Mistakes expats make in Palau

I feel like I researched my Palau move fairly well and have few things I would do differently.

Most of my mistakes are centered around things I brought that I wish I didn't

Hiking gear - backpacks, boots, the whole shebang. Big waste of shipping budget. We should have only brought our expedition hammocks and cookset and left everything else behind. There is no real hiking here. Go kayak camping instead!

Leather - ugh. Mold loves it. Purses, wallets etc - If you don't use your leather item each and every day, it will mold. My neighbor brought a leather jacket - unnecessary due to the climate, and it got moldy.  If the mold doesn't get to it, being constantly wet will. My wife has a pair of heels that the leather is crumbling, and I've taken care to condition them fairly frequently.

Hats - I like hats. Nice hats, not baseball caps. Hats will also mold if you don't wear them every day. I just use sunscreen and forego the protection of a hat now.

Closed-toe shoes - Hot and sweaty. Mold magnets. Also, you'll be taking your shoes off quite a bit. It's poor etiquette to wear your shoes inside of houses, even some businesses will have you take your shoes off. I used to hate flip flops, and started wearing Tevas here, but flip-flips come off and on so quickly that's all I wear now. Tevas are reserved for long walks through mud. Bring one pair of closed toe shoes if you need to for work, and running shoes if you are so inclined, but no more than that.

Rubber - mold loves it (are you noticing a trend here?) The rubber parts on my GPS unit, my nicer USB cables,  the rubberized lid on my laptop, the soles of my hiking boots. Keep an eye on your belongings that may just get shoved into a drawer.

Nice clothes - I brought a seersucker suit and wore it once as part of a Halloween costume - I'm sure it's molding right now. There simply is no place here nice enough to call for a suit (unless your job requires it). That's coming from a guy that doesn't mind if he shows up somewhere and finds himself a bit overdressed. You won't be wearing a suit in your free time. Casual, modest, light dresses are plenty fancy for women (again, check your work dress code).

Things we didn't bring that I wish we did:

Coolers - Coolers are ridiculously expensive here. Last week I saw a a 48qt Igloo "Wheely Cool" cooler on sale for $50 and thought to myself "We don't need one, but should I pick this up while it's cheap?". I wish I would have bought a few coolers in the States and used them as shipping containers. We used Rubbermaid containers (which are also exorbitantly priced here) zip tied shut as shipping containers and that has proved invaluable. Great for storing water during shortages, storing you dive gear, carrying your food and gear onto a boat for a day in the rock islands, creating a makeshift cooler, using them as mop buckets, trash cans, patio herb garden pots, packing your stuff into to go home - you get the drift. I'm really happy we went that route instead of cardboard boxes. I just wish we would have used a couple of coolers too.

Bed linens, pillows, bath towels. These are all really expensive here and of low quality. We brought enough for one set to be clean and one set in use. I wish we would have brought at least twice that much. You can get decent used linens from the resorts here for cheap, but they don't exactly announce when they are having a sale you just come upon them by chance.  Bring the pillows you like unless you just don't care what you lay your head on to sleep.