Hey fam,
It's been ages since I wrote something! Here's one of the most awaited, confusing and useful topics after the H1B situation: how do you move halfway across the world and start a new life with a 23kg baggage limit?
In this blog, you will find some compiled advice that will help you understand what to bring to the US and what to leave back at home. We'll also dive briefly into what shopping looks like in the US. At the end of the post, there is a link to download a checklist of items. Download it, print it, and use it to check off items as you pack, shop and prepare for your flight.
On behalf of Gradly and myself, congratulations on your journey so far. We can't wait to see you here, and we're excited to help you with everything else that is coming up ahead: health insurance, finding apartments, phones, internships - the list goes on. As always, stay tuned and thanks for your support!
- Parth
Contents
- Shopping in the US
- Luggage Sizes
- Utensils
- Toiletries
- Electronics
- Clothing
- Stationary
- Miscellaneous
- Conclusion & Checklist
I. Shopping in the US: A Retail Playground
The US is full of convenient and usually cheap shopping options. Wherever you are in the US, you will usually find a few of the following stores or online retailers that service your area:
- Walmart
- Target
- Patel Brothers
- Amazon
- EBay
- DollarTree
- HnM (for clothing)
- Best Buy (for electronics)
Among these, Amazon and Walmart are your top picks. They carry the widest selection of items at great prices, and are available everywhere. Amazon obviously is the most convenient option, and is one of the main websites that people use to buy things in the US.
When it comes to Indian stores, Patel brothers has stores in various states and it is the best place to purchase Indian food in the US. If your city or area does not have a Patel Brothers, you can surely find a local Indian store that has a similar selection of Indian items. Besides Indian food, I do not recommend buying any other type of foods or items a Patel Brothers' or similar Indian store as it will certainly be more expensive compared to other stores.
For men’s clothing. H&M and Amazon are my top picks. Both have great selections at extremely affordable prices. For instance, I bought a great pair of cargo pants for $7 (~Rs. 500), which is an incredible deal. Such prices are not uncommon for both H&M and Amazon.
For smaller items, I recommend that you go to the Dollar Store. Every single item at the Dollar Store is priced at $1. As you can imagine, these are great deals and I absolutely love the Dollar Store, especially because they seem to be made for students on a budget. While I do not recommend (AT ALL) that you buy food items at the Dollar Store, it is a great place to buy miscellaneous but useful items such as gloves, stapler, pens and cups etc.
II. Luggage Sizes
This is an area that can vary wildly depending on which airline you travel from. Having flown Emirates consistently, that is the airline I recommend the most. When I have flown with Emirates, I typically have a baggage limit of 3 bags, with each bag weighing 23 kgs or less. For check-in, I can take a laptop bag & a small suitcase/rucksack. On their website, Emirates and other airlines will list the maximum size of each luggage item allowed. For Emirates, it is 62 linear inches / 158 cm (length + width + height) or less. To make sure I do not violate these specifications, I bought 160 cm bags for my travel. I recommend that you do the same for the specifications specified by the airline you will be traveling with.
For your laptop bag and carry-on details, I recommend watching this video.
III. Utensils
In no particular order, here are a few pointers about which utensils to carry as well as which you can (and should) purchase here in the US:
- It is extremely easy to get a pressure cooker in the US. So this is not an item that you should necessarily bring along in your luggage. If you have the space, you can bring it along; however, it is extremely easy to find almost like-for-like replicas of Indian pressure cookers. For instance, a great pressure cooker available online is this.
- For pans and all other utensils, you should check and compare the prices on both Amazon and on Walmart. This will also give you a better and clearer picture on whether you want to bring utensils from home. A set of 4 bowls and 4 plates costs just $20, and you can get many plastic plates for cheaper. If you cannot decide, one option is to bring 2 plates from home just in case you do not get the time initially to shop. (which happens with many students)
- Definitely bring a coffee mug that would work for coffee, tea, milk and as a substitute for a glass as well. I use my bottle for drinking water most of the time. Definitely purchase a water bottle; the cost of a bottle can range from $5 to $10. Also, remember that you will get a lot of free "swag" (i.e. free items such as t shirts, sunglasses, glasses, etc.) during your university orientation. Be on the lookout for these as they are meant for new students and the university will give out free stuff to everyone. Further, do bring a pin to flatten rotis out. You can usually find frozen rotis here at most of the Indian stores.
- Bring all the food that you will be carrying from India in a tupperware box or a similar airtight, sealproof container. Once you are done with the food, you can use those tupperware boxes for day-to-day uses - to take lunch to college, for example. When you are buying tupperware boxes, make sure they are microwaveable because you are going to be heating and re-heating most of the stuff in microwaves.
