Matt is finishing his Masters in Computing Science at the University of Alberta. After he's done, as Alberta doesn't have any jobs in his specialization, we'll be moving. I don't know where yet. Which is not as stressful as it sounds. It's actually super exciting! What's more, I get to use my anal retentive organization skills to plan to move to a bunch of different places at once! (Harhar)
I've never moved farther than 20kms from the place where I was born (well, T.O., but that was temporary and we had no stuff to move there). Since we have a small-ish apartment now, about 800-900 sq ft, I'm thinking it shouldn't be too much of a hassle to pack ourselves -says the girl who has never moved-. So I went online to do some research. At first glance, I noticed most moving companies will pack up your stuff and move it pretty much in one day (if you're moving within the same area.) They charge by the weight of your stuff and the distance travelled. It's a clever idea because the average human being has no idea what their armchair or bed frame weighs. Also, with regards to distance travelled, the company compensated for gas and truck rentals. Very clever, Moving Companies, very clever.
There are more options than just moving trucks though, especially if across-country. Since I've never moved before, never mind more than 3400kms away, and we have no idea where we are going to be living, container moving seems to be a really good idea. In theory, with delayed delivery, we could pack up our apartment, fly to Wherever, take a week or two to find an apartment, and then send for our half-ton box of stuff after we've signed a lease. Fancy!
Preliminary moving research has yielded this:
- Online quotes systems are shoty at best. (Even if they work, typically the estimates are super vague as to what they cover.)
- It's a bitch to find a website that's not been beefed up with a bunch of calming vernacular. (Which actually provides any useful information.)
- Most moving companies have now delved into the idea of container moving and storage. (However, trying to get any numbers on how much it costs is like asking for water half way into the desert.)
- There are a lot of awesome videos on how to pack your home. I had no idea there were so many different types of boxes and packing techniques. It makes me feel that someone could indeed move people for a living. Expertise is a thing, apparently.
Anyway. I think I will investigate container moving a bit more. It sounds like a good plan as we still have no idea where we will be living and when we can expect to have an apartment.
Also. Apparently moving plants is a bit of a business in itself.... So that'll be fun! D=
-Andrea
The Half-Assed Hobbyist