Starting the container journey

And off he goes... I still can't quite believe it and I think neither can Tom but we won't see Hans for another at least four weeks.
The weekend was spent getting a few last things done, like putting vinyl decals on the car, creating a blackboard surface for people to leave a message, washing the car and most importantly, deciding what we would need for the next month.
It feels kind of weird leaving everything you own behind. I guess it's not very often that you put your home into a container.
Japan will be a backpacking adventure for us, so we took essential clothing, our valuables, the coffee maker (bialetti) and a few documents, but everything else is now locked up in a 20ft container on the way to Valdivostok.
Tom drove Hans in himself, which was a huge help in not worrying too much what would be going on at the port. As was the fact that Brent from Bikes abroad, our shipping agent, was there to make sure everything went well. Apparently there has been a last minute vessel change, but Brent seemed not too worried about anything. Boy, organising sea freight and custom clearance etc etc really is far from being child's play!
A last hurdle had to be taken: Unfortunately we were a few centimeters too long with the bikes. Thankfully we had an easy fix: we took them off on the spot and they're in the car now. The container doors could shut.
And as always when you get ready for a trip, now we're thinking about all the things that we could have taken out of the car. Oh well, too late. Just wish us luck that everything will still be there when we'll be reunited in early June.

For those of you interested in shipping your car somewhere, here is a quick timeline:

- a long time ago we started saving
- 6months ago we started researching and contacting different shipping agents and freight companies
- 4 months ago we had the offers narrowed down and decided which agent to use. We also decided on container shipping opposed to RollOn RollOff (RoRo), as we were hoping prices were comparable and it seemed to be the safer option.
- 3months ago we decided on the suitable timeframe (flexibility helps when you're looking to share the costs with travel partners). We also decided on the final port of departure and arrival.
We received a quote and confirmed.
- 2months ago we received a first shipping schedule and set the date to 9th May
- 2weeks before the shipping date we got the booking confirmation from our agent, got to know that instead of sharing a 40ft container, Hans would now travel alone in a 20ft one and we paid the invoice. We were also introduced to the agent that will handle the Russian side of things.
- a few days before actual departure of the ship the car was loaded into the container
- we're now waiting for the bill of landing that will allow us to track our car on its journey and we will let you know how everything went once we're reunited.Read more