How would you break this move into manageable chunks?
July 2, 2021 11:43 AM Subscribe
My family of four is going to be moving from the Maritimes in Canada to Cape Cod in the US at the end of August. We have moved **a lot** in the last few years and the process is has been stressful at best and a masterblasterdisaster at worst. We have a bit of lead time and would like to come up with a plan of attack. How would you approach this move given the following details?
Our biggest problem seems to be thinking we have everything under control but actually always ending up down to the wire which often results in frustrating or serious mistakes e.g. we have left passports behind TWICE now. We are fairly competent and organized people on most fronts, but we are clearly very bad at this.
Factors:
I have a significant health condition that means that my spouse will largely be packing solo. I will be providing emotional support, excellent packing music, and cold beverages but it means that the packing will take longer overall than if two adults were working on it together.
We leave in mid August but won't be at our permanent address for POD delivery until mid September so we need to pack enough clothes, books, toys etc. to get us through that period of time and all of it needs to fit in the trunk of our CRV and modest roof rack storage. We currently only own two carry on size suit cases. I suspect that needs to change?
We rented our current house fully furnished. In the past, we have sometimes paid for movers to pack the house but that would be impossible in this case as the movers would not be able to separate what belongs to the house vs. us.
Because we rented the house furnished, we are not moving any furniture-- this is a ton of books, kids toys, household items, art, and clothes. We basically filled a small POD with boxes on our way here and have likely acquired more stuff since then although we'll do some purging as we pack.
We will have a POD as of next week. We have roughly five weeks to pack up before we hit the road.
We are willing to throw money at this problem if it might be helpful-- is there a way to hire someone to help us that I am not considering? Would packing cubes be beneficial in terms of squeezing as much as possible into our suitcases? Are suitcases even the right choice?
How would you break up this task week by week? Would you do clothes one week and toys the next, for example? Or should we figure out what we are NOT packing into the POD first and then move on to packing the POD? What is a reasonable amount to try to do each week?
Please share your packing mojo!
Our biggest problem seems to be thinking we have everything under control but actually always ending up down to the wire which often results in frustrating or serious mistakes e.g. we have left passports behind TWICE now. We are fairly competent and organized people on most fronts, but we are clearly very bad at this.
Factors:
I have a significant health condition that means that my spouse will largely be packing solo. I will be providing emotional support, excellent packing music, and cold beverages but it means that the packing will take longer overall than if two adults were working on it together.
We leave in mid August but won't be at our permanent address for POD delivery until mid September so we need to pack enough clothes, books, toys etc. to get us through that period of time and all of it needs to fit in the trunk of our CRV and modest roof rack storage. We currently only own two carry on size suit cases. I suspect that needs to change?
We rented our current house fully furnished. In the past, we have sometimes paid for movers to pack the house but that would be impossible in this case as the movers would not be able to separate what belongs to the house vs. us.
Because we rented the house furnished, we are not moving any furniture-- this is a ton of books, kids toys, household items, art, and clothes. We basically filled a small POD with boxes on our way here and have likely acquired more stuff since then although we'll do some purging as we pack.
We will have a POD as of next week. We have roughly five weeks to pack up before we hit the road.
We are willing to throw money at this problem if it might be helpful-- is there a way to hire someone to help us that I am not considering? Would packing cubes be beneficial in terms of squeezing as much as possible into our suitcases? Are suitcases even the right choice?
How would you break up this task week by week? Would you do clothes one week and toys the next, for example? Or should we figure out what we are NOT packing into the POD first and then move on to packing the POD? What is a reasonable amount to try to do each week?
Please share your packing mojo!
Best answer: I would figure out what you need to take with you in the car first, then everything else gets tossed or goes in the pod. You can clear out a part of the room where you have all the stuff that goes in the car - just need to keep putting things back when they get pulled out to be used
You can hire movers and ask them take everything else that will fit in a box and pack it into boxes for you. I assume that the furnishings that came with the house are large enough that they wouldn't go into boxes. However, to this, you need to have already separated the items that you need personally. Clearly delineate that area with car stuff as off-limits for the movers packing things up. Once they have packed, themovers can then load the boxes plus any large items that have a special sticker/mark on them (big personal things that aren't part of the rented furnishings - masking tape with the word "PACK" in red marker works well) into the pod. They can do all of that in a few hours.
If you hire movers, then you can focus your energy on first planning what doesn't go in the POD and second freeing up your energy for all the other parts of the move plus normal life.
posted by metahawk at 12:11 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
You can hire movers and ask them take everything else that will fit in a box and pack it into boxes for you. I assume that the furnishings that came with the house are large enough that they wouldn't go into boxes. However, to this, you need to have already separated the items that you need personally. Clearly delineate that area with car stuff as off-limits for the movers packing things up. Once they have packed, themovers can then load the boxes plus any large items that have a special sticker/mark on them (big personal things that aren't part of the rented furnishings - masking tape with the word "PACK" in red marker works well) into the pod. They can do all of that in a few hours.
If you hire movers, then you can focus your energy on first planning what doesn't go in the POD and second freeing up your energy for all the other parts of the move plus normal life.
posted by metahawk at 12:11 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You definitely can pay movers to do whatever, they will just require more supervision and direction than they would if they were packing up the whole house in one go. I've had plenty of roommates move out with movers, for example, and the movers didn't need to pack up *my* stuff. I don't know what your current living situation is like but you could certainly dump everything you want them to pack in one room and say, "Pack everything in here except for the dining table," and they could do that.
