The post where I am in Iowa now

Moving sucks.

There's really no two ways about it.  Moving is a huge pain.  And it's not just the "putting everything you own in boxes, lifting those boxes into a truck, driving that truck, lifting the boxes out of the truck and then taking everything you own out of boxes" part of moving that is hard.  You spend a day changing your mailing address at all the places that have your mailing address.  You spend a day driving around trying to figure out where to buy milk.  You're crazy poor because everything about moving costs money.  It's just a headache.

But, now that Kate and I are settling in Coralville, I thought I would gather some of my thoughts of things I learned about moving.  My more charitable readers will think that this is for their benefit: so that they can learn from my experience and not repeat my mistakes.  My less charitable readers will think I am doing this for my own benefit, so that I can easily find this later since I don't keep a journal.  You're all right.

First, boxes.  Every move I've made in the past has involved scrounging boxes from wherever I could find them, usually work, and packing my stuff in them.  I save boxes from Amazon and anywhere else I can think of.  I did some of that this time, but I also just bought boxes.



Those boxes were awesome.  They were about $20 for a 10-pack at Sam's club (or $40 for a 12 pack anywhere else - not hard to do that math).  What I like about buying boxes instead of scavenging boxes is that they are all exactly the same size, which makes stacking them super-easy and efficient.  No problems trying to tetris these guys around when I am putting them in the truck or unloading them in the new apartment.  A- to buying boxes.  I can't give it a higher score because it was pretty expensive, which makes me sad.

Next, something that I did not believe in despite the suggestion of my lovely wife and my handsome brother (You know which one you are): Packing wrap.  It's basically seran wrap, but for packing.



This stuff was AWESOME.  And, more importantly, super cheap.  For $5, I got 1000 feet of it at the Uhaul place.  I'm guessing you could find it cheaper on Amazon or somewhere if you look.  I used this to wrap lots of awkwardly shaped things into bundles.  All our curtain rods, bundled and wrapped so they stick together.  Shelves from a big storage unit thingy, wrapped so that they are all in one place and easier to carry.  Seriously, if you learn nothing else from this post, buy some dang wrap for your next move.  A+ to this stuff.

Another thing we thought would make our lives easier was space bags.  These are supposed to be magical, and they kind of are, but they're also pretty unreliable.  The idea is that you have a big bag that you put stuff in (clothes, blankets, etc), then vacuum out the air, making the bag way smaller.



The problem is, if they are not 100% air tight, you might as well be using garbage bags.  Once the air leaks out, they plump back up to their original size.  In our experience, about 30% had leaks when they were brand new, and another 30% sprung leaks between the time they got packed and the time they got unpacked.  So, not a super-great batting average (though, I guess 400 is actually a super-great batting average, but baseball is another question entirely).  We paired these with big plastic storage bins, which helped a bit.  Vacuum out the air from a space bag, throw it in a storage bin, pack stuff around it, and tape it shut.  That way, when it starts to leak, the clothes have no room to expand into.  But between the price and the not-as-magical-as-advertised problem, I have to give space bags a D.  We threw them all away when we got here and are not planning on ever buying them again.

The last couple things are not products, but rather things I would do differently.  When we were packing, we tried to label things as specifically as we could (rather than just labeling the box with the room it would go to).  We thought this would make it easier to find stuff when we unpacked.  The problem was that while we knew that yarn goes in the baby's bedroom, the people who helped us move didn't.  So all the boxes just got put down wherever, and it took about a day of me moving boxes around the apartment just to get everything in the right room so we could start unpacking.  If I were moving again, I would put a big, generic label on every box that fell into one of maybe 8 or 10 categories (Bathroom, kitchen, books, etc), and then a smaller, more specific label of what exactly is in that box.  The big label will help direct things to the right general area, and the small label will help you organize and unpack.

I would also pack a few boxes or suitcases or something as if we were going on a week's vacation.  Everything I need to live for a week: underwear, phone charger, toothbrush, pillow, all that good stuff.  These need to be clearly marked and kept separate from everything else.  We tried to do this, but didn't do very well, so the first night was a mess of "I've been in the car all day and I just want to brush my dang teeth."  The first few days will be like that, so pack accordingly.

Before you move (far enough before that you are not a crazy stress-ball), plan a few days of easy meals with a few simple ingredients.  We ended up eating out a whole lot that first week because we were too tired and stressed to think about how adults feed themselves.  Make a meal plan (in advance), make a shopping list (in advance), and you'll be able to go for a quick run to the store the first day.

All in all, a successful move, in that my family is now successfully in a new place, all our stuff is here, and we are happy.  And, importantly, now that we're settling in, I'll get back to the Blog.  Harry Potter, beware.  I'm coming for you, boy...