- Do NOT bring oil/ghee, as you can buy them here. Further, there is a risk of damaging other things in your suitcase because of these items. If you are planning to bring ghee, I recommend packing it in 4 layers of a plastic bag and making sure it is airtight. You can never be too safe with this stuff!
IV. Toiletries
There is a large list of toiletry items in the checklist at the end of this blog (intended mostly for men - a version for women coming soon!), so refer to that for what to bring. Specifically, I'd simply say that for personal grooming, buying a trimmer is a good idea. You can get a great and affordable Philips Trimmer for $20 here. Further, definitely bring a comb from India as they can be expensive to buy in the US.
V. Electronics
You will need to purchase a phone with a US phone number for it to work with the carriers in the US. In some cases, your existing phone may work; to check whether it is supported in the US or not and which networks support it, we will be releasing a tool next week. Use it to find out whether you need to purchase a new device.
Phones
If you do need to purchase a new device because your existing phone is not compatible with US carriers, I do not recommend buying phones from India. There is no warranty, it is much more expensive, and there is a risk it will not work in the US. I bought my S8 for 570 USD in the US whereas the same phone was 850 USD in India.
Laptops
There is often a lot of confusion and discussion among incoming students about which laptop to buy. Most students in the US have Macbooks, and I personally use a Macbook too. Especially if you are studying in a management related degree or course, a Macbook is the preferred choice because of its long battery life that will make long classes a breeze. Further, no software in the US is incompatible with a Mac, making your life easier.
Most universities will have computers in their labs which you can use for additional software. They have these softwares pre-installed and paid for, so you do not have to worry about “torrenting” any of it.
If you’d like to buy a Windows PC, I recommend checking for good deals with your student ID for student offers when you arrive in the US. Another great time to do this is in November, on Black Friday. (However, this may be too late for some of you.) You can also always check Best Buy and Amazon for great deals through out the year.
The BIG conclusion? Buy laptops and phones from the US.
Accessories
When it comes to accessories like SD card readers, pen drives (not HDD), cheap mouse and mobile accessories, these are cheaper in India. A good rule of thumb is that if an item is less than 500 INR, then it will likely be more expensive in the US. If an item is more expensive than 500 INR, the US price will the about the same or possibly less.
VI. Clothing
Laundry
Many apartments have washers and dryers that require you to pay $4-5 to wash/dry a load of laundry. Other apartments may not even have washers and dryers conveniently located. Rather than investing in this, it is worth buying many underwear and socks. Socks are important because you will be walking a lot and will need a fresh pair regularly.
Dressing Culture
On college campuses, students typically dress casually, except when explicitly stated for a formal event or presentation. It is worth bringing formal dress shirts, ties and belts from India, as these items are often expensive in the US.
Winter Clothes
I do NOT recommend buying winter clothing from India. Winter clothing is well made in the US and depending on the state you are going to, well-made winter clothes will be essential to surviving the cold winter. They may seem expensive at first, but are necessities.
Shoes
A variety of shoes can be bought for a cheaper price in the US, and so you do not need to bring an abundance of them from India.
VII. Stationary
You can purchase stationary in the US or bring some from home if you’d like. You will likely need pens, pencils, clips, several notebooks, and possibly a hole puncher, stapler, stapler pins, markers and highlighters. It is worth buying click pencils in India, because they can be expensive here. Most of your work will be done on computers.
VIII. Miscellaneous
It is worth bringing a small toolkit if you like to fix your stuff. I brought a small screwdriver kit. A Swiss army knife can be handy, and a sewing kit as well. You should bring extra batteries, an umbrella, a scientific calculator, and extra charging cables: all of which will be cheaper in India than in the U.S.
Eyecare
Bring extra glasses, as glasses can be absurdly expensive to buy in the US if not covered by your insurance. For instance, I have 3 glasses in total. I keep an extra one with me always and keep the other in a suitcase. You can never be too safe in terms of eyes. Further, I wear contacts often so if you are in the same category, I advise you to bring some extra contact cases as well. They are Rs. 25 a pop in India, while here they might be $5 for 2. You can also bring contact lens solution if you can fit it in your suitcase because it is expensive here.
IX. Conclusion & Checklist
I hope this blog and the video was useful! I tried to briefly cover the important items you need. Of course, this post was strongly oriented towards men, so we plan to release a Part 2 focused exclusively on women and written by current and former female students in the US.
As you are going through both the pre-packing and packing process, a master checklist of items to bring is what you need. We made exactly that for you!
Click here to download the checklist, and remember to share it with your friends! If you have any questions for us, you can always reach us on Gradly's Messenger Bot here.
See you in Part 2, with a guide for women, as well as a list of student discounts you can avail on various products and services! Until next time.