Since you say "toys" I assume your kids are on the younger side, which is easier in some ways (small clothes take up less room!) and harder in others (one outfit per day may not cut it). But for clothes, at least, I would encourage you to think not about how long you'll be living out of your car in general, but about what your laundry situation is going to be like. If you're reasonably sure you will be able to do all your laundry once a week, for example, then you can comfortably get by with ~10 days worth of clothes. Will you get a little tired of some of these clothes if you're wearing them once a week for four to six weeks? Maybe? But then think how excited you'll be to see your other clothes when you're reunited.
For packing stuff in the back of the car I would recommend bins, laundry baskets, plastic drawers, or some combination of the above.
posted by mskyle at 12:23 PM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
Since you say "toys" I assume your kids are on the younger side, which is easier in some ways (small clothes take up less room!) and harder in others (one outfit per day may not cut it). But for clothes, at least, I would encourage you to think not about how long you'll be living out of your car in general, but about what your laundry situation is going to be like. If you're reasonably sure you will be able to do all your laundry once a week, for example, then you can comfortably get by with ~10 days worth of clothes. Will you get a little tired of some of these clothes if you're wearing them once a week for four to six weeks? Maybe? But then think how excited you'll be to see your other clothes when you're reunited.
For packing stuff in the back of the car I would recommend bins, laundry baskets, plastic drawers, or some combination of the above.
posted by mskyle at 12:23 PM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Is there an area in your house where you can start staging the packing prep? If so, I would start by doing a purge NOW, and grouping what's left in that area for packing up and moving into the POD. You can hire movers or similar to help with packing just that area and loading the POD. Like sagc said, the goal is to get down to what you're taking in your car, so you'll be wearing that same set of clothes for an extra few weeks, but oh well... I would start with whatever's easiest and whatever's heaviest/bulkiest.
-pack up extra summer clothing, dress clothing, out of season clothing etc.
-pack extra sheets, towels, etc., leave out exactly what you need and wash it more often
-pack up all your kitchen stuff with the exception of a few pots and pans and one plate/cutlery set per person
-pack up all but a favorite few books/craft supplies/toys (bonus! if you're planning to purge any of this stuff, leave the purge stuff out to use now and toss/donate it right before you go)
-don't forget to survey/pack up any outdoor space you have.
-get all the drawers and cupboards empty now, it'll make it harder to forget things. I would take blue painters tape and tape across any drawer fronts or closet doors once you've verified that they're empty.
Do you have a bookshelf or storage area where you can keep the into-the-POD-last things like sheets, towels, the few pots and pans? Ideally you'll have verified that every single storage space is empty well before your final POD pack, so move that stuff to some other area so you can mark the linen closet, say, as done.
Get a bin with a cover and put it in a safe place like your bedroom, and put anything truly important there RIGHT NOW - passports, cash, valuable jewelry, precious mementos.
I'm sure a professional organizer would be able to help you make a plan, they definitely do packing/moving support!
For the car, I would do this:
-one small duffle bag with everyone's toiletries and first aid stuff/sunscreen
-one small bag with everyone's swimsuit and towel (if you're planning to swim and won't have access to towels at your swimming spot - I would totally buy small fast-dry travel towels for this)
-each person gets a backpack that rides with them and includes their books/toys/electronics and chargers/a sweatshirt/a water bottle - if it doesn't fit in the backpack it needs to get packed in the POD
-I'd use whatever bags you have for clothes, one per person ideally (I think a soft bag will be much easier to manage and pack in the car, I would put any hard-sided suitcases in the POD)
posted by zibra at 12:31 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
-pack up extra summer clothing, dress clothing, out of season clothing etc.
-pack extra sheets, towels, etc., leave out exactly what you need and wash it more often
-pack up all your kitchen stuff with the exception of a few pots and pans and one plate/cutlery set per person
-pack up all but a favorite few books/craft supplies/toys (bonus! if you're planning to purge any of this stuff, leave the purge stuff out to use now and toss/donate it right before you go)
-don't forget to survey/pack up any outdoor space you have.
-get all the drawers and cupboards empty now, it'll make it harder to forget things. I would take blue painters tape and tape across any drawer fronts or closet doors once you've verified that they're empty.
Do you have a bookshelf or storage area where you can keep the into-the-POD-last things like sheets, towels, the few pots and pans? Ideally you'll have verified that every single storage space is empty well before your final POD pack, so move that stuff to some other area so you can mark the linen closet, say, as done.
Get a bin with a cover and put it in a safe place like your bedroom, and put anything truly important there RIGHT NOW - passports, cash, valuable jewelry, precious mementos.
I'm sure a professional organizer would be able to help you make a plan, they definitely do packing/moving support!
For the car, I would do this:
-one small duffle bag with everyone's toiletries and first aid stuff/sunscreen
-one small bag with everyone's swimsuit and towel (if you're planning to swim and won't have access to towels at your swimming spot - I would totally buy small fast-dry travel towels for this)
-each person gets a backpack that rides with them and includes their books/toys/electronics and chargers/a sweatshirt/a water bottle - if it doesn't fit in the backpack it needs to get packed in the POD
-I'd use whatever bags you have for clothes, one per person ideally (I think a soft bag will be much easier to manage and pack in the car, I would put any hard-sided suitcases in the POD)
posted by zibra at 12:31 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Use storage bins, with LABELS, in your car, and if you have a hatchback you can use 1-2 plastic drawer units. You can use soft bags inside the bins, so that you have "take into the hotel" bags or whatever for along the way. I would say pack those first, make sure they fit in the car, don't pack any of them more than 2/3 full because of COURSE you're going to find more shit that has to go in them, but start packing everything else once the basics have been put aside.
