This post is written for people who are planning to move from Singapore to the UK only with their Air baggage allowances. It’s possible if you are smart about it!Do you know that airline companies charge an upward of S$500 for every 5kg of additional baggage allowance for flights from Singapore to the UK? That’s a whopping S$100 for every 1 kg of weight.
In Jan 2022, I moved from Singapore to the UK without shipping any of my belongings. To help you maximise your baggage allowances as I did, I have come up with this guide to share my best packing tips with you.
出国留学或公干？要怎么充分利用航空公司行李限额把所需品都带去呢？
您知道航空公司从新加坡飞往英国的航班每增加五公斤的行李限额，会收取五百新元以上的费用吗？这等于每公斤的重量高达一百新元。
二零二二年一月，我从新加坡迁移到英国，并没有海运任何物品。为了帮助您也充分利用航空公司的李限额，我编写了本指南，与您分享一些贴士。
第一步骤：列出你想带的东西
I have categorised the things that I would like to bring and the names of the categories suggest their priority level:
Priority 1: Essential
Priority 2: Good to Have
Priority 3: Luxury
I even weighed the things that I wanted to bring. The weight helps me to eliminate the big-ticket items to free up space for more light items. I ended up removing things from what I thought were essential like the Xiaomi Cleaning Robot which was a whopping 3.6 kg (10% of my check-in luggage allowance).
Weighing the things take up quite a significant amount of my time (e.g. 2-3 hours) and I recommend doing it for things that you really like.
Step 2: Research the cost of things in the country that you will be moving to.
With the advent of online shopping, you can easily find out the cost of things that you need in the new country. This is an excellent way for you to prune your to-bring-list.
我分类了想带的东西，类别的名称表明了它们的优先级：
优先级一：必须品
优先级二：可有可无
优先级三：奢华品
我甚至把称重器拿出来称一称想带的东西的重量。这帮我列出太重的物品，腾出空间容纳更多轻物品。比如，我把重达 3.6 公斤（我托运行李限额的 10%）的小米清洁机器人腾出来后，能多放一些衣服和被单。
可是，称量这些东西占用了我相当多的时间（例如两到三小时），所以我建议你选择性的称重量。
第二步骤：上网搜索新国家的物品销售价格
随着网上购物的盛行，您可以轻而易举地搜索新国家贩卖物品的销售价格。要如何修剪您携带的物品将取决于这个讯息。把贵的东西带着，扔掉便宜的东西。
Rule of Thumb: Bring things that are expensive to buy and chuck out things that are cheap to buy.
Step 3: Prune away 90% of the things on your list in Step 1.
Yup, just chuck most of the things and put in your favorite food like Laksa, Korean Instant Noodles, and Kaya!
Other Packing Tips
Airline companies usually only impose a weight but not volume limit on your check-in baggage (except for odd-sized items such as a bicycle). Therefore, your main objective is not to bring things that are heavy. However, do note that you may have trouble ferrying bulky things alone in a foreign country so it’s also a good idea not to pack big items into your luggage.
第三步骤：删除 90%的东西
把大部分的东西扔掉，然后把你最喜欢的食物放入行李箱哈哈！
其他整理行李贴士
目前，航空公司通常只对您的托运行李施加重量而不是体积限制（除了自行车等尺寸奇特的物品除外）。因此，您的主要目标是不要携带重的物品。但是，请注意，您在国外单独运送大件物品可能会遇到困难，因此最好也不要将大件物品装入行李中。
Tips to reduce Weight
1. Avoid heavy things like Metal (e.g. pots and pans, utensils).
2. Instead, bring things that are made of plastic as they are light and are usually priced around the same as heavy metals like Ziplock Bags and Containers. (I love transparent plastic organisers and storage boxes.)
3. Use cupboard boxes with a dolly trolley or those Jumbo Plastic Canvas Bags, instead of a suitcase as they are lighter by at least 1kg. You can wrap the boxes with bubble wrap (for cushioning function) and cling wrap (for waterproof function) to protect your boxes from crumbling. I know it may be embarrassing to be using these cupboard boxes or Plastic Bags instead of a suitcase but being stylish comes at a cost.
减轻体重的秘诀
（一） 避免携带金属等重物（例如锅碗瓢盆）
（二）相反，带上塑料制成的东西，因为它们很轻，而且价格通常与重金属差不多。比如，我喜欢携带透明的塑料组织者和储物盒。
（三）考虑使用自皮箱或塑料帆布袋包裹物品，而不是行李箱，因为它们至少轻一到两公斤。您可以用气泡膜（用于缓冲功能）和保鲜膜（用于防水功能）包裹盒子，以保护您的盒子不会碎裂。你可能觉得拿着这些皮箱或塑料帆布袋很不时尚，令人尴尬。但是，切记，要显得时尚及富有潮流感有代价的。
Tips to reduce Volume
Vacuum pack clothes with good quality transparent trash bags. Forget about those Vacuum pack bags, they are expensive (S$2-10 each). A cheaper alternative is to use trash bags. I find that Diaso trash bags are pretty good quality and are usually sold in packs of 10 each for S$2-3.
减少体积的秘诀
我建议用优质透明垃圾袋真空包装衣服。比起真空包装袋（每个售价 2-10 新元，使用垃圾袋计较实惠。我觉得 Diaso 的垃圾袋质量不错，通常以十个一包的价格出售，每包售价 2-3 新元。
Other things that I am glad I brought
- A set of washed bedsheets
- Some clothes as it takes time to buy new ones that YOU LIKE
- Some recycled bags as plastic bags are chargeable at 40-60 cents each in SG dollars in the UK
Afterthoughts
I spent quite a lot of time buying the things that we need in a house (e.g. scissors, pots and pans) but this also gave me an opportunity to learn about the new country.
However, if you are busy working a full-time job, go ahead and engage the relocating agent that your company will reimburse. If like me, you do not have a budget, then follow my tips. It is not worth shipping your things or paying for extra baggage charges. Just buy whatever you need in the new country if you can, especially if you are moving to a developed country.
Still fretting over how and what to pack and need someone to guide you along? Check out our relocation personal consultation services here.
您可以考虑携带的一些物品
（一）一套洗过的床单
（二）一些衣服，因为买你喜欢的新衣服需要一段时间
（三）一些作环保袋子，因为在英国，各大商店会为每个塑料袋收取四到六角新元。
反思
搬迁迫使您采取极简主义的生活方式，并让您重新审视什么是必用品，什么不是。
我花了很多时间 (大概两个月左右) 购买我们在新家园里需要的东西（例如剪刀、锅碗瓢盆），但这也给了我一个了解这个新国家的机会。
但是，如果您的工作繁忙，那你应该采用公司提供的搬迁代理专家的服务。如果像我一样，您没有预算，您可以采用我分享的以上贴士。我个人认为海运您的东西或支付额外的行李费是不值得的。尽可能在新的国家买你需要的东西，尤其是如果你将要搬到发达国家，那个新国家应该因有尽有，大概什么都可以买到。
为了迁移到新国家，还有任何其他疑问，需要有人指导您吗？你可在这查阅我们从 九十九美元起的搬迁个人咨询服务。