When you boil it down, moving is about getting yourself and your stuff from one place to another. This is the only thing that must happen to say you have moved. It’s easy to overlook this fact when dreaming of Alaskan wilderness adventure, road trips, and taking on a new job.

It sounds simple and straightforward, especially when you find out that my organization provides people who come and pack up your stuff, item by item, into boxes that they provide, in addition to loading it all up and hauling it away. No wrapping glasses, taping boxes, dumpster diving for random cardboard, labeling, stacking…

Yet somehow each time I move I manage to complicate things a bit more, and this time is no exception. This is why when people ask if I’m excited, I respond “I’ll be excited when all of my stuff is loaded up and on its way in the right direction”.

The schedule

Not interested in making things too easy on myself, here is my moving schedule this time:

April 26 – movers come pack and load most of my stuff, furniture, etc. and take it away on its journey to Alaska.

May 1 – I am officially homeless, without residence anywhere. I fly to Alaska for two weeks for house hunting and work.

May 12 – I fly from Juneau to Denver, stay in the hotel by the airport.

May 13 – I fly from Denver North Carolina for a week co-instructing a course for work.

May 17 – I fly to Michigan to take advantage of free room and board and visit with my family.

May 24 – My dad and I fly to Denver to get my car, my things, and start the epic journey to Juneau.

The packing situation

So, basically I need to have everything ready for movers, but save out things that fit into one of two categories:

-Stuff I’ll need for the next 1 – 2 months (work clothes, stuff for the road trip, work stuff, electronics, etc.)

-Stuff they’re not allowed to move (liquids, corrosives, compressed things, perishables, wax, currency, important documents, etc.)

Also, all of these things need to fit comfortably in my car.

Move out day!

Luckily move out day is TODAY! (Written on April 26). If I screwed anything up, it’ll all be over soon. I’ll have a much smaller quantity of stuff to worry about.

Stay tuned for more info about what it’s like to go through a full-service move.

Lead up to moving day

If you haven’t had full-service movers before, don’t do it. You’ll be spoiled for life, and dread any time you have to move yourself even more. Here’s how it works, and some things I’ve learned along the way:

1. Pre-move consultation – someone comes to your home to survey all of your stuff, and estimate how much stuff you have. They ask about special items, expensive items, and things the movers need to know about ahead of time. This helps them estimate how many and what types of boxes and packaging they need to bring with them to pack you up.
2. Setting the move date – you and the movers schedule a date for them to move you. In my case this is always only one day, but if you have a larger house it might take multiple days.
3. Preparing for the movers – this is the part where you put in the work to make things go smoothly. If you don’t do this part, moving will still happen, but you might not like the process, or the mess you’re left with once they deliver your stuff on the other end. Here’s what I’ve learned to do since I’ve been moved 3 times before:

• Place like things together – I call this the “grocery store” rule, because it’s the way I load the conveyor belt in the grocery check-out line to help the bagger make good choices (when I explained this to others, I found out that not everyone does it this way, and I’m not sure how people live in such a state of chaos). Basically the movers don’t think about how to pack things, they just take things nearby and try to make them fit in boxes as efficiently as possible. If you don’t place like things together, you will have to open every single box to figure out where things are. OR things will get packed together that should not be (like a toilet plunger and all of your pantry items – true story). If you do some planning ahead, you at least have a chance that they’ll be grouped somewhat logically. Not 100% effective, but helpful.

