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I thought I would write a little bit about my moving experience to maybe help out someone else trying to do the same thing as me.
So I sold all my big furniture on Craigslist before I moved to Hawai'i. Like the sofa and love, the nice bedroom set, the fancy comfortable bed , the tables...my CAR...everything that wouldn't fit on a 48" x 40" pallet. It was hard losing money on those items. However, I kinda looked at it like a material possession downsizing. I figured that all that heavy furniture was just kind of weighing me down anyways! No more expensive heavy furniture for me until I buy a house at least! I've always been the nomadic type...I move every couple of years.
I boxed up all the stuff I thought was absolutely necessary and couldn't bear to part with and sold the rest! I then rented a moving truck and moved all the boxes into the truck. Next I was off to the freight forwarder's dock with all my worldly possessions. I didn't really package anything really special. I bundled up my fragile items really good. My glass lamps and my TV got extra special packing attention, but that is really about it.
I played tetris with the boxes on the wooden pallet at the dock and made them fit really nicely so it only came to about 5 feet tall. They didn't really care about weight, it more about volume. The guy even measured it at the lowest part which was cool . It only cost me $460 to ship a pallet. Plus moving truck fees and whatnot.
They wrapped it all up and it only took about 10 days to get to HNL!
When it got to HNL nothing was broken or stolen or missing! Everything was just how I packed it. The put the pallet into a container and shipped it like that. I am very happy with their service!!! The guy at the HNL dock even helped me unload my pallet into my moving van and he didn't have to! NIce!
So, that is my moving experience. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Maybe this sort of method will work for you if you don't have much stuff, or you don't want to keep your furniture! Good luck with your move!!!
Very encouraging. Thank You. I'm moving some furniture over and two motorcycles. The furniture is the tough part. Most of my living stuff is in Honolulu already.
I'm having a bit of fun finding good furniture bargains here. Seems there are always people looking to get rid of some because they are moving. I got a dresser and a desk yesterday for free.
I'm going to try and do the minimalist look and actively try not to collect so much stuff. Not because it's Hawai'i, but because it's better for my pocketbook and also for my state of mind. I don't need all the clutter and a nice clean house is better to walk into. I think all that "stuff" is really kind of unnecessary.
Thanks for sharing your experiences I'm about to do the same only coming with 2 (maybe 3 suitcases), shipping my car, and renting a furnished room. Where did you move to?
Let me know who you guys are shipping your car with. I may want to ship my motorcycle too.
Also, are you able to fill the car with "stuff" (boxes)? I could fit quite a bit of stuff in my jeep and would save me the cost of shipping an additional palet. My only worry is it is a soft top and not sure where it will end up or if it would get broken into.
James, they don't let you throw stuff in the car. I tried seeing about that too LOL. I'm most likely going to go with Pasha. Seems to be $1,072 one way for me. Most places cost about the same.
I just called a few places (and got a great link due to a post on CD- Thanks!).
The cheapest I found (at least going out of the LA area) is through Budget Auto Shipping for $1,025. They ship through Matson. Basically it's like booking a Hilton hotel through Orbitz versus going direct through Hilton since you can save some $$.
I don't know where you are relocating to, but check the port fees to see how much they charge for keeping our car while you aren't in town yet. Seems to be it is free for 4 days, and then you pay $10-$25 per day (places each gave me just a ballpark).
This is what I found based out of LA-
Pasha- $1,074
Dependable Auto Shippers (forgot who they use)- $1,075
Budget Auto Shippers (uses Matson)- $1,025
If you don't want your car on a open container where the sea air is getting at it and prefer an enclosed container for your car, try Horizon - much friendlier in my experience than Matson for the same price.
If you don't want your car on a open container where the sea air is getting at it and prefer an enclosed container for your car, try Horizon - much friendlier in my experience than Matson for the same price.
Ohhhh thanks. Rep points for you. Didn't look into them, but I will. My car is just a hand me down 1994 Taurus, but I'm mainly booking due to estimation of arrival. Thanks!
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, the tables...my CAR...everything that wouldn't fit on a 48" x 40" pallet. It was hard losing money on those items. However, I kinda looked at it like a material possession downsizing. I figured that all that heavy furniture was just kind of weighing me down anyways! No more expensive heavy furniture for me until I buy a house at least! I've always been the nomadic type...I move every couple of years.
. It only cost me $460 to ship a pallet. Plus moving truck fees and whatnot.
I'm about to do the same only coming with 2 (maybe 3 suitcases), shipping my car, and renting a furnished room. Where did you move to?
