The logistics of moving

or how it will be different the next time.

Because no matter how much I stamp my feet and make noise about never moving again, well, since I'm not currently housed in a pine box or a house with yard and some trees and some storage space, it's inevitable that sometime in the not too distant future (which at this point in my life could be a few months or a few years) I will have to move again. And as a reminder to that future self, this is what worked, didn't work, and must be done differently the next time:

Do this again

• thoroughly clean and disinfect the new place
• borrow bankers boxes from work for books, dishes and other breakables
• use lots and lots of tissue paper
• hire movers
• set up the bedroom and bathroom ASAP before unpacking anything else. Then when bath time, naptime or bedtime comes, well, you can get clean and have a comfortable place to sleep, now, not after you unpack and assemble stuff!
• have company come a week or two after the movers move everything...motivation to get unpacked!
• make sure horrible old furniture stays away from the new house...motivation to replace it. If the nasty stuff moves in, well, it's never going to leave
• give any and all things that are not important, useful, or needed to charity
• use original packing boxes whenever possible
• forward mail

Don't do this again

• move on someone else's terms (okay, sometimes there's no controlling this)
• prolong the move over a three week period
• be a presenter at a conference the weekend of the move
• move while recovering from the nasty winter cold
• edit March 2008: move while suffering from morning sickness

Do this next time

• move somewhere that has parking, preferably assigned.
• move somewhere that has storage...Christmas decorations and spare tires need to live somewhere else for most of the year
• move in one day...prolonging the inevitable is stressful and makes everyone sad (especially when no one wanted to move in the first place)

I don't remember the last move being so stressful and horrible and unpleasant, but that might be because I was moving from the Hobbit Hole to the Blue House (i.e. from about 550 square feet, half a closet and no storage to 1300 square feet plus a deck and storage) and this time the move was from the Blue House to the Pink Palace (latter place to less than 700 square feet, no storage). Hmmmm....yeah....