So I just relocated from the East Coast down to North Carolina. It's the fourth time I've moved in the past two years and - wait for it - the eleventh time I've moved in the past 8 years. Needless to say, I'm happy to be somewhere where we're gonna park it for awhile. There's a few tidbits that I've picked up while dealing with these moves that I'd like to share with you.
Start Early
Likely you're thinking "well obviously I'm gonna start early," but time has a way of catching up and you might find yourself rushing to meet your deadline. I fell victim to this one with some of my prior moves and never really started packing until pretty close to the move day. This made for a more hectic packing schedule and resulted in disorganized packing. More often then not, there's always a few odds and ends you wind up looking for because you put them in a box that didn't make as much sense as it did in the moment. For this move, we started packing up about a month prior to the big day. Obviously the non-essentials got packed first, and as we got closer to the move date we started boxing up everything else. Starting so far in advance served three purposes. Firstly, it kept the pacing relaxed. Secondly, I had trips to fly during our last month on the east coast, so it allowed me the necessary time to take care of my part of the packing. Thirdly, everything remained considerably organized than other moves in the past which also made for a smoother unboxing process.
Declutter!
During our packing sessions, we were pretty hardcore about getting rid of the junk that we didn't need anymore or hadn't used since the previous move. We actually got rid of quite a bit which made packing and unpacking that much quicker and was a bit liberating. It can be a good opportunity to make a few bucks too if you have some items that can be sold. So, use the opportunity to get rid of some of the stuff you don't need! We also marked a few items as potentially donateable (is that even a word?); that is, we packed them and brought them along but would donate them if they couldn't be given a home.
Temporary Housing
A couple of the moves I have made have been to places that I knew were temporary. In one instance, I had relocated to a new state for work and was given temporary housing by the company that hired me. I was there for about three months before I found a more permanent solution. In another instance of relocating to a new state (this one significantly farther than the last), there was absolutely nothing that we liked or that fit what we were looking for becoming available until a few months after we needed to make the move. Shifting the moving timeline was not an option because the move was again work related, so we parked it at a temporary location. In cases like this it's best not to get too comfortable, so just unpack the essentials and leave everything else boxed up. There's no reason to unpack a whole apartment or house when you're going to be there for a short length of time. It's also best to avoid buying items you already have so that when it comes time to move to your permanent address, you don't have a ton of duplicate items. Staying organized with the packing can help make it easy to find everything you need should you find yourself in a situation like this.
Cleaning
We obviously wanted to make sure that we left the previous place nice and clean, so we cleaned up as we went along. The lion's share of this was done the day the movers came, but there's no reason not to start cleaning as you box up your possessions. Better to do it over the course of a few weeks than to have to tackle an entire post-move checklist on the day you're supposed to leave!
When it comes to moving, a little bit of planning goes a long way in making the process smoother. Remember that next time you're about to move!
Notes
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