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I am moving from Annapolis, Md. to Denver at the end of this month. The move is for personal and family reasons and I already have a job and a place to stay lined up. The job is a transfer with my current company, essentially doing my current job (but with a raise! so yay!).
My plan is to drive and I would like to do a mix of interstates and state highways for a more scenic ride. I plan to take 3 days to drive. I will be taking my two cats and driving alone. I'm a single female, don't mind my own company, and plan to fill my drive-time with one audiobook or podcast after another.
The big dilemma I'm having is what size of vehicle I need. I don't own a car so I'll have to rent a vehicle but I hate the idea of having to lug a cargo van or a truck across the country. That just seems like a total drag, not to mention overkill for what I have.
I usually do a "purge" of my stuff once or twice a year and I do a big one before moving. Right now I am almost completely packed and I am left with: A small wooden desk that I love (but that I could probably leave stored with a friend if I had to), a very small, fold-down baker's rack, a wicker chair that I know fits in a compact car, and about 12 plastic totes and boxes. Maybe by the time I pack my odds and ends I'll have an additional 2-3 boxes or totes.
I will also need to carry the cats in some type of large crate or a soft-sided traveling pen, and I will need to bring their food, disposable litter trays and the like. Also of course a cooler for myself and a suitcase with the stuff I'll need while on the road.
My options as I see them:
1. Rent a minivan or small cargo van and bring everything with me. That will probably be slow, cost a boatload in gas and be a pain. But I wouldn't worry about my stuff and it would be with me when I arrive.
2. Rent an SUV or small passenger van. Take about half the boxes to be shipped via Amtrak or Greyhound and pack the rest in the SUV or minivan.
3. Bring the bare necessities and breakables with me in a regular car and ship everything else. My concern here is that my stuff will get damaged or lost, and why do this when I can have it right there with me?
Am I overthinking this? How hard is it to drive a minivan or small cargo van? How much does each type of vehicle hold? What about gas mileage? I don't want to spend a fortune and have to stop constantly to fill up.
Any and all ideas are welcome. Money is definitely an issue because I don't have much and my company is not paying for my relocation since it was my choice to transfer.
OP, it's hard to find cargo vans for one-way trips.
Since you have cats, I recommend looking for an SUV or a smaller cross-over (baby SUV, like the Honda CRV) if they rent those. Pack whatever fits and ship the rest. The rental place will have some gas charts. My CRV gets about 32 mpg on the highway and probably closer to 28 mpg with a load. None of these vehicles are hard to drive, unless you have a trailer, which you don't.
You might also want to check with the rental places and see if they need a vehicle returned to Denver. That might help a bid with rates. Again, if you end up with something small, pack what fits and ship the rest (or sell it).
Normally, I'd agree with Mr. Rational about flying with that distance and your small amount of stuff, but this is not a good time in the airline biz to be flying pets around.
Also, I'd budget for 5 days to drive since you are on your own. You might run into bad thunderstorms (make sure you have a weather ap), back problems, or just plain not want to drive 8 hours one of the days.
In any case, don't delay on finding and reserving a vehicle. This is prime vacation time.
Added: I moved from Ohio to Iowa with a CRV and one cat. I wouldn't have wanted to use anything smaller. I had everything I needed to set up my home office, as well as a make-shift kitchen and bedroom (had an inflatable bed). Since I was working online at the time, I needed to hit the ground running.
Meemurr, thank you so much! That is exactly what I will do. Going to spend the weekend sorting through and seeing if I can get down to even less stuff, do a final purge and make my car reservation today.
Flying is out because you can only bring one pet per passenger in-cabin, and I am not putting my cats in cargo. I know cats don't love long car trips, to put it mildly, but I've been getting a lot of good information on how to make it less stressful for them.
Drove family of 4 and two large dogs CA-CT in 2011; drove 3 and two large dogs CT-Denver 2017. (Bought a Honda Odyssey, my second, for the first trip; ended up keeping it.)
Use a PODS or similar to ship the large house stuff. This will let you keep more stuff and save you from having to drive something noisy, uncomfortable and a general PITA.
Pack the trunk or boot with whatever will fit, whatever you will need for the first week or so, whatever you don't want to lose track of.
Enjoy the drive.
Do the math on gas - it won't amount to much one way or the other with modern vehicles you are likely to rent. A slightly larger, more comfortable car or small SUV is worth another $100 net in costs, IMVHO. Use Rentalcars DOT com to shop. Consider driving airport to airport - one-ways are sometimes cheaper that way even if you end up needing a ride or an Uber or whatever here in Denver.
Rent a "Class B" RV... drive a living room to Colorado.
Considered that for the 2011 drive; would be a huge waste for one person and there are often animal restrictions/cleaning costs. And much worse gas mileage than even a mid-size SUV. And overnight costs not much different than cheap hotel costs.
Rent a "Class B" RV... drive a living room to Colorado.
LOL the idea had crossed my mind, as I could also save $$ by staying on camp sites or boondocking! But the fuel costs would kill me!
Quietude, thank you for those insights and tips! All very good to know! I'm going to hit rentalcars right now and do the airport to airport thing.
As an update, I found out today that the job offer was rescinded because of a hiring freeze. Very disappointed. But the personal reasons I'm moving are still valid, and I have a place to stay, so I'm still going.
You have all been incredibly helpful and I truly appreciate it!!
Drive the RV overnight and sleep days (10a-6p) in the quiet corner of a city park.
No Walmarts. No Rest Stops.
Quote:
But the fuel costs would kill me!
It's not that many miles or nights ~3nights and 4 days driving LINK.
(1800mi ÷ 18mpg = 100gal @$2.65/g = $265.00 for fuel)
The costs for 3 nights in a sorta safe sorta clean motel plus restaurant meals will be every bit of $265.
The cleaning required to De-Cat the RV (as mentioned) is the mystery cost.
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Last edited by MrRational; 07-13-2018 at 01:57 PM..
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