Cross-Country Move with Low Stress and Low Costs
There are so many overwhelming aspects about moving, but when you make the commitment to drive yourself thousands of miles to a new location, it’s banana-nuts crazy. This is the second time I’ve done a cross-country move. You start to inventory your life, which you find consists of a lot of STUFF. Even at 28 years old I’ve acquired so much stuff it’s a little nauseating. Will I be a hoarder by 40? Yikes…I hope not.
Moving puts much needed pressure on you to purge this STUFF, but inevitably you’re going to have to move something. The follow are tips I have for those of you thinking about the big move, and the least stressful most cost-effective methods for getting yourself, and your stuff, across the country.
1. PURGE.
Clearly this is priority numero uno. The less stuff you have, the less there is to worry about transporting safely and easily. There are a lot of blog posts about “how to purge” which are helpful when you’re having the keep/toss debate. (When was the last time I used it? Are there other things I have that provide the same function? Does it have any sentimental value?)
In my case, we were getting rid of way more than I ideally wanted to purge. Basically – everything. Beds, dressers, desks, kitchen ware, couches, TV. Although it wasn’t ideal for me, it was a way for me to detach physically and mentally from these ‘things’ – even if I did feel strongly about keeping them. I appreciated that opportunity and learned a little more about letting go of material attachments.
It wasn’t a complete life changing event where now I’ll live in a box and have two sets of underwear, but I do feel a little less materialistic because of this move. Also, it will give me an excuse to MINDFULLY redecorate a new space! Knowing that we were probably moving into an apartment much small than the house we were renting in Colorado, the incentive to purge was even greater.
2. Sell as much as you can through word of mouth.
This strategy is a way to save headache and anxiety about stranger danger and selling to potential Craigslist Killers. I got a lot of praise for this idea (which I’m sure I saw on Pinterest): I created a ‘virtual’ garage sale on Tumblr, posted the big items for sale with pictures and prices, and sent the link to co-workers and friends in the area. Within 24 hours we had sold at least 10 items!
In addition to purging our big furniture, we hosted an actual, physical garage sale for smaller items. The money we made from these sales was enough for a security deposit on our new apartment, which was such a blessing.
3. Amtrak is your friend.
We decided that the best way to move was via car (in an ever-spacious 2012 Honda Civic) – with no trailer and no moving truck. We looked in to those options and decided neither would work for us:
Attaching a trailer:
Pros
– We only have to drive one vehicle, saving gas and time since we can share driving
– We can transport more stuff, even some small furniture
Cons
– We would most likely blow out my transmission because of the weight
– Honda highly discourages trailers for Civics
– We have to purchase a hitch
– The car is a lease so having the trailer potentially welded on would be a big no-no
– We probably can’t drive more than 60 mph safely
OK…so the hitch was a bad idea.
Renting a truck:
Pros
– We can bring a lot! Beds, dressers, basically everything!
– By bringing all this stuff we save the headache of selling it and buying replacements
Cons
– We are splitting driving between two vehicles, most likely making our 2 day trip into a 3 day
– Driving alone across country sucks (I’ve done it twice)
– The cost of the truck is over $1000, not including gas for something that gets roughly 15 mpg in addition to gas for the Civic
– Having the truck discourages us from purging as much
After weighing those options, we determined that we would sell as much as we can, fit what we could in the car, and ship the rest.
How would we go about shipping our stuff? We looked into Pods, another way we could have kept some furniture, but those come in around $2000 and most companies don’t deliver to the rural area to which we moved. Then through a Google search, typing in something like “How do I move across the country cheaply?” I found my answer. Amtrak.
You can ship boxes on Amtrak for a ridiculously low price. There are several stipulations, such as box dimensions and weight (no larger than 3 cubic feet, no more than 50 lbs per box) as well as no electronics, or anything breakable. This worked great for us because most of what we were shipping were books, clothes, and other items that pack and ship well.
I determined that we would ship from Denver to Syracuse (the closest station to Ithaca) and they would hold the boxes for 48 hours, after which it would be a $4 per box per day charge. Dropping them off and picking them up was quite interesting. It was VERY easy, and it seemed like this is not something people do very often because the Express Service attendants at both Denver and Syracuse had nothing else going on until we showed up with 10 boxes, a guitar (they ship instruments) and a sea bag.
We weighed in around 475 lbs, which cost us $310, including $2000 worth of insurance that only cost us $10. That price is significantly lower than any other option, and I would highly recommend it if you want to get a lot of stuff moved a long distance. We labeled each box with our names, phone numbers, start and end station, and our new address.
All 12 pieces arrived safely in Syracuse within two days, and minus a lot of dust on the outside, and a few tatters on the corners, they were fine. I would recommend reenforcing everything as much as you can because they won’t exactly ‘handle with care’ as they load and unload everything.
The whole process seemed too good to be true, but it was a great experience and I would recommend it in a heartbeat. Every single person I’ve told so far has said “I didn’t even know that was a thing!”
4. Animals take up space and need to be car ready.
When I’m anticipating packing up the car, often I feel like I can fit more than is possible. When you have two people, PLUS a 50 lb dog and a cat in a carrier, you really need to parse things down. We had to account for the reality that we would only have trunk space available, and fit a everything else in the backseat with the cat carrier and the dog. Bikes on the bike rack, and a trunk full of dishes and glassware, TV, and other small things we could shove in around these big items.
Sadly on the morning we left there were several items we just couldn’t fit, and ended up leaving them on the side of the road or trashing them. Everything was picked up by people passing by with 10 minutes – people even picked through our garbage. One man’s trash, right?
In terms of caring for the animals it was a totally new experience for me.
The dog…all set. No need for us to get her ‘car-ready’ as she loves the car and has taken long trips before. She slept a lot and the only stress we saw from her was sheer boredom, leaning her head against the window with a thousand yard stare.
The cat…not so much. Minus a few 15 minute drives to the vet, she’s not car-ready. (Camera ready is a different story, check out my post about being on TV with my cat). Getting her in the carrier is easy though, and other than some moaning when I’m carrying her to the car, she’s pretty quiet once we start moving.
So she tolerates a 15 min drive, what about a 15 HOUR day in the car? How do you deal with a cat? And what about the litter box? These were all foreign concepts to me. We did a ‘test’ drive for 2 hours and she ended up peeing and pooping in my lap. Awesome.
I ended up leaving her in the carrier the whole time we were in the car each day, and she didn’t make a PEEP. She slept the majority of the time, with the help of a mild sedative that the vet suggested.
Moving across the country is always going to be a bit stressful. There is a lot of planning that needs to happen, but I think we really cut our costs and cut our stresses by adhering to the tips I’ve shared.