• Be very clear about what you do NOT want movers to pack. I haven’t had too many problems with this because I love using signs for everything, but I’ve heard stories of people having their trash packed into boxes. You can’t watch 3 people 100% of the time to micromanage their packing. Assume that they need to understand what to pack without you being there. Talk about it during walkthrough, but also clearly mark everything you do not want packed. This might include stuff they can’t pack (liquids), or stuff you’re going to need while your stuff is in transit, or in storage. You could be without your stuff for a few weeks or months depending on your situation.
• Keep a general inventory of big ticket items. The movers keep a running list of boxes and items by inventory number, with a list of what each number is. But, this list is pretty vague. It’s just to make sure every box that goes out shows up at the other end. If something gets broken or lost, it’s not going to help you figure out what to claim. I’d recommend keeping a general inventory of the big items complete with what you paid for it, when you bought it, and details like name and model number. Even taking a photo of it might be a good idea. It’ll help you file a claim to replace it if things go south. Even if things do not get completely lost, inevitably there are some casualties no matter how good your movers are. Things get broken.
• Plan to be there the whole time your movers are. The first time I had people move me I actually left for about an hour in the middle. This seems unfathomable now, but may be how my plunger ended up with my food. Stay around to answer questions. It’s pretty awkward sitting around while people busily pack your stuff for you, so be nice. Offer them hydration. Have something easy to work on to occupy yourself.
• Clean everything possible. Dust, wipe, vacuum, clean, dry everything possible. First, you don’t want to take dust and dirt with you. Second, you have access to all of your cleaning supplies before they pack them up. Also don’t forget dishes and laundry. Everything needs to be clean and ready to pack. You may have to switch over to disposables for a day or so.
• Purge. There’s nothing like moving to remind you how much crap you have, and how much crap you haven’t TOUCHED since the last time you moved. This is a great time to get rid of things. I recommend at least opening every box, drawer, closet, and bag to decide what you really want to bring with you into your next life. I say this, yet I’m shocked by the amount of stuff I still have as I sit here while the movers pack it all up. Ugh. Stress and shame. Channel you inner Marie Kondo, and go forth with joy. You’ll feel less overwhelmed on the other end when box after box arrives in your fresh new empty clean home.

• Ask for everything to be boxed. Sometimes if they’re just moving your stuff a day’s drive away, the movers will take any big weird items and just put a sticker on it and load it on the truck (floor lamps, bicycle, vacuum, toaster oven…). These items will probably get broken. If it fits in a box, try to get them to put it in a box. That being said, I had a snafu with packing my bike up that now has me considering if boxing was the right option (I could not have them box it on moving day because I could not disassemble it enough to box it, and now I have to deal with that).
• Keep original boxes for delicate stuff. I keep boxes for my tv and my monitors, because there’s really no better way to move them safely. This isn’t always an option if you’re low on storage space, but good to remember. I don’t really keep boxes for anything else. Occasionally I regret this at move-out time, but for the most part they’re not worth keeping around if movers are bringing you boxes.

4. Move out day! The movers arrive. Usually you do a walkthrough so they know what’s going on, what not to pack, and what they need to know about anything special or high-value. They unload boxes and tape and packing paper from the truck, and get started, dividing and conquering. One person is usually responsible for the inventory numbers. They have a page of stickers with barcodes and numbers on them to stick on every item and box. As they tag them, they have a numbered inventory list where they write what each number is. This will be important on the other end where you’ll make sure everything gets delivered.

If you’re like me, you’ll immediately feel self-conscious about the amount of stuff they have to pack up. You’ll walk around and try to make sure they know what to do with everything. You’ll walk around aimlessly trying to be useful. This lasts about an hour. Eventually you just sit and try to be busy. Available to answer questions, but out of the way. This is awkward. This time I’m spending the time writing this blog post, but I could be doing something more useful.

Step 5: Enjoy.

The magical part about this day is that you do not have to collect boxes from dumpsters or buy and assemble boxes. Or worry too much about if things get damaged. Or wrap things in padding. Or tape up boxes. Or carry those boxes anywhere. Or think about what to pack in each box. Or keep track of what’s going in each box. Or move stuff out of the way as your apartment gets too full. Or tell people what to do. Or carry a couch awkwardly. Or drive a big awkward moving truck. You just have to relinquish absolute control, and just sit awkwardly, listening to the sound of crumpling paper and packing tape all day. I’d say it’s worth it.