Take moving, which is in itself a particularly tedious, exhausting, and daunting task, and then add the brunt of the great distance to it. This results in a significantly greater amount of effort needed in every phase of a move. You have to now, even more sensitively, account for time, distance, finances, and the safety of your items. So, if a long-distance move is your near future, we don’t blame you for feeling dizzy at the thought of it.
Despite all these factors, there’s nothing to concretely say that a long-distance move cannot be mastered and conducted smoothly. Your chances for success lie in turning to people who already have some or lots of experience in the area. You’re lucky because we quality as just that, and we’re going to bless you with the most useful and practical tips for a long-distance move, so you’re equipped to take the challenge head-on!
Your prep time is in your control.
The thing about preparing for a move is that the time required to do it can be extensive or incredibly short, and it’s all fully up to you. You’re in charge of assessing your circumstances and breaking things down into manageable tasks, and also, you’re in charge of setting a moving date, which ultimately renders you accountable for how much prep time you take out of all of this. Considering prep time is important because, naturally, a long-distance move demands greater sorting time.
Since a long-distance move is a little trickier to plan out, the simple strategy of doing whatever feels right won’t cut it. Split your prepping process into multiple phases; the one where you create a little blueprint of how you’ll operate (visualizing helps), the one where you’ll align this blueprint with a time schedule, prioritize tasks, and then distribute them. Do not take the burden of a long-distance move fully on yourself, and instead, see how you can best share the load.
Charges are perhaps your top consideration.
You already know that regular moves are expensive, but multiplying their distance factor by tenfold simply knocks things out of the park. While you can’t really squeeze the moving expenses for a long-distance move, you can make some smart choices to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. Firstly, make sure to collect lots of options in terms of estimates from moving companies. You never know when a discount or an unprecedented off-season might bless you.
Don’t simply accept verbal estimates and guesswork. Have moving companies show up and go through your items in detail to give you a cost estimate that makes sense. It’s also wise to take advice on this from people who have a clearer idea of how much a long-distance move costs for them. This will help you avoid getting scammed. Remember that while estimates are incredibly important, compromising on a moving company’s quality during a long-distance move is tempting disaster.
Keep track of all your things.
Look, things get misplaced during a move, but all is well at the end of the day when they show back up at the right time. The thing is, though, you cannot afford to have the same casual mindset when it comes to long-distance moves. Something that mysteriously disappears during a long-distance move will not turn up because moving cross-country takes away any chance of that. The only way to counter this is by doing inventory.
Make a detailed list of all your home items alongside their cost. This is important to use for the insurance you’ve opted for during the move (and insurance in long-distance moves is a must!). You won’t fully be able to eradicate the possibility that any item is misplaced or damaged, but you’ll be able to ensure that you’re adequately compensated for it, so it’s a pretty sweet deal for a move that spans many thousand miles!
Wrap things up tight.
In a long-distance move, packing makes the difference between a smooth and uneventful process and a panic-attack-inducing ordeal where all of your items are progressively spilling out, or your boxes are tearing apart. We’re not going to even touch on the embarrassment of that but solely focus on how much damage and delay that will bring to the table. Invest time and good quality packing supplies for this process.
This does not translate as you having to put an enormous chunk of your long-distance moving budget into your packing material. You can very much get good material for free by asking around. Double or even triple-taping boxes with furniture parts or valuables can never go wrong. Also, fight the tendency to over-pack and over-stuff boxes with might. Be reasonable and adequate when deciding what and how much can really fit into something.
Account for delivery time.
One little-known fact about a long-distance move is that your things are not likely to show up immediately. Often, it takes around two weeks for moving loads coming from cross-country to show up. This means that you have to be proactive and figure out what essential items need to be with you to survive the first couple of weeks before your load shows up. Everything from essential cooking equipment, toiletries, and everyday clothing for a few days needs to be in your car or your bags.
Believe us, simply assuming that you’ll survive on takeout and make-do without everyday items is a recipe for in-family disputes, stress, and a very inadequate adjustment period. Plan for these aspects in advance by putting every family member on duty to figure out and pack their own essentials. Sometimes, moving loads can also encounter certain delays, so you need to be ready for that too.
Here’s the bottom line:
Long-distance moves are basically just the much larger-scale versions of regular moves. This means that planning things out in advance needs to be done more comprehensively and over a greater timeline. Also, set the probability of mishaps occurring during a long-distance move much higher, so you can take measures to address them all panned out!