The Perfect Moving Tip I Learned from My 12 Moves in 20 Years

In the span of 20 years, I’ve moved 12 times, which has made me an accidental expert on the subject. But ironically, my best moving tip doesn’t have anything to do with packing glasses efficiently or anything like that. 

My most recent move this past June led me to the smartest trick I wish I’d discovered sooner: packing a bag as if I were going on a two-week vacation and keeping it on hand after my move.

My June move was more complicated than past ones for a few reasons. My fiancé, whom I met when we lived across the hall from each other, and I were moving in together and merging our belongings. And although we were moving a flight up in the same building, the layout required us to take everything down a flight, across the ground floor, and then up two flights of stairs in a historic building (read: narrow and steep stairwell). To make matters worse, I sprained my ankle a few days before the big move, so I wasn’t as helpful as I wanted to be when the movers arrived. In the end, things weren’t quite as organized as I’d like, and for two weeks after move-in I was constantly searching for basics like my toothbrush, shampoo, or anything other than workout clothes when I needed to leave the house. 

As much as I thought I’d be able to remember where things were in my loosely-named boxes, it was a “Where’s Waldo” situation at least six times a day. And then it hit me: I should have packed a bag separate from all of my moving boxes that had everything I needed for two weeks of life: toothbrushes, soaps, toiletries, underwear, clothing, etc.

I’m sure my light-bulb moment was actually born out of the desire to be on a two-week vacation, but I just remember thinking that this all would have been so much easier if I’d packed a suitcase as if I were going on a two-week vacation. Having selected outfits, everyday toiletries, and maybe even a book or two all in one place would have been an absolute game-changer for my stress level. No more rooting around in a random, unlabeled or even labeled box wondering if I was going to be able to find the exact sweater I was thinking of and making a mess in the process while still unpacking. Plus, by packing a two-week bag, I can feel more at ease to slowly unpack my space in the way I want to, rather than trying to rush through it and feeling even more stressed out just because I need access to a specific thing that’s buried in a box.

Having a two-week stash of clothes was not exactly a dream vacation scenario, but it was a dreamy idea compared to my reality at that moment — and I can’t believe it only occurred to me after this move. I will never not do this again. 

As someone who has moved a ton, I have other moving tips that I have actually followed, and highly recommend. They are as follows: 

• Make your bed first. A week before your move, stash bedding in the trunk of your car so you know exactly where it is. Then once everything is moved into your new home, get your bed set up immediately. 
• Pack lunches for the movers. One year I was pleasantly surprised when a mover made a point of thanking me for getting them “good-for-you” food (grab-and-go sandwiches from the grocery store, fruit, chips, granola bars, etc.). “I kinda get sick of pizza — it’s nice to have something different,” he told me. To be clear, I don’t think providing lunch is ever expected, and it’s definitely not necessary. But if you’re able to do this, I think it goes a long way in creating good will and good vibes with movers who have an absolutely grueling job.  
• Pack until you’re 100% done. This probably sounds obvious: Pack until I’m done packing? Groundbreaking. But here’s what I mean … at a certain point, there is a tendency to think you’re “almost done,” so you stop packing because “you don’t have much else to do.” But the reality is, you’re going to think you’re “almost done” at least four times. Keep going until you legitimately think there’s nothing else you could possibly do. At that point, you still will have several things to do, but they will not become apparent until the last minute, and you’ll deal with those unforeseen tasks then. But as a rule, don’t save anything for later that can be done now.
• Make a “kitchen starter pack” box. Similar to the two-week suitcase, it’s really helpful to pack one small box — labeled clearly — with a couple of plates, bowls, glasses, and sets of silverware that you can pop open right away in case it takes some time to put away your whole kitchen. If you can also stash this in your car until move-in day, even better.
• Designate one room (or area) as the “calm zone.” Moving is chaotic and messy — boxes are going to be everywhere, and that’s OK. But if you’re able to, find one space or room to keep clear of boxes and clutter so you have one place to get away from everything. For me, this is usually the bedroom, but whatever space you can carve out is great!