Getting mail in the desert

I recently sent out an email broadcast to friends and family informing them of our upcoming move and providing change of address details.  Well, sort of.  That change of address part was rather difficult, as although we have a current address, we're not going to have anything to change it to.  This bit of information has been plaguing my mum (consider what an effective plague this would have been on top of gnats, incurable boils, and locusts) so I think it's high time I let her know that I am, in fact, thinking about how to get mail over in Abu Dhabi.  Maybe it will help out a few other people as well.

The truth is, there are no street addresses in Abu Dhabi.  There is mail, however -- it's just delivered to post office boxes.   Well, maybe it's delivered to post office boxes eventually.  But we now know that the word "eventually" has its roots in the Arabic word for "youmightgetitonedayoryoumightnot."  And to be perfectly honest, after spending my entire life in places that have little men coming to my door daily, I'm too spoiled to be enthusiastic about having to drive somewhere on a regular basis to pick up my mail.  So what to do?

There are a number of solutions, most of which come at a cost.  I'll outline a few of them here:

1.  Snail mail to your post office box in Abu Dhabi.

I don't really like this idea, but I suppose it works.  And the Emirates Post website has detailed information on renting a private p.o. box.  In fact, it appears one can even do this online (although since Emirates Post fails to provide a map of post office locations, perhaps that's not such a great plan).

The other problem with sending stuff through the regular mail is that it will likely be opened. This practice was undoubtedly initiated in order to prevent my parents from sending me the usual Chippendale's calendar for Christmas, but unfortunately will affect the rest of the population.  Bottom line:  We may rent a post office box in Abu Dhabi, but we might not.

What it costs

1 lb. package via USPS First-class mail:  USD 10.31 -- well, that and the 530 Dhs (USD 144.00) that you'll have to fork over to rent the post office box

2.  Federal Express

FedEx, to me, is the gold standard of postal services.  Why?  Well, mostly because it's a private firm (that means not run by a government).  And the beauty of FedEx-ing things to Abu Dhabi is that the parcels are less likely to be opened, or so I've heard.  The downside with this method is that it doesn't really fit in well with the Shylockian Money Saving Scheme that I adopted long ago, but it might be necessary in a pinch.

What it costs

1 lb. FedEx package from East Coast U.S. to Abu Dhabi:  USD 75.35

3.  Aramex Shop&Ship

Sometimes the good old USPS just won't do.  Like, for instance, when you want to buy something from Amazon.com.  This is when Aramex's Shop&Ship service comes in handy.  For a one time set-up fee of USD 35.00, you can have an Aramex box with a US or UK address that can be used for online shopping, bills, correspondence and so forth.  Of course, then you actually have to pay for the goods to be forwarded to you in Abu Dhabi.  It's still not a bad deal, with the primary downside (in my opinion) being that you can't choose what Aramex forwards to you once it arrives in their hands -- so you might end up paying for junk mail.

What it costs

1 lb. Aramex forwarded package to Abu Dhabi:  Dhs 39, or USD 10.62

4.  Online postal box services

This is a pretty fascinating idea in the mail forwarding realm, and Earth Class Mail seems to be the winning candidate.  The way it works is:  you get an address with Earth Class Mail and they scan the envelope of whatever comes their way.  Then you log on to your account and, after viewing the envelope scans, decide what to have opened and scanned, shredded, recycled, or forwarded to you unopened via snail mail.  ECM seems best designed for small pieces like bills, not parcels.  And of course not everyone would be comfortable having his mail opened, no matter how much the company touts its security measures.  I don't think we'll be using it, but it's worth mentioning here.

What it costs:

ECM operates on a subscription basis.  The basic package of USD 19.95 a month gets you up to 50 pieces of mail receieved, unlimited recycling, shredding, and storage.  But those scans are going to cost you:  each one over the limit (which is zero on the basic package) is another USD 1.50.  And there's a one-time setup fee of USD 25.00.

After writing this and looking at ECM's "professional" package, it seems to me that it would be a fantastic benefit for a company with overseas employees to offer.  For USD 60.00 per month, up to 200 pieces of mail are processed, 45 scans are included (same overcharge of USD 1.50 applies to the extra scans), and there are unlimited numbers of named recipients.  Someone (other than yours truly, because I give out more than enough free advice) would have to look into exactly how to deal with the fact that some folks would go over their allotted amounts while some would only be receiving a few items per month.  But you know what?  That's what Microsoft Excel was created for.

Hope you found this helpful.  Unless you're my mum, in which case I hope this puts your mind at rest.  We're working on it.