Moving?!….what An Experience….

mirrodie · Sat Mar 08, 2014 3:11 am

Its been 5 months since I've moved. 3 miles away and I moved myself and my family without the help of movers. All it took was one PODS container and 1 uHaul 16 box truck.

The goal was to get the family a bigger house and later, I get to treat myself to a new car.

What an experience. Its been said that moving is one of life's most stressful experiences and I blew off the notion. But it really wasn't until the week of the move that I started to notice the effects. My stress levels when talking to others. My sleep patterns were off. Besides the occasional stress related eyelid twitches, I was also getting bicep twitches. Crazy stress that I really didn't think I was acknowledging.

5 months later, taking a break from preparing our taxes and its nice to prop my feet up, open up a laptop and veg in our new digs.

In retrospect, I have to say, they are right. MOVING is one of THE most stressful events in a lifetime. Next time I'll pay movers. Nice to see all is chill here.

cjg225 · Sat Mar 08, 2014 4:06 am

I feel ya. I'm moving in a few weeks to a temporary apartment in North Carolina. NOT looking forward to that. Throughout college, I hated the move in/move out from dorms/apartments more than anything. Basically having to do that again since this is a rotational program for my employer. Probably wouldn't be as upset if the place wasn't in the sticks. Yuck. I turned down living in a REALLY nice apartment for the 8 months, but it would've been about $4,500 more for the 8 months, total, between higher rent and gas commuting the 2 hours every day round-trip out to the sticks and back.

Aesma · Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:01 am

What caused the stress exactly ? If you're on your own timetable, without strangers to manage, I would think it easier. I haven't really moved ever, though, it was always a gradual process with lots of minivan loads over weeks.

seb146 · Sat Mar 08, 2014 7:41 am

Quoting Aesma (Reply 2):
What caused the stress exactly ?

After so much time, you don't remember that piece of furniture being that heavy or think it will take that long to get that moved. Moving is very stressful! When you take a quick glance around at what you have, you think "oh... this is a snap! One day, tops!!" But, when you actually get into doing the actual packing and moving, you start realizing how much stuff you have and how hard it is to get it out! Ever try to put a futon in the back of a Ford Escort in under 10 minutes?

mirrodie · Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:52 am

Quoting Aesma (Reply 2):
What caused the stress exactly ? If you're on your own timetable, without strangers to manage, I would think it easier. I haven't really moved ever, though, it was always a gradual process with lots of minivan loads over weeks.

I think Seb146 puts it nicely.

Quoting seb146 (Reply 3):
hen you take a quick glance around at what you have, you think "oh... this is a snap! One day, tops!!" But, when you actually get into doing the actual packing and moving,

I started with getting a PODs container delivered to my house where it sat several weeks. I then spent a 2-4 hours every night over the course of 2 weeks putting all the boxes (that my wife labeled and packed) into the POD. IT was a 3d Tetris game fitting most of our stuff into a 4x4x16 foot box. What was left was larger items such as beds, chairs, patio furniture, etc which went into a 16 ft box truck.

It doesn't feel stressful at the time but its more the observations of people and those around you. They see it and sense it.

Thankfully this should be our last move until we retire or die. Found the perfect place for us with really good bones. Made the stress worth it.

desertjets · Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:06 am

Moving is a pain in the ass, physically and mentally. I have stayed in crappy apartments and continued to live with crappy roommates to avoid moving. The last two moves we payed professional (the 2nd time I'll use the term professional lightly) to handle all the big stuff and things that were easy to box. That made it all much easier, you have a specific date/time when they show up so everything that is moving needs to be ready. I feel that when you DIY it you can stretch it out and you are just unsettled for such a long time. All of that adds to the stress. But when you have somebody else to do the literal heavy lifting it makes it so much easier.

AR385 · Mon Mar 10, 2014 4:29 am

I´ve moved cities 6 times now and yes, it can be a very stressful experience. Specially when you are not around and the company sends these teams of guys who pack stuff for you and later on you realized you left something you needed and now it´s in the middle of the ocean in some container, like my passport.

The first time we moved I was 13 years old and I recall my mother going bat shit crazy and my father disappearing, which he only did when mother went bat shit crazy. My brother and me were left to face her wrath...

The first time I had to move on my own I realized how stressful it can be and how right she was.

