Even after moving from one side of the country and back with a houseful of furniture, two cats, and a baby I must admit that I'm probably more qualified to give tips on what not to do when moving long distances, but here are a few things I've learned from the experiences based on my failures and the occasional success.
Reconsider Movers: When we moved from New York City to LA we hired movers who took 4 weeks to transport our stuff, were impossible to get ahold of and cost an arm and a leg, even before gas prices shot through the roof. When we moved back to the east coast, we used ABF, a shipping service that will drop off a pod or truck at your house for you to pack up yourself. However, since parking in front of our place was hard to come by, we split the difference and hired movers to transport our stuff from our house to the ABF shipping warehouse. Not only did we save a ton of money that way, but much of the heavy lifting was left to professionals, plus we could easily track our stuff (which arrived in only one week) online.
Pack Well: The further you are moving, the more bumps in the road your things will encounter along the way and it's virtually impossible to avoid some damage. Many moving companies will provide blankets and other packing materials for exorbitant prices, so stock up and package everything as well as you can yourself. Uline and U-Haul sell tons of supplies, including odd-shaped boxes, and craigslist is also a great resource for used moving supplies.
Purge (Thoughtfully): While it's always tempting to get rid of lots of things before a long distance move since you usually pay based on how much stuff you have, we found that the best thing to do is weigh the value (both sentimental and monetary) of each piece of furniture against the costs and effort to ship it. The first time we moved, we brought way too many pieces of IKEA furniture that were more expensive to ship than they cost originally, but the second time we found ourselves getting rid of some things that probably would have been worth it for us to keep.
Drive Your Car: Shipping a car can be a horrendous nightmare which usually involves reserving a spot for your vehicle months in advance and not being sure when it will actually be transported. If it's possible for you to drive, I highly recommend it. If you do ship, use a company that doesn't require a deposit.
Be Emotionally Prepared: This may sound gooey, but even if you are moving somewhere with lots of friends and family nearby, it's a huge life change so give yourself time to settle in. Moving across town is hard enough, let alone moving to a new state or part of the country where you need to figure out pretty much everything all over again.
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Comments (18)
Rather than reconsidering movers or doing the pod thing - it's far better to go with a reputable national moving company, such as Mayflower or United Van Lines.
And remember that if you pack yourself, you're solely responsible for any breakage - but if they pack, their insurance (yes, go for the added insurance) covers you.
As far as driving vs. shipping the car - You've got to move the car anyway so why not drive it? Just allow yourself enough time, overnight reststops and some sightseeing along the way and call it a "Roadtrip" - plus the fact you can load up the car with the immediate needs for the new place: bedding, coffeepot, etc. and you can accommodate your pets better than traveling by air.
However if you must fly and ship the car rather than drive - Don't leave a single thing in the car: When my folks shipped their car back from Europe, the jack and spare tire were stolen out of the trunk!
Also - dismissing a company that requires a deposit: That's Penny-wise, Pound Foolish!!! The most reputable companies require deposits up front as the trucks equipped for such moves require booking well in advance - You're more likely to get a fly-by-night mover if you choose someone who has space available at the last minute.
across the country or across town, moving is a drag! I wish I had had the urge to purge much more than I did. I now have an entire bedroom still stacked with boxes yet to unpack, and have no desire to do so. Also, I used one of those "Move for Free" companies and I do NOT recommend it (however YMMV).
@bepsf
If you can afford it, yes use a moving company, but we saved $5,000 doing it ourselves with ABF which, at least to us, was worth it.
As for the car shipping, there are companies that let you reserve months in advance without a deposit and are perfectly reputable. We booked in advance and left a $200 deposit with a company who then couldn't find a spot for our car for a month AFTER the date we requested shipping, but we were locked in to them because they would not return the deposit for 30 days. Just be sure to read reviews and testimonials of the car shipping companies before you book anything.
@Sarah--
Based on what you wrote, the moving cost wasn't the factor but those other issues you listed were. Had you been clearer, there wouldn't have been a misunderstanding.
Re: Car deposit
It seems that requiring a deposit may not have been the real issue. If the movers refused to check the book for an open slot that worked for your timeframe before taking a deposit, that should have been a signal to take your business elsewhere.
From what I understand, most auto shipping companies won't guarantee a shipping date. They will give you a window which may or may not be accurate because they are basically just brokers, booking spots on trucks that are owned by another company and those spots can be very limited. If you HAVE to ship your car, definitely do your research because this isn't always made clear at the outset.
It's better to use a company that doesn't require a deposit because then you have more flexibility -- you won't lose your deposit if a spot comes up from another shipper.
If someone has had a great experience with an auto shipper, by all means, tell us about it!
Good advice about purging too much...I recently had a similar move from NYC to Salt Lake City and while I didn't have much stuff to begin with, I wish I was not quite as eager to get rid of things...in particlular books and Sotheby's catalogs which I am missing big time now. I had to struggle to fill up my bookcases (although I did manage somehow- check out my new bookcases at christapirl.blogspot.com). Its always hard with such a major move...I will likely be doing it again in a few years..sigh.
All those points are very important. We did exactly what you have done except for the movers. ABF was incredible and the woman helped us figure out the perfect dates so we wouldn't be charged for "storage" fees while we were driving cross country. We made sure to stuff that thing jam packed! Really...PACKED! there wasn't one area that wasn't stuffed with something.
