How To Ensure A Stress-Free Long Distance Move

We’ve all heard the cliché that moving is stressful. But chances are you’re yet to realize that long distance moves are more stressful than the regular moves most people are familiar with. However, you can have a stress-free long-distance move if you know how to, and we’re here to show you how.

The excitement of a long-distance move makes it one of the best types of moving experience ever. But moving across state lines or across international borders is never a walk in the park. So, we’ve created this simple guide to make your long-distance moving experience a stress-free one.

Start by Calculating Your Moving Cost

For many years and till date, money is still rated as the leading cause of stress for Americans. While moving is rated as the third most stressful event. Now sit back and imagine how it feels like to spend a significant amount of money for a long-distance move. Just the thought of dealing with both stressors combined can trigger stress.

So, to make your long-distance move less-stressful, we’ve created a Moving Cost Calculator. It can help you crunch the numbers and figure out how much you’ll most likely spend for your long distance move. This will make it easier for you to come up with a moving budget and then plan your finances accordingly.

Once you know how much you’ll most likely spend on your long-distance move, and how to afford it, every other aspect of the move can easily fall into place. This is one of the easiest ways of having a stress-free long distance move.

Create A Moving Checklist

Once you make up your mind to move – start planning! Planning for a long distance move is never too soon. Get a book, or a spreadsheet on your smartphone, or personal computer. Write down every task related to the long-distance move and name it your moving checklist.

But how would you know the various moving related tasks to put on your checklist? We’ve thought about that too. So, we’ve created this moving checklist template to help you get started.

If you’re wondering about the essence of having a moving checklist, you should learn about the various hassles having a moving checklist can prevent. Planning early with a checklist is one of the easiest ways to ensure you have a stress-free long-distance move.

Start Downsizing

A long-distance move isn’t the same as moving a few miles away. So, chances are you won’t be moving every item in your home. This means you’ll have to start downsizing by clearing out clutter.

More so, your total moving cost will most likely depend on the weight of your items and downsizing is one of the easiest ways to save on your move. You shouldn’t make the mistake of paying to move items you no longer need.

So, walk through every room in your home with a piece of paper in hand and then write down items you can donate, sell, or move. The idea is to get rid of unwanted household items as you’re planning your long distance move.

If you’re interested in selling items you no longer need, you should learn how to plan a garage sale that sells in any neighborhood. You can use your smartphone too with these top 5 yard sale mobile apps.

You can as well get some great ideas from this simple yard sale guide. In fact, decluttering is one of the most effective ways of having a stress-free long-distance move.

Start Packing Early

Once you’re done purging your household items, start packing whatever is left. It’s never too soon to start packing. As soon as you start, you’ll realize that you have a whole lot of things to pack. Start by packing items you rarely use. You’ll need moving boxes, lots of them.

You should see the ten best places to get free moving boxes and you’ll need these packing supplies too.  We’ve created several packing guides to make your packing easier, faster, and more efficient. Here are some of them:

• Packing Tips – How To Pack Your Moving Boxes Like A Pro
• Professional Packing Tips To Help You Pack Easily
• 10 useful packing tips
• Packing Tips – 10 Fragile Items You Shouldn’t Pack Yourself
• How To Pack Frames and Photos While Moving
• How To Safely Move Your Big Screen TV
• 10 Moving Supplies To Provide When You Hire Moving Labor

Few days before your long-distance move, you’ll have to pack an essential box. You can learn all you need to know about essential boxes and why you need one. Don’t forget to pack all your boxes with distance in mind. Packing early is one of the key ways to make sure you have a stress-free long distance move.

Pack Systematically

Packing should never be done haphazardly. Don’t just throw any random stuff you can find into any box. Rather, you should pack your items systematically – such as packing by area or by room or packing similar items together.

For example, you may pack kitchen items in similar boxes or pack items in a specific area together such as packing your kids toys together. Since you’re having a long distance move, label all your moving boxes with your name and the items each of the boxes contain.

Labeling all your moving boxes will make unpacking and finding your items easier. Systematic packing can help you have a stress-free long-distance moving experience.

Don’t Lose Track

It’s easy to go off course while planning for a long-distance move. There are always so many things to do and your checklist will come in very handy. Some tasks such as school enrollment and utility installation are often time-conscious. So, you’ll have to plan your move really well and stick to your plans to stay on track.

Start early and set up as many reminders as you can to help you stay on track. Even more, give yourself enough time to complete each of the tasks on your checklist to avoid playing catch-up every now and then. Most importantly, staying on track means you won’t be under any pressure and then you can have a stress-free long distance move.

Get Multiple Moving Quotes

Hiring the right long-distance moving company will make the entire moving experience less stressful. But how and where can you find the right mover? You should start your search for the right mover by requesting for free long-distance moving quotes.

Once you do, you’ll get several moving quotes from various long-distance moving company – and there’s more. All the quotes you’ll get are from moving companies that have been pre screened to ensure that they are genuine, registered, and insured as required by law.

You won’t have to bother about hiring rogue movers or movers that are known for delivering poor quality services. Once you start getting these quotes, start comparing them and make sure you’re comparing apples to apples.

Hire A Reputable Long-Distance Mover

Not all moving companies specialize in long-distance moving and not all long-distance movers are reputable companies. So, while you’re done comparing long-distance movers based on their online reviews and feedback from previous clients amongst several other criteria, you should choose the most reputable long-distance mover on your list.

Don’t fall for the temptation to choose the cheapest – they aren’t always the best option. Rather, choose a mover with a long list of happy customers and a great track record for long distance moves. You can have a stress-free long-distance move by getting this right.

Create an Inventory List

When you’re having a long-distance move, chances are that your household items may end up being spread across cities, states, or even countries. How is that even possible? Some moving companies ship several household items together and yours may be packed with that of someone else moving to a similar location.

So, make sure you have an inventory list either on a mobile app, a spreadsheet on your computer, or a book. Once your items are delivered, you can double check them using the inventory list.

Hire Professionals

The easiest way to have a stress-free long-distance move is to hire professionals to help with some of the stressful phases of the move. This includes hiring moving labor to help with packing your household stuff and loading the moving truck.

Another option is to hire a full-service moving company. When you hire full-service movers, all you have to do is sit back and relax while they pack all your items and load the moving truck. Even more, you can hire professional home cleaners to do the cleaning once the packing is completed. This will make your entire long-distance moving experience less stressful.