We booked our flights way back in January when LOT Airlines usually runs good deals, but this time their direct flights were still pricey. So, we decided to try something new — SAS, with a short connection in Copenhagen. With tickets secured months in advance and our Florida trip wrapped up, it was time to shift gears into full packing mode.
Just before the Florida trip, at the end of May, we shipped off our 2015 Nissan Altima — a car we’d bought just a year earlier — through Bros Shipping in Bensenville. The estimated delivery they gave us was around the first or second week of July (about 4–6 weeks). That timeline works out perfectly, giving us a few weeks after our June 18th arrival in Poland to adjust and prepare to move into our freshly renovated condo in Tarnów.
At this point, the condo still isn't quite ready — we're missing a few key pieces like all the appliances, kitchen cabinets and countertops, the kids’ desk and bunk bed, closet shelves, and a bunch of smaller items. Technically, moving in by June 18th wasn’t possible, but by early July — right around when the car was due to arrive at the port in Gdynia — things were looking much more realistic. Fingers crossed everything lines up.
Luckily, we had a great backup plan. Marzena generously offered us a place to stay at her house in Grajewo. With her large property and plenty of space, she welcomed us to stay as long as we needed — a huge help and a big stress reliever while we wait for everything to fall into place.
Here is the full story (Mościce Condo - Before) about why we decided to spend an extended period in Poland as a family.
[A quick side note — I actually started this website later that same year, while we were already in Poland. The post about our Florida trip (just a few entries back) was our very first blog entry — and the boys’ very first airplane flight. Since then, this space has grown into more of a living scrapbook for us — a collection of our adventures and memories that we’ll be able to look back on as a family for years to come.]
With the Florida trip and Damianek’s fourth birthday behind us, we dove headfirst into packing. The townhouse had to be cleared out completely for the new tenant moving in after our departure. All we had to work with was a small, climate-controlled 10x5 storage unit — just enough to squeeze in our essentials like our mattress, couch, TV, bikes, camping gear, motorcycle gear, clothes, kids’ books and toys, some kitchen must-haves and other miscellaneous items. The rest was sold or donated.
It’s amazing how much “stuff” you realize you’ve accumulated once you start packing it all up — four and a half years’ worth, in our case. We’d already sold the Camry a month earlier and the F-150 back in September 2023. After shipping the Altima, we were officially carless until departure. Thankfully, Sylwia’s mom had just bought a new Subaru in May and still had her old one. She continued driving the older car while we borrowed the new one for a few weeks — a perfect arrangement that worked out in our favor.
Before leaving, we made sure to enjoy a few of our favorite local spots — all-you-can-eat sushi from Kawa in Grayslake and the world’s best spicy miso ramen at Table to Stix in Evanston.
The final day was pure chaos — clearing out the townhouse, packing the last boxes, and cramming the storage unit to the brim. We even ended up leaving a bunch of odds and ends at Sylwia’s mom’s house after completely underestimating how much we still had left. By the time the townhouse was finally empty and the storage unit filled to capacity, we were ready to call it done. Uncle Filip gave us a lift to the airport, and just like that — it was go time.
The flight itself was smooth and surprisingly comfortable. The boys did great, thanks to the practice they’d gotten on our Florida trip. They especially loved the little seatback screens — being able to watch movies or play games kept them happy the whole way.
Poland, here we come!
