About Us!

The author of this website has been called a Bedouin, vagabond and moving addict. In fact, it has become increasingly difficult to get my family to unpack each time that we move. Since we seem to move once every two years, my family has decided that the time that it would take to unpack could be better spent in planning the next move. I am not a moving addict but I may just be a moving expert, but not by choice. I honestly don't like the whole moving experience. I must admit though, when done right, a move can be a fairly painless experience. I've done it wrong enough times to know!

About Us!

About ten years ago, we decided that it was time to move to a new town that was closer to the big city. The allure of the big city lights, the professional ball teams and the overall excitement was just too much to bear so we packed up and off we went.

That first move wasn't really all that bad in retrospect. We rented a big u-haul truck and had a bunch of friends help us at both ends of the move. Since we had only been married for a year, we hadn't yet accumulated the mounds of useless possessions that we now have. Even though it was a simple move, it still managed to evoke our now traditional mantra, "Chalk that one up to experience". The biggest thing that we learned on that first move was to make sure that the moving truck was in good working order and that the air-conditioning functioned (That first move was in the middle of summer.) Another lesson learned was that no matter how much planning you do, the cost of moving will always be more than you first expected.

I know this story is going to seem fairly predictable but yes, as you might have guessed, we soon decided that the big city was not as shiny as we had once dreamed. Before long, we were once again packing boxes in preparation for our move back to the simple life in the country. A lesson that I learned on this particular move was that you always need WAY more boxes than you first think. I went to the local moving equipment store and purchased 20 medium sized boxes. I figured that might be too many but what the heck, we could use the extra boxes for something, right? After returning home with my second set of 20 boxes I had a premonition. I started to wonder if my actions were secretly being taped so that my funny behaviors could be viewed by a sadistic TV audience. On my 3rd trip to the moving supply store I decided to buy 40 boxes. I was starting to get wise and think ahead! Not nearly enough though. One more load of 40 boxes and then a last ditch mad dash on the morning of moving day for a few more and I finally had enough.

It was great to be back 'home' in the country with our friends and family. Life was good. At this point we developed our second mantra, "That's the last time we're going to move!". As it turned out, we were wrong. We had some financial setbacks. It was one thing after another. We finally decided that the only thing to do was sell our house and move to a cheaper one. Unfortunately, we lived in California. As it turns out, there wasn't really any properties that were all that much cheaper so we didn't have a lot to choose from. We decided to move to another state. It turns out that in the state of Washington you could still find some very reasonably priced homes. We needed something big to hold our growing family and we were able to buy a 4 bedroom house for just a little more than half of the selling price of our home in California.

Moving to Washington state was our first experience with professional movers. It was much different than moving ourselves. We had to get estimates. We had to pack everything just right so that the professional moving company would approve. We had to pay much more money than we were use to paying for moving. I wish that I didn't have to say "use to" but that's how it was starting to go. I don't think that people should have to get use to moving. People generally only move once or twice in their lifetimes right? Well, I suppose that people in the military do move quite frequently, as do Bedouins and vagabonds.

On the move to Washington state I learned a few lessons. One of the lessons I learned was that when you get moving estimates, it is not always the best idea to go with the cheapest quote. Our possessions, our new house and our pocketbook all paid a price for that mistake. I found that it is a better idea to go with a moving company that is trusted by others and is moderately priced.

I really hate to say this but I TOLD YOU SO! ... Oh wait, that's what everyone was telling ME. You've probably already figured out this part of the story but here it is anyway. We loved our new house in Washington state. It was in a great neighborhood and had a view of the Puget Sound. Our neighbors were terrific. About a year after moving in, two things happened. One, our financial situation became much better and two, our little girls started missing their grandma in California. There was still a huge difference in the prices of homes between California and Washington but we were on a financial roll and it was just too sad to see our little girls missing their grandma. Time to go get some more boxes.

A lesson that I learned on this particular move probably only pertains to my family, Bedouins and vagabonds. We decided that we were no longer going to get rid of our boxes after moving. Now we bundle them and store them in the garage. Once again we got estimates from four professional moving companies. Three estimates is usually enough but we decided to go with four this time because one of the companies seemed a little flaky. We ended up choosing the most expensive company but that didn't really matter all that much since interstate moves are regulated so the estimates were all fairly similar. We just chose the company that seemed the most trustworthy. Our move went very smooth and the movers did a great job. We've now been in our current house for 3 months and though we have already stated that we're never moving again, you just never know.

Hopefully you aren't in a position where you have to move all the time. This site was actually created with the infrequent mover in mind but even if you are an old pro at the moving game, you still might just be able to find a tidbit or two of valuable information within these pages. Be sure to visit the moving tips and checklist sections.

 

Final Word: Do make a checklist and start organizing your move as early as possible!

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