Since moving is on my mind and it seems according to statistics it is up there with other stress inducing factors such as dying that I might discuss some things I have learned about it that may make your future move a whole lot easier.
HIRING A MOVER
I have moved a ton in my lifetime, but usually within the same general area. When we hired movers for the cross country trek out East it was my first experience with a professional moving company. I just assumed we would pay our quoted rate and it would be delivered a couple days after we arrived. Not the case. After the movers went to the weigh station they quoted us nearly double of what we assumed we had. If I were to do this again, I would get weights from the retailers where I purchases my furniture, or bought a heavy duty shipping scale to weigh boxes and/or drove to the closest weigh station to see for myself the weight. Since they had our items ‘hostage’ I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. Reading on line, it seems this bait & switch is the norm for the moving industry since they know you are stressed and will probably just give in and pay the demanded new fee.
Did you know you can pay a small additional fee to get a guaranteed delivery date? It’s worth the extra fee, trust me. It took our movers over a month to deliver our truck when we moved East. We had none of the essentials needed for living, no dishes, no bed, no television, no coffee pot, no towels, nada. We ended up buying dupes of everything after 2 weeks since we didn’t know when our things would arrive. It cut into our budget/savings considerably and the extra fee we would have paid to get a guaranteed delivery would have been a lot less money + heart break.
PACK SOME ESSENTIALS WITH YOU
If you are going the truck route and may not see it for a while, pack some basics with you-sheets, towels, some dishes + utensils, you will be happy you did.
DOWNLOAD BOOKS/PODCASTS PRIOR TO LEAVING
I bought a bunch of audio books for our trip, but on that first 9 hour leg we couldn’t listen to them because I thought I would be able to buy them and just download them while we were driving since the Iphone has built in internet, right? It does but when you are out in the middle of the Mojave or some other desolate location it requires that you download via a high speed connection which your Iphone will not be.
BUY A GPS + AAA
If your car isn’t already equipped get one, this is not a time to potentially get lost and stuck in the middle of nowhere. Also, get some maps. As a AAA member we had our entire route configured for us by an agent. We just called told them which way we wanted to go (the Southern route), how many hours we wanted to drive each day and they mapped it out for us sending us both email versions, hard copy maps in the mail and even booked our hotels (with a discount!). AAA is such a nominal fee each year and it pays for itself in the peace of mind you get from knowing if you get a flat tire or your battery dies one call and help will be on its way!
BRING FOOD
I can not stress this enough, bring lot’s and lot’s of fresh, good food. Off the highway you will have tons of fast food joints but there won’t be a super market in sight. Just stop by a grocery store prior to leaving and stock up on fruits, nuts, clean sandwiches, anything healthy, because for days there will not be anything fresh + clean and it is no fun driving for 3-4 days straight and landing at your new abode bloated, tied and broken out because all you had was processed + fried food.
TRAVELING WITH PETS
Make sure you have a travel bowl and water. Travel bowls usually will be weighted so you aren’t spilling water all over your car seats and carpets. Our Frenchie sheds a new dogs worth of fur each day (so wrong) so we made sure to cover our entire back seat with old blankets. We also put down towels in case of accidents and we were so glad we did as she got super car sick by the time we hit Arizona and the towels made clean up a breeze (I shudder to think what it would have been like traveling in a car for four days if she had gotten sick directly on the upholstery!). Here are some more great tips.
WEAR COMFORTABLE CLOTHING
I think this may go without saying, but wear clothes that you will be comfortable sitting in for hours on end. I wore a sun dress and sandals one day and was tortured by the air conditioner until I made my husband pull over to get my sweater, leggings and socks buried deep in our suitcase in the back, he was not happy.
P.S. If you have any other tips to add to this please leave them below, I love to learn new ideas on how to make life easier!
Author / Miss Tristan B
Miss Tristan B. is the proprietress of Besotted Brand and the writer of this delightful blog. She recently re-located to the country with her handsome husband and two pups and will be re-locating back to the city in the very near future.