(When you do actually hit the road, I would cover the boxes with pillows and any other item that says "we're going to visit grandma, nothing nice in here" and not "our most beloved items are inside this car, please steal them".)
It's really easiest to do this room by room, but you could break rooms down into "def do not need for next 3 months" vs "will pack in the next wave". I find that first wave incredibly daunting, and it does mean hardening your heart, but for sure you can pack up winter and spring clothing/gear/equipment. You can also do most of your bedding/linens, all decorative items, most of the kitchen (just pretend you're living in an airbnb for the rest of the summer, making do with only critical items), everything in storage.
Something you might find useful without needing to do much physical labor is just take a laptop or tablet from room to room and sit down and generally inventory the contents, breaking them down into helpful categories like how much box space they're going to take up and whether they can be lived without for a while.
I think you should go ahead and designate a couple of places that certain critical items go. Buy a fireproof lockbox/bag and keep it in a kitchen cabinet*, every time you find a passport/critical paperwork/etc it should go directly there, and you should maintain a moving checklist that has that lockbox on it.
*It hurts but I really do recommend packing up a lot of the kitchen first. You don't need that many cups and bowls, pack up most of them and use that storage for your moving supplies and critical items. It's so easy to check the kitchen last, especially the eye-level cabinets, and things in the kitchen are just very unlikely to get packed in with clothes or toys.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:36 PM on July 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
(When you do actually hit the road, I would cover the boxes with pillows and any other item that says "we're going to visit grandma, nothing nice in here" and not "our most beloved items are inside this car, please steal them".)
It's really easiest to do this room by room, but you could break rooms down into "def do not need for next 3 months" vs "will pack in the next wave". I find that first wave incredibly daunting, and it does mean hardening your heart, but for sure you can pack up winter and spring clothing/gear/equipment. You can also do most of your bedding/linens, all decorative items, most of the kitchen (just pretend you're living in an airbnb for the rest of the summer, making do with only critical items), everything in storage.
Something you might find useful without needing to do much physical labor is just take a laptop or tablet from room to room and sit down and generally inventory the contents, breaking them down into helpful categories like how much box space they're going to take up and whether they can be lived without for a while.
I think you should go ahead and designate a couple of places that certain critical items go. Buy a fireproof lockbox/bag and keep it in a kitchen cabinet*, every time you find a passport/critical paperwork/etc it should go directly there, and you should maintain a moving checklist that has that lockbox on it.
*It hurts but I really do recommend packing up a lot of the kitchen first. You don't need that many cups and bowls, pack up most of them and use that storage for your moving supplies and critical items. It's so easy to check the kitchen last, especially the eye-level cabinets, and things in the kitchen are just very unlikely to get packed in with clothes or toys.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:36 PM on July 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
Best answer: 1. Track what you actually use over the next week or so. With some exceptions (e.g., long sleeve shirts), if you're not using it now, you probably won't need to use it in August and September. That stuff can go in the pod.
2. Do a trial run of packing your car with the stuff you do actually use. If it doesn't all fit, audit it until it does. You don't need all your clothes - assuming you have laundry at the new place, you really only need a week's worth. Pay attention to the kids' favorite stuff.
3. Suitcases are probably unnecessary. I used to use laundry bags. Trash bags, as someone mentioned, are the classic option. Tip: cut a little (~2 inches) in the bottom of the trash bag. Then you put hangers through it. You can even keep the clothes hanging in your closet this way until it's time to throw them in the pod. You don't have to crumble them up into a ball. Until you throw them in the car/pod, at least, at which point their soft-sidedness becomes a beneficial.
4. Packing cubes probably won't help that much. At the level you'd need, it would be a financial burden. What you should do instead is vacuum bags. Much cheaper and much more effective.
5. Pack thematically. A lot of people do this by room, but that assumes your rooms are thematically sorted. With kids, that's often not the case. Instead, boxes for books, boxes for toys, regardless of room.
6. Keep soft stuff (clothes, bedding, etc.) in fairly small containers. Then when you pack (both the car or the pod), you can stuff a small bag of soft stuff into the spaces in between. This will be especially helpful for the car. CRVs don't have all that much cargo room, so you gotta maximize what you can.
7. Once you've got everything in boxes, you can hire people to load and unload it into the pod for you. No need for pro movers, just a few friends or family members you can pay in beer and pizza.
If I think of more I'll post later.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:39 PM on July 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
2. Do a trial run of packing your car with the stuff you do actually use. If it doesn't all fit, audit it until it does. You don't need all your clothes - assuming you have laundry at the new place, you really only need a week's worth. Pay attention to the kids' favorite stuff.
3. Suitcases are probably unnecessary. I used to use laundry bags. Trash bags, as someone mentioned, are the classic option. Tip: cut a little (~2 inches) in the bottom of the trash bag. Then you put hangers through it. You can even keep the clothes hanging in your closet this way until it's time to throw them in the pod. You don't have to crumble them up into a ball. Until you throw them in the car/pod, at least, at which point their soft-sidedness becomes a beneficial.
4. Packing cubes probably won't help that much. At the level you'd need, it would be a financial burden. What you should do instead is vacuum bags. Much cheaper and much more effective.
5. Pack thematically. A lot of people do this by room, but that assumes your rooms are thematically sorted. With kids, that's often not the case. Instead, boxes for books, boxes for toys, regardless of room.