One thing I would recommend (which was a serious space saver in the pod) would be to pack boxes in all four corners and put your box spring/bed on top of those. Then we put our framed (packed well of course) artwork on top of the bed and stuffed it well. That way all the bottom area is left for furniture and others stuff. you wouldn't believe how much space it saved and we didn't waste any! our bikes were even hung upside down from the ceiling of the thing and we had to run and shove the doors closed.
It sounds ridiculous, but the more packed it is, the less stuff moves around which could break or scratch.
You definitely have to figure out if the items you're moving are worth the cost and effort. if they're not, then get rid of them before you move and just buy it when you get to where you're going.
I've had great experiences with both ABF (we packed it ourselves) and a full-service move with United. With United, we had none of the problems you describe above....they were amazing to work with.
These are all very good tips! If driving a car a long distance, spend the money to have a full inspection before the trip. The emotional consequences of a car break-down during a move are not worth it.
We moved from California to the middle of Canada, drove our car (about 38 hours), and paid $500 bucks for a towing package and $1100 for a large U-haul trailer we towed behind us. Instant stuff, and no need to worry about movers. Driving with that much weight the first day was a little scary, but not having to wait or depend on movers when we arrived at our new home was the best.
No matter how much you love a cit when you visit, I have now learned it is so important to consider the emotional loss. We moved 6 months ago across the country and, while I loved our current home as a tourist, I am finding the cultural difference hard to adjust to...
We're currently taking a deep breath of relief at the finish line of TWO cross country (we're talking Tennessee to Alaska, then Alaska back to Tennessee) moves in a year and a half's time. We sold almost everything and parcel post-ed the rest. Found we need quite little to be happy - save a few special things (well, 17 boxes of special things - could NOT sell original autographed by Charlie Harper first edition "Birds and Words" or bronze Buddha.
I hadn't thought about shipping our stuff in a pod! We have a lot of Ikea furniture, which we won't be too upset if it gets torn up. (I was planning on painting it when we move into our soon-to-be-new-place anyway.) I will have to look into that! Thank you for letting the world know!
We are moving to Provence from Gulf coast Forida. Any one have advice on movers, etc? We were thinking Mayflower type to play it safe with any customs weirdness even though it's not much or even that valuable stuff (except for my life's work of paintings.)
I moved from SF to Paris a couple of years ago and while much of the info in Sarah's post is helpful for international moves (esp. thoughtful purging - I checked replacement prices on French sites before getting rid of most things, although forgot to check the price of ironing boards - if I'd know they were so expensive here, I would have shipped my old reliable one!), there are some specific things to consider.
Regarding moving companies - most important is to use a company that does the packing, shipping and delivery and does NOT outsource any of the steps. They're way more expensive (Meridian is one - they were fantastic about providing info and coming to make a quote but way out of our budget). The issue w/ companies that outsource is if there is a problem (and there almost always is a problem) each party - outsourcer, packer, shipper, deliverer - can deny responsibility.
Another thing with movers for US to France is to see if you can find a company that ships to the UK first and then drives it to you in France. It may take a bit longer, but you'll save on import taxes & fees that way.
The time of year you move is also very important - Summer is much more popular, so if your dates are flexible (which they often are - you can generally get by w/out your stuff for a few weeks) ask the moving company for prices for a few different dates. It's often possible to have your things packed and held in storage either before or after shipping abroad. Ask about storage prices, as they very greatly company to company.
If you don't have much stuff, it can get really expensive to ship (half containers are more expensive than full containers). If you don't ship furniture, there's a company called U-pack, We-ship that I found good reviews for when researching our move. Do not use UPS or FedEx b/c they're wildly expensive for international and delivery here in France is very unreliable.
As for your paintings (and other valuable, irreplaceable items) - take as a carry on whatever you can if at all possible. I'd even consider keeping things in storage and bringing them over bit by bit if you're going to be going back and forth a bit. Shipping things in a container is really hard on your belongings - the handling is much rougher than a truck move and then there's the corrosive factor of being at sea. Good packing can limit these factors, so you'll have to weigh doing it yourself but then taking full responsibility for the item or trusting the moving company to do it properly.
Photograph and catalog everything before it's packed & shipped in case of damage or loss. Also overestimate when buying the moving insurance.
When looking for movers, don't forget about movingscam.com. There's a great deal of useful information there. Moving is one of those activities that is ripe for expensive ripoffs.
Thanks, Hannala! We'll keep all those things in mind. The paintings are large, must be pro moved to avoid shady customs idiocy. I know how expensive EVERYTHING is here especially hardwood furniture, old and new, not IKEA, so that comes, and the compatible electronics. Definitely bringing the ironing board!
We also used ABF (upack.com) for our move from Columbia, MO to Austin, TX. While filling the trailer was like an intense tetris game, we managed to save more money by reducing our square footage used.
The estimated delivery time was exact and we got our shipment within three days. (A word to the wise: If they go over the EDT, ask for a discount.. they'll give it to you).
I also wish we got rid of some of our ikea furniture, as it didn't hold up as nicely as I wanted. But for an 800 mile move at under $1200, it was well worth it =)
An Army wife who had moved 20 times in 8 years once gave me a wonderful piece of advice about moving. I was a basket case, working very hard to make sure everything went perfectly on our first big move. She said 'I've learned one thing about moving. It's two weeks of hell, then everything gets better.'
Even if everything goes perfectly, moving is really hard, but it helps to have that perspective - 2 weeks of hell, then it gets better.
Actually - I've repeated this advice to myself many times over the years, and not just about moving house.