10 Tips for Moving – The Big Cross Country Migration

I can’t believe this is actually happening. I am still a little bit in shock and I sit here trying to pack up my house, enroll Ezra for school in South Carolina, call to have our electricity put in our name… it’s REALLY happening!!!!

 

So if you missed our IG post about this crazy and quite bizarre move, you can see it here. A lot has led up to this decision. A lot of heartbreak, soul searching, a lot of trust, faith and hope that this is the right thing for our family right now. And so far, everything feels so good and so right. I just can’t wait to get there!

 

We bought a house on a lake… a BEAUTIFUL house that I am so in love with. It’s such a gem and has SO MUCH potential to be BEAUTIFUL. I can see it. It is already beautiful, but could use a little makeover. But the one thing that drew me in right away and made me say “YES! THIS IS THE PLACE!!!!” was that lake view. You just can’t beat it.

 

So green carpet, brown floral wall paper, green tile and all… I am so in love. She is strong and well built with gorgeous details and windows. Can’t wait to get started! But first, we have to move. And then live in construction or probably a good 6 months. ???????? I’ll share photos in my next post!

 

You know how you start a move thinking “this time I am going to be SO organized…” and then by the end you are just throwing everything into the truck… lone shoes, phone chargers, that loofah you forgot about in the shower. I have moved about 27 times in my life, (true story… not making that up) and it NEVER turns out how I want and we are always in a mess. So this time I VOWED… I am going to do this right this time. ???? I will be organized. I will not throw lone shoes in a truck. I will not be scrambling at the end.

 

So a few tips that have helped:

 

  1. Invest in good, sturdy moving boxes. This was game changing. We never did this before and I would just dumpster dive for whatever I could find. (And we never had enough.) Also, check your local listings or Craigslist ads to see if there is anyone selling theirs! I once got an entire car full of great boxes from a warehouse for $20.
  2. Start earlier than you think. We started selling our things about 3 weeks before our move. Maybe to some that sounds like not much time at all, but to me (who is usually procrastinating), this was huge. We started early, asked for help with the kids, and pre-scheduled lots of activities for them, and got to work, giving ourselves so much time to do it right.
  3. Sell or donate what you don’t need. Try to be conscious of your space. Pre-plan and picture where things will go. If they don’t have a place in your new home, sell it or donate it. So many times I have just packed up my stuff without much thought and paid to move it somewhere only to decide I didn’t want it when we got there. Such a waste of money and effort!
  4.  I am having three of these garage shelving units shipped to our new house so we can quickly get out of that post move mess.
  5. We saved so much money on our truck because we sold a lot of our stuff and we have been very conscious about saving space. We got a smaller truck this time and saved a big chunk of money by doing that. To help, I bought 2 boxes of these vacuum storage bags for towels, sheets, pillows and blankets. (HUGE STORAGE MONGERS!)
  6. Along those same lines, I also got wardrobe boxes this time to save us so much time and to keep our clothes nice. (I also hate packing up hangers and this is a good solution for that… see ya later garbage bag full of hangers! ????)
  7. For plates/dishes/glassware and fragile, I wrapped them in Kraft/butcher paper instead of using a plastic bubble wrap. As I went through this whole process, I realized how much waste is happening when people move. This was one little thing I decided on because I can easily recycle the paper wrapping. Also found this recycled paper that I wish I could have seen! Also a good option!
  8. We went through the craziest headache finding the right movers. I think I spoke with over 15 people on the phone and got 100+ emails/voicemails. *TIP don’t put your email address or phone number on any shipping quote site. You will be harassed. ???????????? SO ANYWAY, we found Uship, a site that connects you with solo movers or individuals who bid on your project. I have heard lots of horror stories of movers holding your things hostage for more money orrrr they just disappear with your truck. So just be careful!!! But Uship was good because people are able to leave reviews on their experience and Uship also holds the money until your items are delivered. Saved us almost half.
  9. I have about 12-15 of these plastic bins that I use for Christmas decor, all of our old kids’ clothes by size, wrapping materials, things that will stay in the garage. I love that they are sealed and are waterproof (speaking from going through a major flood where we lost a looooot). I have them labeled with tape so I can take it off and reuse when we swap them out. I liked that they were already all organized so we can put them right in our next garage!
  10. Pack a separate bag. Pretend you are going on vacation. Pack for a week… for the whole family (even your pets!) Pack the necessities, even toilet paper, maybe a couple of towels and laundry soap. This was obvious for us because we are flying and meeting our truck a week later in South Carolina so we won’t have our things. But even for smaller/in-town moves it makes a lot of sense. No going through every box trying to find your stuff and you can unload one box at a time.

 

This move is probably the craziest, most spontaneous thing we have done. It feels SO RIGHT. I can’t wait to get there and show you guys everything! The town is so quaint, so many trees, it’s SO GREEN and beautiful!!! It is also close to so many places we have wanted to visit; Atlanta, Charlotte, Greenville and only 1.5 hours from Charleston.

 

We are on our way… new schools, new home, new people, wish us luck!!!!

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  1. Elvira DeCuir says:

    My family and I just did the same! In 6 weeks we packed, sold our home, found a rental, and moved from CA to TX. I’ve never lived anywhere else in my life but just like you after some deep soul searching, future planning (retirement and kids), plus being overwhelmed by the taxes, expensive cost of living, poor public education, crowdedness, traffic, and CA’s overarching governmental involvement/mandates regarding my kids medical…we knew it was time to take a leap of faith and move. The past 2 months have been the most chaotic experience (I didn’t feel I could bear anymore) of my life, but we made it here (no thanks to our nightmare moving company), finally unpacked and settled. It’s been an amazing transition for us and we love it so far.. definitely the right decision for us! Wishing you guys the best as I understand how much this stretches you.

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