Be ye encouraged by the plunder in this box
November 1, 2015 5:46 PM Subscribe
I have a good friend who is moving overseas with his family for a few years as part of his job. I would like to send him a care package shortly after he gets there that will be encouraging to him. I have a few ideas, based on what I know about him personally over the years. What other kinds of things might be encouraging for a big change-in-life situation like this?
He sees it as an adventure, but there will be a lot of life changes for his family, including needing to finding a permanent place to live, banks, school for kids, etc. I don't want this to be too open ended, but I'd like to have some good ideas of things I might not have thought of, or things you would appreciate if you were (or have been) in a similar situation. Many thanks.
He sees it as an adventure, but there will be a lot of life changes for his family, including needing to finding a permanent place to live, banks, school for kids, etc. I don't want this to be too open ended, but I'd like to have some good ideas of things I might not have thought of, or things you would appreciate if you were (or have been) in a similar situation. Many thanks.
Best answer: His kid's favorite convenience foods, if you know them, especially if the kids are elementary-school aged. Adults can be fairly good at framing things in terms of an adventure, but a young kid without access to mac and cheese or whatever is more likely to have a meltdown.
posted by jaguar at 6:23 PM on November 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by jaguar at 6:23 PM on November 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Maybe a guidebook, language learning book, or other appropriate item about the country he is moving to? (Assuming it's not one he's spent lots of time in already)
Seconding comfort foods.
Power adapters to plug in his gadgets? (Depends again on the destination country).
posted by mmoncur at 6:39 PM on November 1, 2015
Seconding comfort foods.
Power adapters to plug in his gadgets? (Depends again on the destination country).
posted by mmoncur at 6:39 PM on November 1, 2015
Best answer: Converters, plugs, comfort food and products from home (you can easily check online about availability where they are)-- if they are Kindle users, book certificates. A favourite magazine subscription is an appreciated luxury gift that most expats would feel too cheap to buy themselves.
posted by frumiousb at 6:53 PM on November 1, 2015
posted by frumiousb at 6:53 PM on November 1, 2015
Best answer: I'm an expat. Many many things I miss can be obtained one way or another, the stuff I can't is really random. An IOU care package (and follow through) at the 6 or 12 mo mark would be awesome. Send them an email saying their package is due and see what they're missing and can't find!
Periodic snail mail is nice too.
posted by jrobin276 at 8:36 PM on November 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Periodic snail mail is nice too.
posted by jrobin276 at 8:36 PM on November 1, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Where is your friend moving from and to?
This might be difficult but I'd send things that smell like home. Scented items like soap or laundry detergent can smell radically different in another part of the world, and it can sometimes be hard to find unscented products.
posted by hooray at 9:07 PM on November 1, 2015
This might be difficult but I'd send things that smell like home. Scented items like soap or laundry detergent can smell radically different in another part of the world, and it can sometimes be hard to find unscented products.
posted by hooray at 9:07 PM on November 1, 2015
Best answer: Power adapters to plug in his gadgets? (Depends again on the destination country).
A universal power adaptor is a pretty cool gift for travellers.
An external battery pack to keep smartphones and tablets working.
A Leatherman Wave is a highly portable substitute for a toolbox.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:39 PM on November 1, 2015
A universal power adaptor is a pretty cool gift for travellers.
An external battery pack to keep smartphones and tablets working.
A Leatherman Wave is a highly portable substitute for a toolbox.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 9:39 PM on November 1, 2015
Best answer: I moved from the US to the UK 13 years ago. Looking back on the various things I acquired as part of that transition, the most useful ones have been:
• Cookbooks published in the new country, because the ingredients that are readily available in the grocery stores are not always the same. Given that your friend has kids, this should probably be a general, everyday, contemporary cookbook, rather than something gourmet or specialized or historical (unless that's your friend's thing).
• The tools needed to cook with foreign cookbooks. In the UK, this would be a kitchen scale (because recipes here list solid ingredients by weight, not volume) and a measuring cup in milliliters.
• Conversion plugs specific to that country. Universal plugs are definitely great if you're doing a lot of traveling, but if you're just settling down in one new place, universal plugs could be unnecessarily fiddly.
