What We Would Do Differently
I’m sure for the majority of my readers / followers, this series is a little off from what you’re more interested in (food, fashion, etc.) but for anyone going through this same season, I hope it is insightful. Yes, we are wrapping up the moving tips series tonight with this final post… A reflection on the learning experience of moving twice in seven months, haha. Including but not limited to: my review of the two companies utilized in making said moves.
General Moving Thoughts
The moving company for the second move charged us extra to ship the lamps but then they just put them in a box ?? Like $20 each… So my advice would be… take the light bulbs out and pack up your own lamps (if possible). The floor lamps couldn’t be pack in boxes so excluding those, I would definitely rather we just pack the table lamps in the future.
Some things you’re just better off to get rid of and buy new when you get there. We talk about the expense of moving certain items and deciding to transport them ourselves in this post. But there are also some items it’s not worth the hassle to move at all. Like the cheap-o mirrors that in the first move we didn’t think we would be able to transport ourselves (we originally thought I would fly to NYC with a whole bunch of suitcases following the wedding for my official move to Manhattan… cue global pandemic which resulted in a host of other events and meant I ended up “moving” north in a minivan…)
Wardrobe boxes saved money on our total number of boxes and it’s so much less of a headache not having to rehang everything at the new place. If you’re unfamiliar with wardrobe boxes, they’re giant cardboard boxes with a metal bar that allows you to hang your hanging clothes for easier transport. Essentially a disposable wardrobe cabinet. The thing we didn’t realize is that we bought these cardboard monstrosities from the company we purchased packing materials from as a “1 bedroom apartment kit” and then found out the moving company was going to let us borrow some if needed. Rats. But I think it may have been more economical to purchase the packing supplies in the kit so I guess it was a wash. But still… good to know in the future, and in an effort to impart our wisdom on anyone searching for advice - you should check into this with your moving company!
Just throw out the food. In the chaos of moving it was 1) difficult to meal plan in a way that utilized our dwindling supply in the fridge and pantry and 2) hard to stick to any sort of plan when you’re trying to pack kitchen items [the kitchen always takes the most time to pack, in my opinion] little by little and you’re stressed and tired and going in 14 different directions each evening trying to get as much done as possible which means you end up ordering a lot of pizzas or take out. If you can donate the food to someone, that’s wonderful - I hated throwing out food, but it was either throw it out or haul it in a cooler again and after attempting that when leaving KY to go to NYC only to have most of the food go bad, it just wasn’t realistic on our move to South Carolina, especially knowing we had multiple stops along the way.
Settling In at a New Place
Measuring larger furniture in advance would have been helpful. Granted for the first move, we did do this and then learned the dimensions of the rooms weren’t exactly in the shapes of rectangles but rather had all these parts of the wall that jutted out and messed up our detailed plan. For the second move, while we thought long and hard about our decision to move, when it actually came time to schedule things we did not have much time to make it all happen and didn’t think to measure anything. We knew the space would be much larger than our NYC apartment and I guess we just left it at that. And while we have more than enough room for everything in SC, not all the furniture is in the same kind of room it was in NYC and we hadn’t spent as much time planning for the arrangement of furniture which meant we were kind of flying by the seat of our pants on move-in day. Advice: Make sure furniture will fit where you’re going to ask the movers to put it.
We got lucky because we live in a spacious area now but our stuff was loaded onto a box truck in NYC and then arrived in SC on a semi so what if the semi couldn’t have fit down the street? Obviously more of a problem on the movers part but still your problem too. Permits? Haul fee if they can’t fit? Just a lot of things to think about when selecting a moving company, especially if you’re moving to a unique place like NYC. Again, something that most professional moving companies will do their homework on or are already aware of, but as the person paying the bill, you want to be sure of ev.er.y.thingggg. so as to not be hit with outrageous fees. Read more about our tips on selecting a moving company in these posts:
7 Questions to Ask When Selecting a Moving Company
Advice for Prepping, Planning and Packing to Move Across the Country
3 Things to Consider When Planning to Move Across the Country
Our Honest Thoughts on the Two Companies that Moved Us
What companies did we use?
Lexington, KY to New York, NY (Manhattan)
New York, NY (Manhattan) to Rock Hill, SC: Dumbo Moving Company
Would we recommend or use either of these companies again?
No way, lol…
Safe Relocation Inc. - Ironic name because apparently our “job” was brokered off to some random guys that didn’t have company uniforms and I’m pretty sure the truck wasn’t labeled in any way… We didn’t realize at the time that this company worked with others to outsource their clients and had we known that we probably wouldn’t have chosen them. It’s just concerning. How do we know they’re legit? And maybe this is why they were more affordable? Or maybe it was the starting point wasn’t as difficult as say NYC? I don’t know but I wouldn’t go that route again. While customer service was better with this company than the company that moved us to South Carolina, there were so many hidden fees that snuck up on us.
Dumbo Moving Company - It was so expensive and everyone we had to deal with on the phone was a jerk! We were promised tracking information and only got it the day before our items arrived… Which didn’t help much when they told us we’d have a two-day heads up on when they’d arrive. Darrell called on multiple occasions between our stuff being picked up and when we actually got word that our items were on the way, and every time he called we was told “Call back later, we are too busy right now…” Uh NO. Hold up, you have ALL OF OUR STUFF and we have ALREADY PAID YOU. You can take a minute to answer our questions. AND FOLLOW THROUGH ON YOUR END OF THE DEAL!!! Rude.
The movers who showed up to load our stuff in NYC weren’t terrible but it was very difficult to communicate with them. We appreciated that there were three movers, that was a plus, it definitely made things quicker, especially in that situation where it’s just not easy to move. But then Darrell tipped them once they finished loading the truck and one guy insinuated our tip was a laughing matter for the three of them… Like what??? And I’m still unsure if you’re even supposed to tip, Darrell did so as a nice gesture because they’re in a service job and that seems like the right thing to do.
I will say, however, that the movers we dealt with on move-in day in SC were nice and professional.
Reflection
Moving is a lot.
It’s a lot of planning.
It’s a lot of money.
It’s a lot of research.
It’s a lot of unknown.
It’s a lot of MESS.
It’s a lot of stress. And a dash of not knowing if you’ve already packed/unpacked something and where it’s at for several weeks???
And to think we don’t even have children yet?!
I know, I know, I’m making it sound super fun and blissful, right? But I truly belive God made a way for us to move to South Carolina and in one weeks time it already feels way more like “home” than NYC ever did. Don’t get me wrong, the experience of living in New York City is one I will cherish, but much like my brief summer living in Washington, D.C. years ago, it just wasn’t the right fit for me/us. I’m excited to for suburbia and to be so much closer to family and friends.
I cannot imagine doing either of these moves this year without Darrell. We are a team and while it hasn’t been easy, there’s no one I’d rather move across the country with once, let alone twice in seven months, than him. For anyone reading this who moved solo out of state or far away, goodness I commend you! And if you’re looking for a marriage team building exercise, I can’t recommend this enough - moving twice in such a short time has made us stronger, and doing so during a pandemic, in the midst of our wedding being cancelled and having to quarantine, not knowing anyone and in strange places where we have to learn everything all over again, it can be a lot of pressure but it is doable. God is our strength and our provider. ❤
If you are considering a big move or are in the process of planning a move, I highly suggest reading our raw and real advice in the other posts from this series. They are linked above in the “Settling In at a New Place” section of this post!