Moving Companies: Dreams of Not Having to Pack and Unpack

momfamily fun & traditions

Who enjoys moving to a new place? Yeah, that's what I thought...hardly anyone. Every aspect of moving can really weigh you down as you select a new home and go through the closing process, pack up all of your belongings, transport them from one place to another, cross your fingers that nothing breaks, and then finally get around to unpacking all of your precious items...over the course of a few days or a few years.

When it comes to moving, many people have a different perspective based on past experiences, organizational skills and, well, let's face it, men and women have a tendency to approach the big move in different ways. Let's take a closer look at the woman's vs. the man's perspective on packing and moving.

Woman's Perspective

Provided by Jamie Moesser

I don't know about you, but one of the most overwhelming things about buying a new house to me is the prospect of packing. Packing for anything—a trip, camping, a move—brings on nightmares of never-ending suitcases or my family hungry and huddled around an unlit campfire because I forgot to pack the matches. The thought of packing my whole house into boxes threatens to stymie me by its sheer magnitude. I've learned that there are two keys to tackling packing, the women's ways, if you will, are: break it down and give yourself enough time. [Some men that I know] might be tempted to leave it to the last minute, underestimating what needs to be done.

Packing for a trip

  • Think backwards - what will you be doing? where will you be?
  • Make a list. It is not obsessive-compulsive to make a list, especially if you travel frequently. It's a time-saver. Make a list of items needed for the activities you'll and places you'll be. Make the list 2 or 3 days before you leave.
  • Pack at the optimum time: the evening before you leave on your trip.

Packing for camping

  • Here's where it's most important that you plan what you pack, because you won't necessarily be where you can just buy what you left out.
  • Give yourself 3 or 4 days to pack - a little bit each day.
  • Keep a shelf in your garage or storage room set aside for camping stuff, if you can, so that you can store all the essentials there and just move them to your vehicle when you're ready to go.
  • Delegate the technical stuff—the propane, the matches, flashlights, etc.—to your husband or male partner. Delegate the car entertainment stuff to your kids. You take care of the rest.

Packing for a move

  • Even if your house is not organized by the "a place for everything and everything in its place" motto, your packing should be.
  • Ideally, give yourself a week to pack, or a day for each room in your house.
  • Get lots of small to medium sized boxes (our local liquor store had lots of these last time we moved) for heavy items and large boxes for linens. We still keep a few of the Jack Daniels boxes around for fun - it occasionally raises the eyebrows of friends who know we don't drink.
  • Take this opportunity to get rid of things your family has not used in a year, or at least put them in a storage unit.

Man's Perspective

Provided by Troy Pattee

I have a dream. No, it’s not about world peace, equal rights, or Free Slurpee Fridays—though each of those would be nice. My dream is much simpler. It is that once in my life (just once!) I can move to a new home and have it all done by residential movers from a professional moving service like United Van Lines. No packing. No carrying. No hauling. They do it all. One day I’m in the old house. I take a leisurely drive over to the new place. I walk in through my new front door and voilà, the pictures are hung, the beds are made, and the fridge is full.

Now don’t get me wrong, it’s not the idea of changing houses that ties me up in knots. In fact, swapping out the old neighbors for some new ones every now and then can be nice (DISCLAIMER: Present neighbors excluded. You’re wonderful. Really). New houses bring new neighborhoods, new schools, and new friends. It’s exciting and fun and everyone should give it a try at least once (otherwise, that would mean you’re still living with your parents).

The reason I bring this all up is because our family reached an important milestone this week—we finally unpacked the last remaining box from our recent move. And by ‘recent’ I mean June of 2009. And in keeping with the spirit of full disclosure and my commitment to laying guilt trips whenever possible I should also point out that when I say ‘we’ finished unpacking what I really mean is that ‘I’ finished unpacking. As in singular. Alone. To quote the song, “All By Myself” (cue Celine Dion). Hence, my dream of a professional moving team.

Yet whenever we’ve moved it has never been far, and it has never come with a prestigious new job with an employer willing to pay to get us there. So I call the brothers, the uncles, and whatever neighbors I can round up. Come to think of it, it’s never a problem getting folks to help us pack up and move out. They’re so eager to see us go that I sometimes have to turn people away.

The problem for me is always the unpacking. It’s hard to have others help you unpack because they don’t know where things go. Pretty soon you end up with dessert trays in the linen closet and duvets in the pantry. Socks in the clock drawer and clocks in the socks drawer. So for better or worse the task is left to me. I’m not saying that I do it well or that I do it quickly—in fact, my rule of thumb is, “Any job worth doing is a job worth doing later.” But I eventually get it done.

In the mean time I continue to dream.

What are your thoughts on packing and moving? Do you tend to make lists? Do you take forever to unpack all of your belongings?

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