A long distance move can be stressful. I hope these 3 Tips to Surviving a Long Distance Move can help your move go a bit more smoothly!
3 Tips to Surviving a Long Distance Move
I have mentioned previously that Nick was in the Navy when we first got married. I lived in TN, which is where we met, and then he got transferred to Jacksonville, FL, which is where we moved after the wedding. During that first move, he was out at sea on the ship, and my parents, brother, and I moved all of my stuff and our wedding gifts in a U-Haul 18 hours to Florida. We had a second story apartment, and getting that solid wood furniture up those stairs was NOT fun. Later we moved back to TN, between several apartments there for larger size and closer proximity to work reasons, then to OK to TN and back to OK. With several long distance moving experiences under my belt, I thought I’d share my Top 3 Tips to Surviving a Long Distance Move with all of you!
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Pack early, and label clearly. It’s especially important to make a list of what you need and use frequently so those items are packed LAST and unpacked FIRST. If you have items going into storage, you need to ensure that every item packed can weather extreme temp changes they might encounter in a storage unit, and that items are labeled on the outside of the box so if you need something you can find it easily.
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Leave it to the professionals! One of the greatest gifts to yourself is to hire movers. Let them pack the truck (also travels safer), it will save you a ton of time and energy, especially if you have to drive after the truck is loaded. Having movers at the arrival point also saves time unloading, and you don’t have to haul boxes again when you are exhausted. A long distance move has many challenges, and letting a professional load the truck can save you a lot of energy. Additionally, they can make sure the truck is packed in the safest and most efficent manner to hopefully prevent the load from shifting during transit which can not only damage items but could also cause an accident.
Pack a suitcase or couple of boxes to open upon arrival. Make sure you have sets of clothes for each family member for a few days, dishes, silverware, cups, and toiletries ready to go. You won’t need to frantically search through various boxes looking for essentials when you are tired and exhausted already.
There are many Long Distance Moving companies that will come to your home and load a truck, haul your belongings, and unload the truck at your new home. This can be really expensive if you don’t do your research. You need to know details about how much they’ll be moving, get estimates from several companies, check to make sure they’re insured, find out dates when you can expect your belongings, and read reviews from several sources. We’ve used this service during a company relocation and it made the move so much easier, but we’ve heard horror stories from friends, so we made sure to do our homework ahead of time 🙂
These are things that we DID NOT do on our first few long distance moves, and about the third move I noticed a pattern in what was frustrating me the most. I made notes for myself so that the next time we moved, I was prepared. I have a checklist of pre-moving things to do, and a post-moving things to do so that my priorities are right in front of me and nothing is overlooked.
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I hope that some of these Tips to Surviving a Long Distance Move were helpful to you during your next moving experience, and if you have any for me, I’d love for you to leave them in the comments. There is always room for improvement!
I hope you’ll enjoy some of my other home related posts!
How to Organize Important Paperwork
14 Ways to Save on Heating, Cooling, and Electricity
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