this week was all about catching him up on my research and the tying up of loose ends, namely:
- Initiating the application for a bank account, which is essential for renting an apartment in Dublin
- More apartment browsing! Still undecided, but here is a view at a too-fancy apartment that stole my soul:
- Dealing with our respective phone companies – even after 7+ years of my “loyalty”, Verizon won’t let me out of my contract three months early (it ends on September 12). Other phone companies, like T-Mobile, have ways to terminate your contract if you can prove that you’re actually leaving the country, but not good ol’ Verizon. No, instead, on the day that I fly out of NYC, they’ll push me back to the most basic $35/month plan, then end my service when their contract is up, which will cost half-ish of what contract termination would cost me now. Before we came to this arrangement, one of the Verizon employees suggested I sell my phone on Craigslist to help pay the termination fee. The warm rays of corporate love are so soothing in the midst of all our moving tasks! …Anyone want a Droid Bionic?
- Getting suitcases for G. TravelPro makes super-light spinner cases, and super-light is what we’re after, due to airline the weight restrictions
- Finally getting my printer and art supplies box to USPS
- Buying two Kindle Paperwhites before leaving, because they’re £109.00 on Amazon.co.uk, which is about $170, and $139 on Amazon.com
- Booking a week’s worth of a private room at a lively hostel, where we’ll stay while viewing apartments. We used HostelWorld.com for this, where we happened across this gem:
And, of course…
PACKING.
More on that next time. All the Operation I posts, so far.
For the phone – bring it with you. You can get it jailbroken here (which I believe is illegal in the US) for usually about €10. You might need to adjust the software for non Verizon stuff – but there are loads of places around Dublin that do stuff like that for you. Find Parnell St or Moore St and they should be able to sort you out. And you can get a new sim card for free + €20 credit to get you started on pay as you go.
Now good luck with the packing!
Caitriona, thanks for the advice! I actually tried to jailbreak it last summer, in Beijing, and they couldn’t manage it – doesn’t mean it can’t be done, though.
I would buy the Bionic for $80+shipping or possibly trade it for a GSM Smarthphone. Additionally if you find yourself in Atlanta on your way east, I can root it in about 2 hours or so.
Wish I had useful suggestions for you! So just more wishes for smooth sailing with everything and electronically charged huggggs.
…TMobile is in the UK (from what I understand) and hasn’t had contracts for the past two months. #justsayingnotsaying
You can use your amazon.com (US) account for the kindle, rather than the amazon.co.uk one here-better for choice, payment, etc. And beware of overly new apartments, some are crappy build quality.