• A subscription to that country's version of "Consumer Reports." In the UK, for example, it would be Which? Magazine. Honestly, this is the single biggest thing I wish I had had when I moved here. I had no idea what brands were reliable or what banks gave the best customer service or what my consumer rights were. I would have saved a lot of time and stress if I had subscribed to Which? from the beginning.
• A guide to the culture of the new country, preferably written by somebody who is a native. Inevitably this kind of book will over-simplify things, because you can't compress an entire nation into 200 pages, but as long as your friend doesn't take it too seriously, it will be a useful starting point.
• For the kids, some of the standard kids' books that everybody in that country reads growing up. Maybe Google "Best [COUNTRY NAME] children's books" or something similar. It will help them start to fit into the culture, and often it will give the whole family clues about social subtleties in their new home. Also you might look for some books about a child who comes to visit that country or city. In London, this might be Katie In London or "Topsy And Tim Visit London" or the like.
Also, I strongly second jrobin's suggestion of checking in with him in a few months and seeing what he can't find there. It can be really random and unpredictable, and you can't know unless you ask.
Finally-- since your friend doesn't yet have a permanent place to live, keep in mind that anything you give him will have to be moved when he finds a new place. Also keep in mind that, depending on property prices and living standards in his new country, he may have much less space than he's used to. A few compact and well-chosen items might be more appreciated than a bunch of things he has to lug around.
posted by yankeefog at 2:46 AM on November 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
• Cookbooks published in the new country, because the ingredients that are readily available in the grocery stores are not always the same. Given that your friend has kids, this should probably be a general, everyday, contemporary cookbook, rather than something gourmet or specialized or historical (unless that's your friend's thing).
• The tools needed to cook with foreign cookbooks. In the UK, this would be a kitchen scale (because recipes here list solid ingredients by weight, not volume) and a measuring cup in milliliters.
• Conversion plugs specific to that country. Universal plugs are definitely great if you're doing a lot of traveling, but if you're just settling down in one new place, universal plugs could be unnecessarily fiddly.
• A subscription to that country's version of "Consumer Reports." In the UK, for example, it would be Which? Magazine. Honestly, this is the single biggest thing I wish I had had when I moved here. I had no idea what brands were reliable or what banks gave the best customer service or what my consumer rights were. I would have saved a lot of time and stress if I had subscribed to Which? from the beginning.
• A guide to the culture of the new country, preferably written by somebody who is a native. Inevitably this kind of book will over-simplify things, because you can't compress an entire nation into 200 pages, but as long as your friend doesn't take it too seriously, it will be a useful starting point.
• For the kids, some of the standard kids' books that everybody in that country reads growing up. Maybe Google "Best [COUNTRY NAME] children's books" or something similar. It will help them start to fit into the culture, and often it will give the whole family clues about social subtleties in their new home. Also you might look for some books about a child who comes to visit that country or city. In London, this might be Katie In London or "Topsy And Tim Visit London" or the like.
Also, I strongly second jrobin's suggestion of checking in with him in a few months and seeing what he can't find there. It can be really random and unpredictable, and you can't know unless you ask.
Finally-- since your friend doesn't yet have a permanent place to live, keep in mind that anything you give him will have to be moved when he finds a new place. Also keep in mind that, depending on property prices and living standards in his new country, he may have much less space than he's used to. A few compact and well-chosen items might be more appreciated than a bunch of things he has to lug around.
posted by yankeefog at 2:46 AM on November 2, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Photos or postcards of the town where they are from. When I went abroad in college, I had tons of pictures of family and friends but when someone sent me a postcard of our village's main street, it was really great. Not just for me to look at, because I never would have taken a picture of it, but also for me to show new friend and say "this is where I lived."
Pictures of the outside of their old house might be good too, especially for the kids to show other kids at school.
posted by rmless at 7:12 AM on November 3, 2015
Pictures of the outside of their old house might be good too, especially for the kids to show other kids at school.
posted by rmless at 7:12 AM on November 3, 2015
Response by poster: These are great ideas, and I plan to do a number of them. Thanks so much.
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:23 AM on November 3, 2015
posted by SpacemanStix at 9:23 AM on November 3, 2015
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Maybe include some of his favourite treats, especially ones you can't get easily where he's moving to.
posted by kitten magic at 5:54 PM on November 1, 2015