6. Keep soft stuff (clothes, bedding, etc.) in fairly small containers. Then when you pack (both the car or the pod), you can stuff a small bag of soft stuff into the spaces in between. This will be especially helpful for the car. CRVs don't have all that much cargo room, so you gotta maximize what you can.
7. Once you've got everything in boxes, you can hire people to load and unload it into the pod for you. No need for pro movers, just a few friends or family members you can pay in beer and pizza.
If I think of more I'll post later.
posted by kevinbelt at 12:39 PM on July 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I agree with others who have mentioned hiring an organizer- they might even be able to just write a plan of action, and also help pack up everything. I would also agree that you should purge as much as possible before the move. I moved to London when my kids were 2 and 5, and we only shipped two boxes of toys, and brought four suitcases. My kids got way more creative in their play, and when the two boxes of toys did show up they were thrilled.
If you have an Ikea near you, they have a ton of different bag options- not just the big blue bags that don't zipper- those might be good for things like bedding and other bulky textiles. They also have bags like this, this, and this. All of those bags can hold a lot both for your car and for your pods. And they even have luggage, and packing cube type things if you decide you want to invest in luggage so you can use it as you travel back and forth.
posted by momochan at 12:40 PM on July 2, 2021
If you have an Ikea near you, they have a ton of different bag options- not just the big blue bags that don't zipper- those might be good for things like bedding and other bulky textiles. They also have bags like this, this, and this. All of those bags can hold a lot both for your car and for your pods. And they even have luggage, and packing cube type things if you decide you want to invest in luggage so you can use it as you travel back and forth.
posted by momochan at 12:40 PM on July 2, 2021
Best answer: I have moved a lot, both cross-country and cross-town, mostly solo but sometimes with family or partners. I also have ADHD and mobility/pain issues, both of which make moving additionally challenging for me. Here are a few things I've found help me (or have learned I should do differently next time):
1) As soon as I know I'm going to be moving, I get a portable expandable file case and put the important documents in it, and add the important documents that are required or get generated during the move: passport, birth certificate, the checkbook I only seem to use when moving, stuff from the movers, proof of the new address so I can easily get a new ID and register to vote etc. when I get to my destination... you get the drift. This folder lives in a place that's nearly always in my field of vision, and stays in my physical possession during the move.
1a) Similarly, everyone gets a personal bag that has their own life-or-death items, that stays in their physical possession at all times during the move: prescription meds, extra glasses, phone charger, laptop/tablet/ebook reader, mobile gaming device, treasured items we don't trust to the movers (jewelry, special stuffie, etc.), skinare routine and daily cosmetics... you get the drift.
2) Every move I tell myself I'll start purging stuff to trash/sell/donate ASAP, to get it out of the way both physically and psychologically. I never do. I always regret it and end up doing it in a last-minute scramble. If you're getting rid of stuff, start doing that now. PS if you don't have the time or energy to sell and donate things, it's okay to just pay a junk hauler to come haul it away.
3) If you have the room to do so, create staging areas: This room/section of floor is for stuff that will definitely be coming with us, that room/section is for stuff we're not sure about yet, the other rooms are for stuff that will go into the pod. This makes it easy to organize stuff when I have the energy or I make a decision about a particular item, but am not yet ready to start boxing things up.
4) Start packing the stuff going into the pod ASAP. A box or two a night, while you watch TV or listen to a podcast, or make it a game with the kids--whatever you need to do to just chip away at the task.
4a) If you don't have packing supplies, get them now now now. More tape than you think you need. Extra markers for everyone. Packing paper is better than bubble wrap for most things--and don't forget that pillows and stuffies make great cushioning, too. For packing a pod I strongly recommend purchasing, if you can afford to do so, a uniform set of boxes intended for moving, rather than gathering miscellaneous boxes from friends, the liquor store, etc. You'll be able to pack the pod much more efficiently, the boxes are less likely to fall apart and more likely to have handles, and any moving help you have will be able to load/unload more efficiently, as well.
5) For packing the car with the stuff you need to live before the movers arrive, I recommend duffel bags and tote bags over suitcases or boxes. Laundry baskets for things that might require a little more structure. You get a lot more flexibility to just shove stuff in, and to redistribute stuff as needed on the road. And easier to carry than boxes.
5a) Don't forget these often-overlooked things you'll need in the new place before the pod arrives: cooking and eating implements, bath towels, bed linens, one set of last/next season's clothing for unexpected weather, bathing suits if there's any chance at all the opportunity to use them might arise...
Also, I recently learned moving planners/coordinators are a thing, though I have no experience with them. I am going to look into one for my next move. Maybe worth seeing if there's anything like that in your area?
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:41 PM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
1) As soon as I know I'm going to be moving, I get a portable expandable file case and put the important documents in it, and add the important documents that are required or get generated during the move: passport, birth certificate, the checkbook I only seem to use when moving, stuff from the movers, proof of the new address so I can easily get a new ID and register to vote etc. when I get to my destination... you get the drift. This folder lives in a place that's nearly always in my field of vision, and stays in my physical possession during the move.
1a) Similarly, everyone gets a personal bag that has their own life-or-death items, that stays in their physical possession at all times during the move: prescription meds, extra glasses, phone charger, laptop/tablet/ebook reader, mobile gaming device, treasured items we don't trust to the movers (jewelry, special stuffie, etc.), skinare routine and daily cosmetics... you get the drift.
2) Every move I tell myself I'll start purging stuff to trash/sell/donate ASAP, to get it out of the way both physically and psychologically. I never do. I always regret it and end up doing it in a last-minute scramble. If you're getting rid of stuff, start doing that now. PS if you don't have the time or energy to sell and donate things, it's okay to just pay a junk hauler to come haul it away.
