I came from a 400sq foot apt. I can't even imagine what it's like to move a house, let alone over the ocean.
My friend who moved to Vegas last week, just took a suit case. He sold his home here and was like "fuck it". Not shipping anything up.
When I moved here, the Air Force owed me a move -- to any state (not just to home of record) and within a year after separation. So, when my company looked at volunteers to move to Hawaii, my name trickled to the top partly because the Air Force saved them thousands on my move.
It's funny how many pounds of stuff you accumulate with a family for 9 years. Furniture, rugs, cookware, dishes, clothes, appliances, and the heaviest crap to haul around: books and papers. We bought furniture to last for decades, so beds, dressers, couches, recliners and so on were not flimsy and light.
Overall, the weight came out to about double what I'd estimated on my paperwork. That's after 2 yard sales and a few giveaways of food, laundry products and anything else we couldn't ship, as well as "hold baggage" to live off of until household goods got delivered.
If/when I leave Hawaii, I'm going to be downsizing as much as possible. There's a lot to be said for simplicity and a decluttered life. Pay less for a smaller place, and just buy & resell/donate stuff as you need it rather than store it forever.