Resettleus How much commuting can you handle? By Karina Rook Aside from choosing a school district in the Valley, another factor in deciding where to live is your proximity to work. A one hour commute is considered normal for many San Franciscans, and everyone owns at least one car here. Many employees at my husband’s work
Resettleus Difference between schools in California and Australia By Karina Rook I’m often asked about the quality of schools in the Valley, and how they compare to schools in Australia. My opinion on this has changed from my first experiences of the schools here. Now that we feel more settled, and some of the emotion has been
Resettleus Getting ready for a new school in Silicon Valley By Karina Rook Once we picked a school we liked, and rented a house within the district boundaries, we needed to prove to the school that we lived within the boundary – the lease agreement was not enough. In addition to the lease agreement, we needed two of the following: * Cell
Resettleus The drivers for choosing a Silicon Valley home By Karina Rook What should you consider when shopping around for a new home in the Valley? There are several factors, but when you have school-age kids there is only one that really matters – schools. Unless you’re wealthy enough to afford private schools here, you’ll want to pick
Resettleus Checklist for running a great garage sale By Karina Rook It was my first time, I was nervous and excited all at once, and I wanted my garage sale to be a success. I did some online research, asked around, and felt pretty prepared, but I sure learned a lot on the day! My top three biggest
Resettleus The sell or store debate in your move to San Francisco By Karina Rook Once you know what you will be bringing with you when you move to San Francisco, you need to tackle everything else in your house, deciding what to sell, how and if anything is worth storing. There will also be plenty of junk that will have to
Resettleus Size matters in the bedroom By Karina Rook I never realized that bed mattress sizes differ in the U.S. Not only that, there’s different bed size terminology too. OK, so here goes… Australia versus America Single (92cm x 187cm) v Twin (99.1cm x 190.5cm) Double (137m x 187cm) v Full (137.
Resettleus What should I ship to Silicon Valley? There are many unknowns when you relocate to San Francisco, and when you’re trying to decide which belongings should be shipped, here are some general words of advice: 1. Bring the family heirlooms and photo albums if they’re not too big. They are part of who you are.
Resettleus What will I need initially for the move to San Francisco Have you ever been camping, or away on holiday and thought how remarkable it is that you can live happily with the contents of your car or suitcase? We really don’t need that much ‘stuff’ to survive for a short time period. When planning your big move, and deciding
Resettleus Getting Organised Moving is stressful, you have thoughts buzzing around your head when you’re trying to get to sleep at night, and you have suggestions and contacts being given to your from friends and work mates. How do you stay sane? In my case, a cheap exercise book I bought from
Resettleus Making a fresh start By Karina Rook I have re-settled a lot. Three times within Australia with no kids, and twice overseas with kids. Our first international move was with a big corporate who paid for relocation services to help us settle in London. The most recent move was entirely done by me, and
Resettleus The big decision By Karina Rook So, how do you know if you made the right decision to move to San Francisco? Your brain says “there’s more career options” or, “without some risk there is no reward”. Logically it’s the next step forward. Your conscience says “the kids have just settled