3) If you have the room to do so, create staging areas: This room/section of floor is for stuff that will definitely be coming with us, that room/section is for stuff we're not sure about yet, the other rooms are for stuff that will go into the pod. This makes it easy to organize stuff when I have the energy or I make a decision about a particular item, but am not yet ready to start boxing things up.
4) Start packing the stuff going into the pod ASAP. A box or two a night, while you watch TV or listen to a podcast, or make it a game with the kids--whatever you need to do to just chip away at the task.
4a) If you don't have packing supplies, get them now now now. More tape than you think you need. Extra markers for everyone. Packing paper is better than bubble wrap for most things--and don't forget that pillows and stuffies make great cushioning, too. For packing a pod I strongly recommend purchasing, if you can afford to do so, a uniform set of boxes intended for moving, rather than gathering miscellaneous boxes from friends, the liquor store, etc. You'll be able to pack the pod much more efficiently, the boxes are less likely to fall apart and more likely to have handles, and any moving help you have will be able to load/unload more efficiently, as well.
5) For packing the car with the stuff you need to live before the movers arrive, I recommend duffel bags and tote bags over suitcases or boxes. Laundry baskets for things that might require a little more structure. You get a lot more flexibility to just shove stuff in, and to redistribute stuff as needed on the road. And easier to carry than boxes.
5a) Don't forget these often-overlooked things you'll need in the new place before the pod arrives: cooking and eating implements, bath towels, bed linens, one set of last/next season's clothing for unexpected weather, bathing suits if there's any chance at all the opportunity to use them might arise...
Also, I recently learned moving planners/coordinators are a thing, though I have no experience with them. I am going to look into one for my next move. Maybe worth seeing if there's anything like that in your area?
posted by rhiannonstone at 12:41 PM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: This is so very helpful. Thank you. For additional context- our kids are both under 10 so lots of small toys and cherished items and definitely not yet additional moving muscle :) Also, our stuff is very intermingled with the landlord's belongings. He didn't move very much of his own personal stuff out when we moved in. It made rent much more affordable but is making moving out much more...interesting... and makes me hesitant about having external people helping us pack. But some of these comments are leading me to reconsider. Please do keep the suggestions coming.
posted by jeszac at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2021
posted by jeszac at 12:51 PM on July 2, 2021
Best answer: If you are thinking of using trashbags, something I found helpful when traveling with my kids when they were younger was these enormous ziplocs you can get—they're very tough, ours lasted us for years. Easy to label, easy to see what's inside.
Now that my kids are older, when we travel we each get one duffel bag for clothes and toiletries, and a backpack to bring in the car/into our seats with us on the train.
I have found packing cubes inside the duffels work really really well to keep us organized on the road as well as when we're staying in one place for awhile.
posted by Orlop at 1:05 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Now that my kids are older, when we travel we each get one duffel bag for clothes and toiletries, and a backpack to bring in the car/into our seats with us on the train.
I have found packing cubes inside the duffels work really really well to keep us organized on the road as well as when we're staying in one place for awhile.
posted by Orlop at 1:05 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: You can still separate your stuff from the furnished house stuff and have packers only pack your stuff. We just did this. It seemed very daunting, and did in fact take a few days to sort stuff and plan stuff (we too need to live out of suitcases because our belongings will take 4-6 weeks to arrive to the new location). This is how we did it:
Step 1. Pack everything you will need (kid books, toys, toiletries, medicine, clothes, laptops, etc) into suitcases and set aside in a spot where movers aren't touching. See if you need additional suitcases or duffel bags.
Step 2. Sort the stuff that'a staying in the house into a few cabinets/drawers/dressers. Take masking tape, use a marker to write an X on it, and mark those as off limits to the packers. Mark the furniture, light fixtures that are staying with an X too. Mark your packed suitcases with an X, or transfer that stuff to X cabinets as well.
Step 3. Everything else gets re-organized and the packers are instructed to take the inside of every cabinet, drawer, or closer not marked with an X.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 2:56 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Step 1. Pack everything you will need (kid books, toys, toiletries, medicine, clothes, laptops, etc) into suitcases and set aside in a spot where movers aren't touching. See if you need additional suitcases or duffel bags.
Step 2. Sort the stuff that'a staying in the house into a few cabinets/drawers/dressers. Take masking tape, use a marker to write an X on it, and mark those as off limits to the packers. Mark the furniture, light fixtures that are staying with an X too. Mark your packed suitcases with an X, or transfer that stuff to X cabinets as well.
Step 3. Everything else gets re-organized and the packers are instructed to take the inside of every cabinet, drawer, or closer not marked with an X.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 2:56 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Make lists, post the on the fridge, update and curate your lists obsessively. That’s the only way I he ever been able to have keys, wallet, documents, laptop, and other stuff organized for any trip or event.
posted by theora55 at 3:12 PM on July 2, 2021
posted by theora55 at 3:12 PM on July 2, 2021
Best answer: There are plenty of ways to either flag your "do pack" stuff or mark the "don't pack" items - post-its, painter's tape, ribbon, caution tape, etc.
posted by Lyn Never at 4:44 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Lyn Never at 4:44 PM on July 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Everyone else has talked about the packing to move and the important papers part, but I just got back from a 12 day road trip so have suggestions about packing to live from a car/motels for extended periods. I grew up with hippie parents who took us on long road trips in a van without back seats (kids sat on beanbags, the seventies were a different century).
