If you are planníng a move, shop around. Failing to get several estimates, I learned too late that prices can vary from $1800 to $6000 US for the same amount of stuff. In addition to two Lakeside movers, there are several international movers in Guadalajara. Get everything in wríting. Ask what customs charges will be. Get insurance. Get a delivery time deadline. If you have a small load, sharing a move wíth someone else will cut costs. Don't let the mover tell you that you have to fínd someone at your destinatíon to help him unload. This can be trying if you don't yet know anyone.

Don't ask the mover to pack for you unless you're there. Surprisingly, my mover was not personally present for the packing. I don't think his ríght-hand man was there either, judging by the poor quality of work. I packed some books myself before flying north, leaving the boxes open for the contents to be seen and noted. Big mistake. The packers shoved additional books into those boxes causing bindings to be ripped and book spines to be broken. Many items were smashed to bíts due to poor wrapping. Some stuff is still missing. Left standing intact amidst the rubble of my collapsed house after the Northridge Quake of '94 was a pre-Columbian statue of a dog.

That statue did not survive the move from Mexico.

For no known reason, these packers disassembled a table, resulting in the loss of a crucial component. The heavy wheels of this table were thrown loose into an inverted lampshade, and rolled around during the move until they tore the shade to bits. In fact, only one of five shades made it, and couldn't get the table back together for weeks.

A friend of mine crossed the border into Mexico with only what she could carry and now, many years later, says there's nothing she couldn't leave behind. Way to go, Louise!