Andrew's Smooth Removal to Madrid

We’d like to know the origin and destination of your move, and most importantly what made you decide to pack up and leave? How did you experience that?

Moving from London to Madrid. I had been working in Madrid for seven years and renting my place in London. Now coming up to retirement I decided to sell my place in London and find somewhere new to live in Spain. This was a decision I had taken over several years, so by the time I executed the plan I was confident in my choice. I decided to sell my place in London first, move the small amount of things I had chosen to keep and put them in storage, and then look for a place in Spain. Personally, I find managing a big change like this is easier if it’s broken down into smaller simple steps. The removals part was one of those steps.

Choosing a good moving company is painful, we know that. How did you manage to find the perfect one among the thousands of existing ones?

I made some enquiries a few years ago when I thought I would be needing an international removals company. Unfortunately, the company I had been dealing with went out of business. So I tried an online search and found Sirelo. They put me in touch with five removals firms, one of which stood out, Traslo Service, partly because they were completive on price, but mainly because they communicated well and reassured me about the process. They also were able to give me a quick delivery, so I wasn’t left waiting for weeks.

Let’s get to the fun part! Take us through the moving day – did everything go as planned?

There wasn’t one moving day for me. I had already put what I wanted to keep into storage some years ago. So first I had to hire a van and collect it. I then spent some time re-wrapping everything for the move. The day of the collection I got a phone call half an hour before arrival. As the parking is not easy where I lived, I took my stuff down to the lobby to make it easier for the removal’s guys. They were really friendly and professional, carefully labelling individual items and boxing my dining chairs. Within half an hour they had loaded everything and gone. Easy! The delivery was also easy. I got a phone call a few hours before arrival and then half an hour before. The guys were great. We had everything unloaded and delivered in half an hour. Nothing damaged as far as I can see.

Are you master of chaos or is chaos master of you: What are 3 tips that you think could help others make their moving day less chaotic?

I wouldn’t like to do the whole thing in one day. As it was an international move, I divided the process into selling and buying. I already had a rental place in Madrid so I could concentrate on the selling part in London. Of course, moving can be a lot of work and stressful, but breaking it down into manageable steps makes it so much easier. It’s also a great opportunity for de-cluttering. I had so much stuff which I didn’t need any more. When I have bought a new place in Spain I intend to buy as little as possible initially, and only buy quality things. You have to be able to trust in a lot of third parties, so I think it’s worth spending some time getting quotes and meeting them face to face if possible. Also don’t be too precious about things: material things can mostly be replaced if necessary.

Any last words?

Take courage! Change is usually worth a bit of pain.

Disclaimer: the views shared on this blog belong only to the client. Sirelo is an independent platform and the expat testimonials provided are intended for informational purposes.

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