Packing & Shipping Overseas!

I have been giving a lot of consideration to the fact that I have to somehow manage to pack my entire life into two suitcases and a carry-on, per US Airways’ guidelines. This is so absurdly unrealistic for me! Now, it’s not so much that I don’t want to pay for the extra piece of luggage; I don’t mind the cost so much, it’s more of facing the reality that it’s going to be physically impossible for me to carry 3 huge bags, a carry-on and a personal item from the airport to my final destination. Sadly, I’m just not big enough to handle the task. I have since been perusing the Internet to find a (relatively) inexpensive way to ship all of my extra items overseas. My coats, shoes, some extra personal items and my sleeping bag will probably be shipped over to me instead of joining me on the actual trip from San Francisco.

Thus far, I’ve run into USPS as a legitimate option as FedEx and UPS are extremely overpriced for the most part. I have also heard mention of EMS, although I am not very familiar with the organization; it looks like an Asian-based company from the looks of their website. I visited all of the websites and calculated shipping for one 65 pound box from California to London with their least expensive options.

USPS :: $208.53
UPS :: $389.09
FedEx :: $482.31

USPS is by far the winner on this front! $208 isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s way better than $400+!

Has anyone else been in a similar situation?

What’s the best way to get everything overseas without spending a bundle?!