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

[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.