there's no place like home: a guide to moving
Life takes you to unexpected places; Love brings you home.
Moving is the worst. Whether it’s across town or across the country, it’s never great. Recently my husband and I relocated back to the Indianapolis area. The past 5 years has been quite the whirlwind for us. We’ve lived in 3 states and 5 different rentals/ houses. Living in Nashville was some of the best times. We made so many close friendships and were able to grow individually and as a couple. When you’re young and have little to no responsibilities, it’s great to be able to be crazy and move across the country basically on a whim, but at the end of the day, we’re so happy to be back home in Indianapolis around family and friends.
Without further ado - as someone who has moved WAY too many times, here are my tips for making your move as easy as possible.
HAVE A PLAN: It may seem like a great idea to move on a whim and figure it out as you go, but I can tell you, it’s going to be WAY less stressful to have your ducks in a row before you set out on your big adventure.
DECLUTTER: There’s no time to declutter like the present. If you’re not certain you want an item, don’t pack it. Go through your closet when you’re packing up to see what things you really want to keep and what isn’t necessary to bring with you. If you own your home and you’re selling it, see if the buyers want to purchase any of your furniture that you’re not sure about bringing with you.
LABEL EVERYTHING: Rather than throwing things in boxes, take your time to pack efficiently and make sure you label exactly everything that’s in your boxes. I type out what is going in a box, print it out, and tape it to the side of the box. This way, if you’re like us and your things are going to have to be in storage for awhile, you can quickly look (even when the boxes are stacked) and find where things are if you need them.
PAY MOVERS: I literally cannot stress this enough. Pay. Someone. I can honestly say that it’s completely worth the money. We recently just paid two people $20 an hour to unpack our uhaul and it was the BEST $100 I’ve EVER spent. Moving is emotionally and physically draining, and is literally unbearable if you also have to physically move everything yourself. When you pay a professional, you’ll be able to fit more in your moving trailer as well, which will save you money on your rental. If you can’t pay actual movers, enlist some family or friends and offer to buy dinner, etc. It’s 100% worth it.
