You can congratulate yourself at this point, as you've made it half way through. It's strange how scared people get of moving to a foreign area. Their notion of a place is based on what they see in movies and television, and their fear is based on the unknown. I suppose there's a certain anxiety with unfamiliarity, as one friend who was resistant put it "all I know is Ottawa, I know it like the back of my hand, every single road." To me, that's a sign to move. The sense of exploration, discovering and learning a new area. That friend who was so resistant, who had never seen California before, he accepted a job without even coming here based on faith and is now in love with it. Really, what is the worst? You don't like, and simply move back, big deal.

When you land at the airport pick up a map from Budget Car Rental, they have the best maps, and gives you a good idea of the highway structure for when you start targeting locations to live. If possible I suggest arranging to come down to the U.S one week before you start your job. This gives you some time to scout out the area, experiment with drive times (how long it'll take from one location to another). Your company probably will only give you one or two weeks of hotel, and only two weeks of car rental so you have to maximize on this time.

Before you start applying for things, you'll need an address. Without an apartment locked down, the alternative is to use a friend's address or use your work address (so find that out before you come). That is, write down this address and keep it with you for when you start applying for things (SSN, Bank, etc...).

Fowarding Your Mail

From the Moving From Canada to California FAQ:

Get *everything* forwarded to this new address. Don't forget to give forwarding information to:

• your banks - write them a letter indicating your new address and your status as a non-resident as of a certain date. This letter may be useful later to prove to Revenue Canada the date you became a non resident. Note that you will incur a with-haolding tax on Canadian interest, as of the date you became a non resident.

• your credit card companies.

• your company and especially its HR department. This will be especially useful for your last paycheck and other follow up letters (e.g. investment plan and pension plan settlements).

• your auto and home insurance companies

• your phone companies

  your cable company (alternatively, close your account with them before you leave)

• your landlord, if you rent

• any clubs (e.g. CAA) you belong to

• magazines or companies on whose mailing lists you are. If you subscribe to a US magazine, try to get a subscription extension, based on your new US address.

• Revenue Canada

• your friends :-).

You may want to consider filling out a Canada Post change of address form. For a US forwarding address, this will cost CDN $60/6 months. Do this 2-3 weeks before you leave and call Canada Post to verify that your request has made it into their computer. Canada Post will not forward to a company address. I believe they will not accept a mailbox as a forwarding address as well.