I left New Zealand at the end of 2017 and moved first to Ireland. At the time, leaving most of my belongings behind did not seem particularly dramatic or permanent. International relocations are complicated enough without trying to move an entire household at the same time, and my reasoning was straightforward: I would first establish myself in Europe, understand where I was going to live permanently, find a suitable home, and then organise the shipment of everything that remained in New Zealand. I had no reason to believe that this would become anything more than a temporary logistical arrangement. That assumption turned out to be spectacularly wrong. Ireland did not become my permanent destination. In May 2019 I moved again, this time to Germany, and started the process of establishing a new life in Berlin. Even then, I could not simply order a container and bring everything immediately. I had only just arrived in the country, I was dealing with all the usual administrative req...