Mailing things home

Based on my previous experience sending things home to lighten my load...

• Brace yourself for some sticker shock. It'll might cost quite a bit more than you expect.
• Hope you're not in a big hurry for things to arrive back home. I've had things take a few weeks to a couple months.
• Pack things well (well padded, and well sealed) - it may be a bumpy trip for your stuff.
• Don't be shocked if, once delevered home, you find your package was opened (by customs, I assume) and then re-sealed (maybe not re-sealed very well).
• Once you commit and send it off, enjoy having lighter bags (since you may have paid dearly for that luxury).
• Make a mental note for next time: bring less stuff. :)

Hope that helps.

When we lived in Italy we were reluctant to shop with Poste Italiane due to high rates and undependable service. However, we found shipping from France via the French Postal system fairly reasonable and efficient. So if you can box it up yourself, that might be an option. We have also had success with Mailboxes Etc as they navigate the customs paperwork for you as well as pack and insure it.

Here’s my tip, don’t.

I’m still waiting for my package from doing the exact same thing it Italy for the exact same reasons. That was a decade ago and sadly I don’t think mailing from Europe has improved.

Shipping via Fed Ex will be costly.

Just saying.

Teachersher,

Shipping items from the UK to the USA is going to be VERY expensive especially heavy and bulky clothing items. Just take it with you to France or leave it behind in London (if you can afford to do this). I have dumped clothing on many trips through Europe. Its just not worth the hassle or expense to ship clothing back.

Margaret

Teachersher,
Two years ago when my daughter had completed her study abroad semester, we sent a package home from the UK with her winter clothes, including a down coat, a couple of pairs of boots and a few souvenirs, via Mail Boxes, etc.
The salesperson will find the best price with the various carriers they have a contract with, for us it turned out to be with Fed Ex.
The package weighed 7 Kilograms and it cost £80.
The package arrived home in less than a week’s time.

We also sent a smaller package from France, via the postal service, and it cost €54 for a box slightly bigger than a shoe box. I thought Mail Boxes, etc was a better deal, though. This particular package also arrived within 4-5 days.

It was worth it to us not to have to lug around extra luggage during our trip.

Enjoy your trip!

Perhaps look into shipping it to your last hotel/lodging so you do not need to lug it around until you are ready to leave for home

Whether that works is dependent on your lodging storing it for you and how long you will be in France, to make sure it has time to get there.

I've shipped a few packages from the UK to the US. Each time was with Royal Mail. It wasn't cheap but they all got there in about a week. (Two places I remember fondly were Glasgow and Hammersmith. In both post offices, the staff went out of their way to help me. )

I once sent a bag back to the U.S. using "Send My Bag." They picked it up from my hotel--the hotel was willing to hand it to them so I didn't have to hang around--and it was delivered in two days. It got back before I did. Not cheap but efficient.

My personal feeling is that spending the extra to ship stuff back home is worth it rather than having to carry it around my entire trip. Others may disagree.

I will give you an example from a few weeks ago. My sister in law wanted a small Harrods shopping bag. Since I was on a long trip and starting in London, I bought it and shipped it to her so I didn't have to carry it with me my entire trip and she could get it sooner. I sent it Royal Mail International Tracked Small Parcel. It weighed .258 kg (about 9 ounces). It was in a padded envelope. The postage was 12.95 GBP. And that included tracking. It took a week.

Thanks, all. I think we’ll look at a couple of options. As an aside, on the “bring less stuff” note - sening home one of two pairs of shoes and two of four pairs of pants. It’s shoulder season and I know that it will change soon from absolutely needing jeans to absolutely needing nothing more than a lightweight pair of capris. It’s worth it to my back to lighten the load. Backpack is 14 pounds now -not bad, but and every little bit helps. Wish I’d had clothes to being that I didn’t mind leaving behind!

Some years ago we mailed a lot of no-longer-needed guidebooks, maps, brochures, and such from Paris to home, a few days before returning ourselves. The post office had a box we could fill and I think we might have gotten a lower rate because it was "books." Not bulky but heavy. We were glad to lose the weight from our bags and the stuff arrived a few days after we did.

Of course if we'd been more tech-savvy we could have kept all that info in a phone or tablet so never need paper. Unfortunately that strategy doesn't work for clothing. ;-)

I don’t know where you are heading to in France, but I am currently on the west coast of France and for the last two weeks, it has been warmer in Scotland than here for much of this time! I have seen far more rain and thunderstorms here than I would anticipate back home in England. You may want to keep hold of your warmer clothes!

We had a delightful dilemma last month after a month trip to Europe. We also had to deal with the shoulder season issue concerning clothing.

Our problem was that we were gifted 25 lbs of fabulous books for my research. We looked into shipping them home but the cost was quite high. Between the two of us, we redistributed the books between our four bags using a travel scale, dumped our liquids and non-essentials, and slid by with .1 kg. to spare.

My advice is to look at each and every item you carry. If it is cheap or worn out, leave it in the trash in Europe.