And no, it hasn´t gotten better with the number of moves over the years. I hate the experience.

jetblueguy22 · Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:30 am

Quoting seb146 (Reply 3):
When you take a quick glance around at what you have, you think "oh... this is a snap! One day, tops!!" But, when you actually get into doing the actual packing and moving, you start realizing how much stuff you have and how hard it is to get it out! Ever try to put a futon in the back of a Ford Escort in under 10 minutes?

Perfectly said. My roommate and I were moving out of our dorm and into an apartment with a buddy back in May. We sat there thinking "We live in a dorm, how much can we really have?" 4 trips later in an overloaded Subaru Outback and a Hyundai Sante Fe and we were moved in. Oh, but wait, we aren't. You need to set up a tv stand because we didn't have one, buy a lamp because there was no overhead lighting, put the futon back together (you'd think 3 pilots could figure that out, nope), and not to mention put everything away.

I think the big thing with moving is just the unexpected. You don't expect to have as many things as you have. You think everything you brought in will perfectly fit through the door, you think figuring out where you want everything is a breeze. But for whatever reason, none of it is easy. I may move to a new apartment in May. It's been long enough to where I don't think it will be that bad, I have an eerie feeling I'm in for a rude awakening.
Pat

Flighty · Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:57 pm

It's a huge mental challenge to move. I feel ya. Just in the past year, I moved 3, 4 times!

Moving requires learning new skills, massively prioritizing everything you own, and then the physical aspect can be incredibly tough. But that's the easy part.

Then, there is potentially reengineering the space you are moving into. What if the kitchen is no good, etc. The mental refinements of your living space take months to sort out. Once everything equalizes, THEN it is your home.

If you get used to moving, your whole life can become more mobile. I feel it is freeing, just like travel used to be, in that it keeps your mind open.

I plan to move again next year, and look for a new job. Congrats on your new home.

Quoting jetblueguy22 (Reply 7):

I think the big thing with moving is just the unexpected. You don't expect to have as many things as you have.

So true.

IMissPiedmont · Sun Mar 16, 2014 1:16 am

I am in the process of moving right now. I am making great use of the local dump, the only things I'm keeping are my books, airline collection, bed, LP collection and stereo. Oh, and clothes. Everything else is being replaced.

flyingthe757 · Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:38 am

I'm moving in a few weeks from a rent red finished property to a small 1 bed apartment and not looking forward to it.

I have just gotten rid of a pile of books and DVDs thru various internet sites, and about to,dump a load of clothes. The packing side does not bother me as much as the moving bills across. TV/internet/satellite etc.

I was without the net for a month when I moved to my current place!!!! Don't want that happening again

WildcatYXU · Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:50 am

Sorry, but you're exaggerating. Try to move with a family of 5 to a different country on a different continent speaking different language. Let's talk stress once you've done that...

rwy04lga · Sun Mar 16, 2014 3:24 am

Mom flew on ahead. I moved her stuff out of a one-bedroom apartment in Queens to the same in Tampa. Her furniture, her cats, her car (on a dolly). All by myself, no help at all. Left 9am, arrived 5pm next day. Everything moved inside by 10pm.

Total cost? who cares, she paid for it.....Finally getting her out of my hair...priceless!!

PHX787 · Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:20 pm

I have moved 4 times in my life, and in August it will be 5.

It all depends though on definition-

i moved once when I was 1 years old, my parents built a new house about 5 miles from the old one.

that was 1993.

I then moved to Arizona for school. All I brought were 4 large suitcases and had a box shipped out containing my musical stuff. That was 2010. Then I moved everything I had from Arizona BACK to Ohio in 2013 (2 day trip driving, used a Budget truck), and about a month later, I again hauled 4 large suitcases and had 3 big boxes ship my stuff to Japan for my transfer.

In August this year, my parents are building a new home about 5 miles away from the current one, and I'll fly back to help facilitate the move.

So yeah. Moving is quite stressful indeed (especially when trying to convince Japanese authorities you're a human)

B777LRF · Sun Mar 16, 2014 2:31 pm

Quoting WildcatYXU (Reply 11):
Sorry, but you're exaggerating. Try to move with a family of 5 to a different country on a different continent speaking different language. Let's talk stress once you've done that...

+1.

