Hey! I'm moving to Guam. Well, by the time you are reading this I "have" moved to Guam. I briefly mentioned this in a previous post but decided to chat about it today. I know it has been awhile but lots of things have been going on let me tell ya! This move was a big one and not as easy as I had hoped.
Let's get right into it!
Why I moved
I move often because of my husband's line of work. The frequency in which we move was one of the main driving factors for me to start a blog. I love the beauty industry but moving to new places and having to rebuild a business each time can be daunting. Having a blog is a way to stay within the industry from my own stand point. I can still take clients after license transfer but I have another business avenue while transitioning. It works for me 🙂
Preparing for flight
Preparing for flight we had to ship our car as well as our household items. We can't just drive all of our stuff to Guam because it's an island. I get asked this question more times than you may think lol! This can take at least 3 months. Planning accordingly is key. I knew it was going to take a long time for shipping so I made sure to pack necessary items that would last me for the in-between time. I did research on Amazon prior to see what items I could get shipped and estimated time of shipping. That has really helped out a lot.
Pet shipping to Guam
Guam is a territory of the United States. Most people don't know that. I didn't know that either prior to moving. Never really thought about it much I guess. Didn't need to access that part of my brain from grade school history class lol! I need to work on my geography and history…it is definitely a goal of mine. Anyway…because of this Guam has different requirements for transportation of animals. If you watched my video on How to make a Satin Bonnet then you would have seen the cameo of my beloved cat Charlie Sheen. When we relocate, he relocates. I've had Charlie for over 7 years. He has a forever home with us.
I lived in Pennsylvania and there are very few airlines that fly pets into Guam. Needless to say it was a nightmare trying to find a way to get Charlie from Pennsylvania to Guam. The main issue was that our tickets were booked incorrectly. We thought that he would be able to fly with us in cabin as he normally does but that was not the case. We did not find out about that until later. My husband ended up catching that. Although annoying, I was thankful because we could have very well went to the airport with everything else set to go, only to be told that our cat could not accompany us. This has happened from what I've been told 🙁
Requirements
There's a whole list of requirements and at each turn no one really communicates with each other. It is important to check with the airline directly. Seems like the route that most people take is finding a private pet shipping company. This is a very expensive option but there was no way I was leaving my sweet boy behind. We ended up using Island Pet Movers. The process went smoothly once we connected with them. After flights were coordinated and my cat was taken care of we set off to Guam.
If you ever have any questions about moving a pet to Guam feel free to send me a message. I would be happy to help anyone avoid the stress that we went through!
Flight
From Pennsylvania to Guam was basically a 24 hour flight. Yes...a long one! Guam is located in the Western Pacific. I've traveled so many times it kinda seems normal at this point. We had a layover in Newark, NJ and my favorite Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. Our stay in Tokyo was about 4 hours. We enjoyed the best sushi we've ever had while checking out all the neat *duty-free shops. It was a really nice time.
*Duty-free means exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties but they are required to sell only to travelers who will take the goods out of the country.
Made it!
We finally made it to Guam in the evening. I wish it was a bit earlier because I love seeing the land as we make our decent. I was happy to be done with the plane ride though. The plane that we took from Narita was small and there was turbulence during most of the flight. At the airport we were greeted with the warmest Chamorro welcome. I can honestly say that I know we are going to love it here. It has felt like home from the first day of arrival.
Guam life updates
I have already done so much since arrival. I plan to make videos as well as blog my experience while being here so stay tuned.
Thanks for hanging out!
XO Terreana
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