I divide clothes by travel days, aiming to put all the clothes I would wear for a 2-3 day span in one bag. This works out well for my ADHD brain, and might work for kids the same way. I use the ziplock 'vacuum' bags that you can sit on to squeeze out all the air but any sort of packing cube or whatever would do. If I want to label a bag I write something on a slip of paper and tuck it in so the writing faces against the plastic.
Pack each bag with two or three days of mix and match outfits and the necessary undies and socks and pjs (adults probably can have fewer days per bag because of bulk while kids probably need some spares in each days pack). Think about how often you want to do laundry, I plan around the longest leg of driving between extended stops plus two days, so if I have a four day drive where I'll be in roadside hotels or campgrounds I want at least six days of clothes with me.
Then I pack one 'extras' bag with a couple different weights of sweater or over-shirt, spare underwear and socks, etc, that can stay in the car unless I need it. Pack one bag with swimming stuff for the whole family if there is the slightest chance of it happening. You may need comfort blankets, and I always bring a couple of towels (in unusual colors so they aren't mistaken for hotel property).
Figure out how many laundry baskets you need to hold the whole collection of packed clothes, blankets and towels. These days my setup is one normal laundry basket that I will take in to do laundry, and then one heavy milk crate that will stay in the car for the whole journey, but that's for just one person. Add your laundry soap and some drawstring laundry bags to one of the baskets (you do not want to vacuum seal dirty or wet clothes, trust me).
When you arrive at a place for one or more nights, you need to bring in one outfit bag per person (probably in their own backpack or carryon bag), and one parent grabs an empty drawstring laundry bag and puts in whatever bulky stuff is needed like towels or blankets, you can use that bag for the dirty laundry at that location. If you are staying several days you may need to swap a full dirty laundry bag for an empty one, or fetch an additional outfit bag from the car for someone.
When you leave you will have either an empty or partial bag for each person and a bag of dirty stuff. If any outfit bag has less than a days worth of clean clothes you can consolidate it into another bag of outfits. Put all the dirty stuff together in one basket, moving cleans stuff to another as needed. By laundry day you will have at least one basket full of dirty clothes, with the detergent already tucked inside and ready to go. Then repack the clean clothes in the mix-and match sets, maybe mix up the combos differently or add in whatever you might have acquired on the road.
I always keep a dish tub packed in a tote bag to bring into hotel room with some basics, I don't stay in the kind of place with a real kitchen or dishes provided and I just want to be able to eat my takeout or make a sandwich or cup of soup:
posted by buildmyworld at 6:57 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
I divide clothes by travel days, aiming to put all the clothes I would wear for a 2-3 day span in one bag. This works out well for my ADHD brain, and might work for kids the same way. I use the ziplock 'vacuum' bags that you can sit on to squeeze out all the air but any sort of packing cube or whatever would do. If I want to label a bag I write something on a slip of paper and tuck it in so the writing faces against the plastic.
Pack each bag with two or three days of mix and match outfits and the necessary undies and socks and pjs (adults probably can have fewer days per bag because of bulk while kids probably need some spares in each days pack). Think about how often you want to do laundry, I plan around the longest leg of driving between extended stops plus two days, so if I have a four day drive where I'll be in roadside hotels or campgrounds I want at least six days of clothes with me.
Then I pack one 'extras' bag with a couple different weights of sweater or over-shirt, spare underwear and socks, etc, that can stay in the car unless I need it. Pack one bag with swimming stuff for the whole family if there is the slightest chance of it happening. You may need comfort blankets, and I always bring a couple of towels (in unusual colors so they aren't mistaken for hotel property).
Figure out how many laundry baskets you need to hold the whole collection of packed clothes, blankets and towels. These days my setup is one normal laundry basket that I will take in to do laundry, and then one heavy milk crate that will stay in the car for the whole journey, but that's for just one person. Add your laundry soap and some drawstring laundry bags to one of the baskets (you do not want to vacuum seal dirty or wet clothes, trust me).
When you arrive at a place for one or more nights, you need to bring in one outfit bag per person (probably in their own backpack or carryon bag), and one parent grabs an empty drawstring laundry bag and puts in whatever bulky stuff is needed like towels or blankets, you can use that bag for the dirty laundry at that location. If you are staying several days you may need to swap a full dirty laundry bag for an empty one, or fetch an additional outfit bag from the car for someone.
When you leave you will have either an empty or partial bag for each person and a bag of dirty stuff. If any outfit bag has less than a days worth of clean clothes you can consolidate it into another bag of outfits. Put all the dirty stuff together in one basket, moving cleans stuff to another as needed. By laundry day you will have at least one basket full of dirty clothes, with the detergent already tucked inside and ready to go. Then repack the clean clothes in the mix-and match sets, maybe mix up the combos differently or add in whatever you might have acquired on the road.
I always keep a dish tub packed in a tote bag to bring into hotel room with some basics, I don't stay in the kind of place with a real kitchen or dishes provided and I just want to be able to eat my takeout or make a sandwich or cup of soup:
- A full place setting with plate, bowl, mug and utensils for each person, with dishtowels wrapped around to stop clanking (besides drying dishes I use them as a placemat, a napkin, or for spills)
- An small electric kettle that can plug into the car or hotel power because not everywhere has a microwave in the room, the coffeemaker (if it exists) is rarely clean (even the best I have encountered stank of coffee) and I must have tea and soup-in-a-cup.
