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Sell the furniture and buy new/used when you get there. Ship what boxes will not fit in your vehicle via Amtrak Express. It is the cheapest way to move, period. That is how we moved cross country from Ohio to Washington and it worked perfectly. Only cost us $150 to ship what didn't fit in our car and that was after 10 years living in the previous 1800sqft house and acquiring lots of "stuff". Granted we sold/donated a lot to downsize. But I'm sure it was more than what you would have in a 1 bed apartment.
Do not abandon your pets! La Quinta hotels are great for traveling with pets. No additional fee/deposit required for having them. We used RoadTrippers to plan out the route with 12 hour stretches. Taking a break and walking the dog/stretching legs/getting gas/etc every few hours. Wasn't a big deal at all. For the cat just pick up some of those disposable litter boxes but they will usually just hold it until you get to a hotel. If either one of them is really bad with car rides you can talk to your vet about a tranquilizer but after the first hour or two I'm sure they'll just settle in for the haul. https://roadtrippers.com/
We moved from Ohio to Arizona last year and had our dog (german shepherd) in out Jeep with us for the 5 day trek. He was great the whole trip. We stayed in 4 different La Quinta hotels because they don't charge extra for animals. Some are nicer than others, but really, we were there to sleep and rest for the next day of driving. We also used Roadtrippers to see what fun stuff we could do on the way.
As for movers themselves, I had a pretty crappy experience with a major moving company; lots of broken stuff and that was after they were over a week late. They also weren't cheap by any stretch (but were paid for by my company). We're potentially moving back to Ohio and I can tell you with 100% certainty we will get a Uhaul and do it ourselves.
I drove in a car from NYC to Denver with 2 small dogs (chihuahuas) who normally hate being in a car. One usually throws up and can't stop moving. However, they were great driving across country. For one, after 30 minutes they settle down. A second thing I did was having dog beds in the back seat in which they slept in and they LOVED it. They stayed asleep most of the way. There was no problems at all and could easily do it again. Please don't leave your dogs - that is more traumatic than driving across country for a few days!
Oh, also, I had NO problems at all, staying at hotels. Could find them without even booking ahead. Motel 6 is good, Super 8 and La Quinta for the cheapest however almost any hotel/motel I called took dogs.
We've moved house 4 times, and have used packers for all of them. Our next move will be to downsize, and we'll do most of it ourselves. I found this list of moving hints online, and thought they were useful for anybody going through the process:
We've moved house 4 times, and have used packers for all of them. Our next move will be to downsize, and we'll do most of it ourselves. I found this list of moving hints online, and thought they were useful for anybody going through the process:
We've moved house 4 times, and have used packers for all of them. Our next move will be to downsize, and we'll do most of it ourselves. I found this list of moving hints online, and thought they were useful for anybody going through the process:
I am trying to decide what to pack and what to discard after 30 years. I have a couple of stacks of vinyl records; 33,45,78, no means to play them and only mild interest. My son seems to think that they are worth "something ". I don't think that they are. Can anyone confirm that?
Also, there are a couple of sets of drawers I am considering leaving. If I brought them it would be only to use them in a closet for folded clothes. Might it be more cost effective to bring shelves. Mo ing from Ct to Fl.
What you should take with you depends on your objective and budget.
The more stuff you take with you the more it will cost to have it moved. Might be cheaper in the long run, to sell most of your stuff and take just the bare necessities (vinyl records aren’t). You can always buy what you need once in FL.
I'm looking at possibly moving from west coast to east coast and although I have a (small) house and garage full of stuff, it'll be too expensive to move most possessions. I plan to put my core essentials in one 6'x7'x8' U-Pack moving cube.
We are older, but increasingly we look at things and ask "what will happen to this when I am gone?" If the answer is that it will get tossed, then we donate it and gain the space that it occupied. We moved to FL in 1972, we have very little that we moved at that time.
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Tips for moving
