Disinterested Third Party
Early years of the career, a lot of moves; later years, not so many. A lot of moves? Yes. My address history, going back to high school, spans six pages. A lot of moves.
I've never shipped a car, or had someone else move me or my things. I always did it myself or with family, with a rental truck and a lot of cardboard boxes from the local grocery store (fruit boxes are the best; tough boxes. Today you can get more boxes than you'll know what to do with if you visit Walmart at night when they're stocking. They're thrilled if you take the boxes. Smaller boxes work better than exceptionally large boxes; big boxes are hard to move, fall apart, and don't stack well.
Mark everything, even if you're sure what's in the box. I have boxes that are still in storage lockers around the country, been there 25 years. I have boxes in my house that I haven't opened in 20. Five, seven, ten years...nothing. Mark everything. It makes sorting, and prioritizing everything easy.
People go nuts over packing breakables. Don't. I stack dishes on top of each other; really fragile things might get a sheet or two of newspaper between them. Don't pack towels; use them to wrap things. Same for sheets and everything else. Blankets, whatever; they all make good packing materials. I've never had a need to buy packing materials or moving blankets.
When I did my first interstate move, I went in an old Jeep with three cardboard boxes. With my last move, I left things in other states, used the largest truck and made two trips.
Start packing early. Whatever you wont' need for a while, get boxed up and out of the way; saves a lot of aggravation. Moving is usually a well planned, well organized effort until time goes short; then it falls apart and ends up everything getting jammed in whatever container is available. That's avoided if you start early, reduced blood pressure, have everything already boxed. Then it's just loading and unloading. Easy.
Heavy stuff on the bottom, light stuff on top. Square things pack easiest; boxes are your friend. Things that look like won't need a box; box anyway. It makes moving a lot simpler. Get extra miles on the truck, ask for extra days. Things happen.
If you belong to a church or a civic group, it's often possible to have people at the end of your journey there to help you unpack; I've done hundreds of packings and unpackings for others that way, never paid, always just cool aid or burgers or something like that; good way to get to know folks when they arrive.
Plan on an extra day or two after you get everything out of the house to get it cleaned and leave better than you found it. Easiest done if you clean as you go, and if you can eliminate several rooms by packing them and getting everything out, you can knock out half or more of the house before you ever get the truck, which makes life a lot easier when you're trying to get on the road.
Hand-trucks with straps. Get one. Or two. Wide base, and big wheels. You'll appreciate them when trying to do stairs.
I screen out fraudulent, careless movers the same way I screen out bad mechanics; do it myself.
Lower trucks are a lot easier to load and unload.
If you have to bring your car and don't have someone else to drive it, a tow dolly or trailer works fine behind a u-haul.
Inspect the u-haul before you take it; people beat them up. Don't get stuck paying for it. Get a good lock for the truck; don't skimp, especially if you're overnighting. There are those who do nothing else with their life but jack trucks. Back it against a wall if you can.
Moving sucks. I hate moving, with a purple passion. With every move I've hated it more. Even more than painting a house, and I really, really hate house painting. With that in mind, do whatever you can early, to avoid the stress that inevitably comes later.
01-07-2018
AIRLINE