advice on moving

[zenithblue]

hplovescats and I are in fact moving to Austin together (we'd previously thought he might have to stay here for a few months to finish some freelance work). Now we're working on the logistics.

We have two cars, so we're caravaning. I'll have the cats in my car. He was going to pull a trailer, one of the small U-Haul trailers, but recently we've been trying to investigate shipping options. The U-Haul is $300; if we can ship for not much more than that, it might be worth it just to not have the headache (in fact I'd go up to $450 just to get it taken care of). We don't have tons and tons of stuff, but Hodge has some expensive equipment that is bulky.

I'm shipping all my books and DVDs media rate, so there's that. But does anyone else have alternative shipping experience? We looked into doing some stuff through Amtrak but our boxes might be too bulky for them (they want 3X3X3 packages). Have any of you shipped major belongings for a move before? Advise, please!

Essentially, it's going to be a hard enough move with the cats. We're looking to reduce the stress level if possible.

The good news is we have a house!

Comments

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Shipping through the mail will cost you a TON, especially if you've got heavies like books. You might look into using Greyhound shipping - yes, they ship! Your stuff gets stuck in the bottom of a bus, and you pick it up!

[johnnybrainwash.livejournal.com]

Yep, I shipped piles of books and such with greyhound once. It takes a little while, but it works well. I don't think I'd use it for the electronics, but just about anything else would be OK.

[decemberthirty.livejournal.com]

I have no shipping advice to offer as I've never done it, but I just wanted to stop by and say hooray for having a house! No use in shipping things if you don't have somewhere to ship them to... :)

[dernogg.livejournal.com]

Hurray. Wish I could be in town to welcome you both.

[helpimarock.livejournal.com]

Well, I threw all my stuff in the car and that was that. However, I had the luxury of leaving furniture behind at my mom's place. I think shipping your media was a good idea. I was too paranoid to do it, but I have friends who have moved media (tapes, discs and books) that way and they had zero problems.

Don't rent the U-Haul trailer unless you absolute have to. For starters, they're a rip off. Secondly, there were so many times during my drive out from Ohio where I was like "I'm glad I didn't have to do that with a trailer." If you do find yourself needing a trailer, I would look into buying a used one. I saw one after my trip that was considerably cheaper than the one I would have rented from U-Haul.

About the cats, I *really* wish I had advise to give here, but I don't. I left my cat in Ohio for the time being, but I didn't have room and he's a major runner so I was totally paranoid. If you have two cars, maybe you'll have the luxury of setting aside space as a pen in the back seat of one of them. The alternative is to get them caught up on shots and then have someone like drawgirl drop them off at the airport once you're there in Austin to receive them. But you'll have to wait until September 15th or later like me b/c the airlines won't allow animals in cargo during the hot months. It's something to consider though.

Anyway, I'm really happy to hear that Hodge is going with you and you guys already have a nice place to look forward to. I think that's going to make an already awesome experience about ten times better.

[lagizma.livejournal.com]

I have to second Jeff's comment about the U-Haul. I had some other advice below, but yeah, I'd say that the trip was a lot better without a U-Haul.

[deadkytty9.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Austin. :)

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

Our books are well traveled by media post. I've found this cheap and reliable -- I've never seen the US Postal Sevice lose a media-rate package, regardless of whether it's insured or has "delivery confirmation" or not. On our last move, the post office opened some of our 47 boxes of books to check that they were really only books. In the good old days when our possessions were easier to put in a U-Haul, we rented a truck, and that worked fine. Last time we moved, though, we hired a shipping company and drove the car ourselves, and the movers didn't communicate effectively while shipping the load, then their truck arrived at the destination sooner than we expected, and an, ahem, adventure ensued. Next time, I'd likely move much the way you're doing: caravan-style, do-it-yourself, with a rented truck, and the cats in the car.

Buen viaje to Texas. We're just one state over, by the way, if you ever feel like visiting the bayou country.

[lagizma.livejournal.com]

I used Consolidated Freightways to ship a remote-controlled plane from Syracuse to Kansas for a competition. We crated it and it arrived fine. That was cheaper than us renting something to drive it. So, look at the bigger shipping companies you can put a crate in.