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Seeking advice: Things To Consider in Preparation for a Cross-Country Move

tuffluv

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Joined
May 28, 2020
Member Number
1627
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9
Thinking of moving with the wife and 10-year old from pacific northwest to one of the Carolinas. Have you moved across the country with your family? What are things you wished you knew beforehand or would do differently?
 
Some Pirate Haole moved from Hawaii to the Carolinas(?) or Maryland, it was documented. He was here on irate but disappeared.

rugger should be the expert on this-
 
tuffluv said:
Thinking of moving with the wife and 10-year old from pacific northwest to one of the Carolinas. Have you moved across the country with your family? What are things you wished you knew beforehand or would do differently?
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Where all have you lived? how much of the US have you visited?

If the the answers are "here" and "not much", you might be shocked at how differently people live in different parts of the country. Not necessarily better or worse, but just different in so many little ways that you'd never have imagined.
 
I moved across the country twice with wife and 2 kids... Toddlers the first time, young teens the second.

Spent a couple years preparing for it both times.

I used the "dump everything you don't actually need" method both times. I bought a trailer for the move and sold it after. Made money on both of them. They doubled as storage for a while as we got settled.

The first time I seriously underestimated how much stuff I had to get rid of.
 
I did a California to Georgia move 3 years ago, after living in the same house for 28 years.

Now is the opportunity to take a close look at what really needs to go to the dump or thrift store. I left all TV's, refrigerator, washer & dryer behind and just bought new when I got here. I wish I had gotten rid of the sofa too, as I bought new 4 months later.

I had our cars shipped here, and made the journey by plane. Our son that lives nears us, lent us one of his cars to get around with; until ours arrived a week later.

I did hire a moving company to pack, move, then unloaded when I arrived. They had my whole house packed and loaded in 3 days, unloaded in 1 day. Well worth the cost for me. Wife and I took our time unpacking boxes and setting up a new house. Even then, there was still more stuff that ended up at the thrift store or the dump once we got here.
 
I moved from South Carolina to the west a little under a decade ago.

Is there a reason why you’re considering the Carolinas? Hopefully you’ve been there before and this isn’t some willy nilly move.

There’s so many things…

Purge. Toss as much as you can. Buy new once you’re there. The cost to move large items may not be worthwhile.

If you do a U-Haul, don’t stay at hotels, they often get targeted for theft.

Pay a moving company to pack the truck. Those fuckers are typically efficient. Pay another to unpack the truck. Buy stickers on amazon that label which room each box goes to.
 
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Every time I get rid of a bunch of stuff

This last time, we used an LTL truck, ABF freight I think? And it was easier and cheaper than a uhaul. Better capacity, didn't have to drive it, supposedly came with back end storage etc. Only pay for the length you use.
 
Agree on no hotels, if you are bringing minimal stuff and using somebody else to run your stuff and want to make a trip out of it, have it. Take 10 or 14 days.

If you are taking your own stuff, just drive and take 4-7 days and stay at rest stops

Edit: RV is the way to go. Probably pencil out pretty decent for a rental. Greatly improves the wife and kid for the drive
 
Provience said:
Agree on no hotels, if you are bringing minimal stuff and using somebody else to run your stuff and want to make a trip out of it, have it. Take 10 or 14 days.

If you are taking your own stuff, just drive and take 4-7 days and stay at rest stops

Edit: RV is the way to go. Probably pencil out pretty decent for a rental. Greatly improves the wife and kid for the drive
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We just stayed at nicer places and parked in front of our room so we could see it. Also parked our other car behind the trailer so the doors couldn't be opened.

We didnt drive through NM though, lol
 
det107 said:
Some Pirate Haole moved from Hawaii to the Carolinas(?) or Maryland, it was documented. He was here on irate but disappeared.

rugger should be the expert on this-
Click to expand...
I tend to move in a lean manner. However, I did not do that one time. It sucked.
Get a dumpster. Fill it up at least once. Sell stuff. I'm about to do it again.
 
tuffluv said:
Thinking of moving with the wife and 10-year old from pacific northwest to one of the Carolinas. Have you moved across the country with your family? What are things you wished you knew beforehand or would do differently?
Click to expand...
Make visiting friends and family easy. Direct easy flights.
 
Not across the country, but 6 hours away, still a decent move. We rented a large garbage bin and filled it up (was renovating house at same time to sell) I rented one of those storage/moving containers, loaded it with the stuff we wouldn't need right away, and had it picked up and stored for a couple of weeks prior to moving to new house. Bought an enclosed trailer and made several trips, (moving house and shop/business)

Like everyone said purge and purge some more. Weigh out cost to replace vs space it takes up and if you even need it.
 
We recently moved the inlaws to the town near us, I helped with a couple of loads of stuff... Once here, we ended up throwing away so much stuff they brought up. What a waste of time and space in the trailers. They also had a shipping/moving box container and same thing so much stuff got thrown out here. What a waste of $. Unfortunately the wife and I weren't there for most of the packing, just the unpacking.
 
CJF said:
Where all have you lived? how much of the US have you visited?

If the the answers are "here" and "not much", you might be shocked at how differently people live in different parts of the country. Not necessarily better or worse, but just different in so many little ways that you'd never have imagined.
Click to expand...

I moved from San Diego to Louisiana in '99. Had to reset my watch back 50 years.:flipoff2:

Agree with everyone else. Nobody from where you're going gives a fuck about where you came from.
 
Have done a couple long distance moves.

Commercial mover...pricey and they packed it up. No the company didnt help pay, did I say it was pricey? Get the dumpster cause they charge by weight/volume

U pack it trailer. The charge by weight volume in the 2 instances I used this technique. Again get a dumpster...

Doing the Uhaul/Penske/Budget is stupid...trucks are in bad shape and I've had U Hauls break down necessitating repacking the truck into another truck on the road...we were NOT amused. Have used the trailers which also tend to be in sorta not good shape. Bent an axle on a car hauler while going thru Evanston when I-80 was torn up. Scouts are heavy buggers.
 
DVanVorous said:
Have done a couple long distance moves.

Commercial mover...pricey and they packed it up. No the company didnt help pay, did I say it was pricey? Get the dumpster cause they charge by weight/volume

U pack it trailer. The charge by weight volume in the 2 instances I used this technique. Again get a dumpster...

Doing the Uhaul/Penske/Budget is stupid...trucks are in bad shape and I've had U Hauls break down necessitating repacking the truck into another truck on the road...we were NOT amused. Have used the trailers which also tend to be in sorta not good shape. Bent an axle on a car hauler while going thru Evanston when I-80 was torn up. Scouts are heavy buggers.
Click to expand...

Ha! I'm broke down with my Penske-leased semi tractor as I type.
 
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