I'd be interested in the stories of those of you who moved a long distance with only what you could fit in your car.
What did you take? Did you ship any boxes to your new location? Where there any really difficult decisions on what you took or left out? How big was your vehicle (small car, sedan, SUV/pickup truck?)?
Thanks!
In 1977 my wife and I were living in Anchorage Alaska when we discovered that she was pregnant. Since she was from Ohio and I was from Missouri, we decided that we needed to start our family a little closer to at least one of our homes.
So, with little planning and $600 in our pocket, we sold most of our possessions, loaded our small Mazda hatchback with what we kept and put it on a ferry to Seattle. We then flew to Seattle, picked up our car at the docks and drove to Cincinnati.
Starting over was an adventure, but with time and the vagaries of memory, one that I'd almost like to re-live.
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
This is so funny. In 1977, we also moved from Anchorage Alaska. We moved to Indianapolis, Indiana to get better jobs. We shipped the Buick station wagon full of our stuff to Seattle where my husband picked it up and drove it to Indianapolis with our two cats. I flew with luggage and another cat. We shipped a few boxes but that was all. Sold the house, left all the furniture (which had value in Alaska).
To this day I am totally amazed that we moved somewhere neither of us had lived. It tells us just how bad the job was my husband had in Anchorage. They paid him a lot but it was going to kill him.
The luckiest part was that there was a person in the same federal agency in Indiana who wanted to go to Alaska at the same time. It was meant to be.
sweetana, small world huh?
"Things should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler." ~ Albert Einstein
Yeah, actually, a few times.
1981: moved from St Louis to Kansas City with my stuff in a Chevette Hatchback, that belonged to my fiancee's parents. I didn't own a car myself.
1983: moved w/ husband from Kansas City to Chattanooga in same Hatchback.
1999: moved from rural Broadwell IL to Lincoln IL (OK, not long distance) with everything for me and 4 kiddos in a pick-up truck. Though, honestly, if I had not been moving the 16 year-old's entire life, I could have gotten it in the back of the Honda Civic.....but not with the kids in their car seats at the same time.
author of A Holy Errand
1996 - The day I graduated from college in Wisconsin I threw my cat, her litterbox and my few possessions into my vw jetta and moved to Philadelphia.
1999 - In my Honda Civic hatchack, I moved w/my cat, her litterbox and my few pssessions from Philadelphia to Florida.
2000 - My now husband and I each filled our cars and moved to Texas w/my cat, of course
2001 - Then we moved back to Florida, but to a different city still w/my well traveled cat. Then my husband had me drive his furniture & stuff from storage in Ct and we've had STUFF! ever since.
It's not too difficult to accumulate furniture, there is usually someone who is looking to get rid of a piece here and there if you don't mind used.
Enjoy the freedom while you can!
It seems that it is not the stuff that you move that is important but why one moves that makes the process easier. DH and I did similar moves to other posters for a few years as we worked through the changes that were necessary. I don't remember thinking much about the things that we packed, it was all about the move and how it was an improvement and a step ahead. We did live out of suitcases for a while.
Once our young family came along, we had more stuff to move.
Yes, from Kentucky to Minnesota in an old 1966 Mustang containing our books, records, stereo, etc. We did ship clothing, cookware & small appliances - and basically that is all we owned in the world. Long ago, young unencumbered days, not much in material possessions but long on daring and adventure. We knew a total of 4 people (2 of them children) in the whole state of MN but just packed up and went.
"Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in the midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free." Leonard Cohen
Originally Posted by alan
Ha Ha - even smaller world - except my move from Anchorage was around 1994. Put everything I owned in the little Suzuki Samari convertable and put it on a container ship to Seattle. Picked it up there and drove down to Calif where I was starting a new job (actually an old job since I was being re-hired). Basicly just took clothes, and a couple of boxes of photos, momentos, and important papers. When I made the move up to Alaska in 1990, I drove the Suzuki all the way from the east coast and only brought clothes, etc... Bought stuff once I got there.
I've also had many, many other moves (too many to list!) like that over the years because of my military transfers. During most of those moves I didn't own a vehicle other than a motorcycle, so shipped my few things via UPS. When I had a vehicle, I would only take the few things that fit into it and sell off the rest or give it away and start fresh at my new place. When I was married and DH had alot of his own stuff (he was somewhat of a pack rat) then we would get a moving company to move us (free with military transfers) and then we would take everything. but otherwise, when it was just me, it was just a few things.
tradd - if you have things you just can't part with then you might want to check out how much a professional mover costs - depending on how far you are moving to (Chicago to Atlanta??) - or if you can tow a small rented trailer behind you car (expensive because of gas prices though). It might not be that much more expensive then shipping things down via Fed Ex or UPS. But if you can part with things - except what you can fit in your car - then I think moving as minimally as possible is the way to go. What you save in moving expenses can be used to refurbish your new place.
Last edited by Spartana; 2-22-12 at 1:45pm.
I cannot believe that three people reading this message responded that they had moved from Anchorage, Alaska. Either the board is widely read or a whole lot of people left Anchorage. :-)
We did not leave because of the weather, etc. since I was raised there and my brother still lives there. I missed it for years and years. Great place to get a job with minimal qualifications and work your way up (in the 70s).
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