- A small cutting board and knife because sometimes I get fruit I want to cut or something along those lines
- A few sizes of containers with lids, for storing leftovers but also can double as mixing bowls if needed
- A small bottle of dish soap, a scrubber, and a roll up drying mat
posted by buildmyworld at 6:57 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Now is as good a time as any to declutter. Lord knows you will lose things that you actually need in the pile of miscellaneous junk scattered in your new home.
No one needs that stress -- did you throw it away by accident? Did the movers forget to load it, and what else did they forget? Get ahead of that nonsense.
And remember: it's just stuff.
Get four laundry baskets and start at one corner of the room. Fill as follows:
Keep, Throw Away, Sell or Give Away, Precious Keepsakes.
Not everything can be a precious, and useless, keepsake.
Your time is valuable. Put some of the Sell or Give Away into the Throw Away basket, or get rid of the items today.
If you still have an unreasonable amount of stuff in the Keep basket, continue sorting until you have a clean, mean collection of usable items. The following rules of engagement may help.
The Five Rules of Decluttering, with addendums
Rule #1) Do you remember you have it?
If you do not remember buying it or receiving it as a gift, toss it.
Your home is not the local thrift store/garage sale/ repository for sad homeless items. Let someone else have a go at actually using that stuff.
Take pictures of emotional support items and keepsakes. You will look at the photographs as often as you look at the actual things, and it takes up less space.
Again, rehome the clutter that has no worth to you on a regular basis.
Rule #2) Do you remember where you put it?
If you have a place for your toothbrush, and a place for a spoon, you can have a permanent place for any object that you really want to keep. Otherwise, toss it.
Keep similar objects together, close to the area where that item is generally used. If you never use that attachment, get rid of it.
I do keep boxes and instruction sheets for things that need seasonal storing. I have a junk drawer for instruction sheets, and get rid of instructions for broken appliances. Otherwise, Sterilite storage boxes are cheap, stackable, and have standard lids. Heavier items can go in five-gallon buckets with lids. Smaller items can go in Ziploc bags or screw-lid containers.
2a) Do not put a tiny item in a big box. Those nails, pencils, paperclips and twist ties can all be thrown away. Keep the coins.
No one will ever empty out a box for the random tiny trash.
2b) Keep like items together in a sealable container. Do not overfill, get another container.
No one will ever empty out a box for the random mislabeled trash.
2c) If you treat an expensive item like trash, it's trash. Judge the items by their usefulness and the amount of care you are willing to give them, not their original price tag.
Rule #3) If you remember that you have it, and you remember where you put it, can you get to it in a reasonable amount of time?
If you have a pile of junk, you only use the top six inches of stuff. Get rid of the rest.
You are not an archeologist. Do not make miny piles of junk searching for that One Needed Item.
Rule #4) Have you used it in the last (?) years?
Set a reasonable goal and get rid of things that no longer are part of your lifestyle. Be ruthless. Buy the item -- when you actually need it -- and make plans to get rid of it rather than storing useless junk. You will not be able to find it when you need it again years later, so don't bother keeping it.
Rule #5) How many replacements do you have?
This is a failure of Rules 1 to 4.
How many hammers do you actually use during a project? How many spoons do you need before washing and putting them away in the drawer? If you need more at the last minute, can you borrow a hammer or use plastic spoons? Get rid of the duplicates.
Good luck!
posted by TrishaU at 9:03 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
No one needs that stress -- did you throw it away by accident? Did the movers forget to load it, and what else did they forget? Get ahead of that nonsense.
And remember: it's just stuff.
Get four laundry baskets and start at one corner of the room. Fill as follows:
Keep, Throw Away, Sell or Give Away, Precious Keepsakes.
Not everything can be a precious, and useless, keepsake.
Your time is valuable. Put some of the Sell or Give Away into the Throw Away basket, or get rid of the items today.
If you still have an unreasonable amount of stuff in the Keep basket, continue sorting until you have a clean, mean collection of usable items. The following rules of engagement may help.
The Five Rules of Decluttering, with addendums
Rule #1) Do you remember you have it?
If you do not remember buying it or receiving it as a gift, toss it.
Your home is not the local thrift store/garage sale/ repository for sad homeless items. Let someone else have a go at actually using that stuff.
Take pictures of emotional support items and keepsakes. You will look at the photographs as often as you look at the actual things, and it takes up less space.
Again, rehome the clutter that has no worth to you on a regular basis.
Rule #2) Do you remember where you put it?
If you have a place for your toothbrush, and a place for a spoon, you can have a permanent place for any object that you really want to keep. Otherwise, toss it.
Keep similar objects together, close to the area where that item is generally used. If you never use that attachment, get rid of it.
I do keep boxes and instruction sheets for things that need seasonal storing. I have a junk drawer for instruction sheets, and get rid of instructions for broken appliances. Otherwise, Sterilite storage boxes are cheap, stackable, and have standard lids. Heavier items can go in five-gallon buckets with lids. Smaller items can go in Ziploc bags or screw-lid containers.
2a) Do not put a tiny item in a big box. Those nails, pencils, paperclips and twist ties can all be thrown away. Keep the coins.
No one will ever empty out a box for the random tiny trash.
2b) Keep like items together in a sealable container. Do not overfill, get another container.
No one will ever empty out a box for the random mislabeled trash.
2c) If you treat an expensive item like trash, it's trash. Judge the items by their usefulness and the amount of care you are willing to give them, not their original price tag.
Rule #3) If you remember that you have it, and you remember where you put it, can you get to it in a reasonable amount of time?
If you have a pile of junk, you only use the top six inches of stuff. Get rid of the rest.