I've moved around 5 times in my home country, followed by a move abroad - but still within Europe. I've also moved to and from the Middle East, and lastly from my place back home moving in with the GF.

Any moving inside your home borders is a piece of cake compared to stuffing your earthly belongings in a 40ft container and waving it goodbye, hoping you'll see it in 6 weeks and 6000 km away. Having the company pay for someone to do all the packing, makes it a lot easier though.

mirrodie · Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:10 am

Quoting WildcatYXU (Reply 11):

Sorry, but you're exaggerating. Try to move with a family of 5 to a different country on a different continent speaking different language. Let's talk stress once you've done that...

Not sure to whom you're referring but I dont see much sense in trying to belittle others by saying they're exaggerating. The 3 families that come to mind (that I know) with their international moves all did so with moving begging done by a moving company usually paid for by the employer. I'm sure that is a huge help though stressful nonetheless.

I moved a family of 4 for about 3 miles by myself, without movers. That is, my wife and I moving large pieces of furniture, etc. As I noted, I didn't feel it was at all stressful at the time.

It was only in hindsight that I saw what people were talking about.

Moving in general is called one of the most stressful actions in ones life. Didn't believe it until after I went through it. YMMV

sccutler · Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:34 am

Every move I've made since marrying, lo those many years ago, was into a larger home. As a result, when we reached the "no time left for sorting through stuff" phase, we could just throw it all into boxes and move it, storing it somewhere in the new place.

Not so this time ( a scant few months back). We downsized (the right thing to do), and sloughing off "stuff" was an exquisite form of agony. Plus, the stress of selling our home of 22 years. I found stuff I had not seen, that had not moved, in 22 years, and a few boxes that I packed before leaving California - in 1990!

Sad, because the house from which we moved was a really neat place, and now it's gone, scraped. Sad deal. Oh well, no one forced me.

byronicle6 · Mon Mar 17, 2014 5:53 am

Quoting WildcatYXU (Reply 11):

Sorry, but you're exaggerating. Try to move with a family of 5 to a different country on a different continent speaking different language. Let's talk stress once you've done that...

If you think moving 3 miles is stressful, then forget about moving overseas

mirrodie · Mon Mar 17, 2014 1:40 pm

Quoting sccutler (Reply 16):
As a result, when we reached the "no time left for sorting through stuff" phase

So true.

BNE · Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:34 pm

Hi,

Last year I moved 2,244 miles according to the airline I travel with the most. I moved from Brisbane to Perth.
I moved out of the place I had been living in for 5 years, moved to my parents place for a month, before moving to the other side of the country, the move it not easy.

Its the unexpected things that crop up, for me it was my bin that was stolen. But the biggest part was the emotional upheaval of moving, its like you are moving out of what is familiar to you.

Quoting seb146 (Reply 3):
After so much time, you don't remember that piece of furniture being that heavy or think it will take that long to get that moved. Moving is very stressful! When you take a quick glance around at what you have, you think "oh... this is a snap! One day, tops!!" But, when you actually get into doing the actual packing and moving, you start realizing how much stuff you have and how hard it is to get it out! Ever try to put a futon in the back of a Ford Escort in under 10 minutes?

That is so true, its the stuff you might use once or twice a year, or during your summer or winter holidays that can be hard to move, you don't want to throw it away but it has to be moved.

I still have a full bookcase with my parents that I will need to decide what to do with when they decide to move I hope its its not for a few years.

The only good thing is that I could probably now move again fairly easily. I moved a pallet worth of stuff 3footx3footx3foot high; kitchen utensils, TV, Microwave, bed linen, towels, a few books(my aviation books)

I then did a few trips between Brisbane and Perth, so glad I had airline status as once I checked in with the airline with 6 bags, my dad was helping me, the check in agent sent where are both of you traveling today, Perth and its just me, I am moving cities.

Quoting WildcatYXU (Reply 11):
Sorry, but you're exaggerating. Try to move with a family of 5 to a different country on a different continent speaking different language. Let's talk stress once you've done that...

Moving state lines is hard enough, moving countries would be tough.

cjg225 · Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:16 am

Just a few days away from my move and I've done.... nothing, aside from reserving the U-Haul truck.

I guess it's good that I barely unpacked after I came home from college. Most of my stuff is in boxes already.

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