You are not an archeologist. Do not make miny piles of junk searching for that One Needed Item.
Rule #4) Have you used it in the last (?) years?
Set a reasonable goal and get rid of things that no longer are part of your lifestyle. Be ruthless. Buy the item -- when you actually need it -- and make plans to get rid of it rather than storing useless junk. You will not be able to find it when you need it again years later, so don't bother keeping it.
Rule #5) How many replacements do you have?
This is a failure of Rules 1 to 4.
How many hammers do you actually use during a project? How many spoons do you need before washing and putting them away in the drawer? If you need more at the last minute, can you borrow a hammer or use plastic spoons? Get rid of the duplicates.
Good luck!
posted by TrishaU at 9:03 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Regarding kid stuff: we moved a ton when I was a kid, and the rhythm that worked for my sibling and me was that we each got to pre-pack whatever we wanted of our stuff into a box or so each, and then the adults packed the rest of our things, leaving out some clothes and any items they felt we'd underestimated how much we'd miss if they were unavailable for an extended period. The adults' boxes were handled on whatever timeline and in whatever fashion they saw fit, but what we'd pre-packed remained available until the end and was put in a readily-accessible spot for transit.
In general, if it were me moving out of a furnished space with mixed possessions such that I wouldn't be able to define parameters for movers, I'd physically rearrange things, even if it resulted in a jumble, until those parameters did exist. Not because I'd necessarily get movers–that's your call–but because otherwise you're basically requiring yourself to maintain a mental inventory of all of your possessions and their state of packedness, without the benefit of ever being able to look into an empty room and verify that it is indeed literally empty. Keep in mind that even people who are fully emptying spaces forget stuff! And then just think of how much gets forgotten in furnished hotel rooms, where all anyone has is a couple of suitcases of stuff to keep track of at most. If at all possible I really would want to put the landlord's stuff in one place all by itself, like by fully emptying out a room and then packing it to the gills with everything of theirs you don't actually need for living there, because then the rest of the place can be truly cleared out down to a checklist of stuff like "the only thing in this room is a bed; the only things in the bathroom are fixtures; etc" and then the landlord's stuff returned to its spots. My second-best option would be to fully empty a room and then pack in only your stuff that you need during the transitional period, so that there's a minimum of your things mixed in with theirs elsewhere, and then work on weeding every last bit of your things out of the other rooms well before the last days, so that at the end you're almost exclusively just using the things in the special room and putting them back when you're done. This seems hard with young kids though, and almost like you'd need a secondary designated room for their daily use where there were some furnishings like couches but not enough to be confusing when it came to emptying out y'all's things.
If by the way you're going to do deep cleaning in a bid to get a security deposit back or whatever, remember to allocate serious time to that in the schedule. It's always so much more work than it seems like it should be, at a point when you're wiped out from everything else and just want to be done.
posted by teremala at 9:23 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
In general, if it were me moving out of a furnished space with mixed possessions such that I wouldn't be able to define parameters for movers, I'd physically rearrange things, even if it resulted in a jumble, until those parameters did exist. Not because I'd necessarily get movers–that's your call–but because otherwise you're basically requiring yourself to maintain a mental inventory of all of your possessions and their state of packedness, without the benefit of ever being able to look into an empty room and verify that it is indeed literally empty. Keep in mind that even people who are fully emptying spaces forget stuff! And then just think of how much gets forgotten in furnished hotel rooms, where all anyone has is a couple of suitcases of stuff to keep track of at most. If at all possible I really would want to put the landlord's stuff in one place all by itself, like by fully emptying out a room and then packing it to the gills with everything of theirs you don't actually need for living there, because then the rest of the place can be truly cleared out down to a checklist of stuff like "the only thing in this room is a bed; the only things in the bathroom are fixtures; etc" and then the landlord's stuff returned to its spots. My second-best option would be to fully empty a room and then pack in only your stuff that you need during the transitional period, so that there's a minimum of your things mixed in with theirs elsewhere, and then work on weeding every last bit of your things out of the other rooms well before the last days, so that at the end you're almost exclusively just using the things in the special room and putting them back when you're done. This seems hard with young kids though, and almost like you'd need a secondary designated room for their daily use where there were some furnishings like couches but not enough to be confusing when it came to emptying out y'all's things.
If by the way you're going to do deep cleaning in a bid to get a security deposit back or whatever, remember to allocate serious time to that in the schedule. It's always so much more work than it seems like it should be, at a point when you're wiped out from everything else and just want to be done.
posted by teremala at 9:23 PM on July 2, 2021 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: These really have all been best answers. We’re getting started tomorrow. Cross all digits for us.
posted by jeszac at 4:13 AM on July 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by jeszac at 4:13 AM on July 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
I am no expert. But I second the "large Ziploc" bags, or even SpaceBags (now owned by Ziploc) where you vacuum out extra space, if you need to do that. Also consider going to U-Haul or similar to purchase boxes: they have 'wardrobe' boxes that let you hang clothes in them like a closet - perhaps use these as 'temporary' closets for everyone's stuff - move their stuff from closets to these boxes, and when closer to 'go time' you can just tape them shut and move them to the POD.
posted by TimHare at 8:45 PM on July 3, 2021
posted by TimHare at 8:45 PM on July 3, 2021
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I'm sure there exist moving companies that will let you tell them what to pack; I can't imagine it's always whole-house or nothing.
I would, absolutely, pack everything you know you're not going to need first, and eventually get to a point where you're just living based on the stuff you'll be taking in your car.
posted by sagc at 11:51 AM on July 2, 2021 [4 favorites]