Most of us have had our fair share of local moves before we reached adulthood. This holds true especially for those of us who grew up in big cities. There, it is quite normal for families to move around boroughs and counties to adapt to ever-changing and quite dynamic job markets and opportunities. However, once it comes to a long-distance relocation (one that might occur for a first-time student, perhaps) most find themselves to be reviewed at this different kind of moving. Long-distance moving is a different beast entirely. It takes months of planning, a few days to execute, a lot of money, and a lot of nerves. To make sure that you are prepared we have compiled the biggest challenges of a long-distance move you will have to overcome!
Biggest of challenges of a long distance move – planning
So first off, one off the biggest (if not the biggest) of challenges of a long distance move is to understand just how big it is from the get-go. You might have had experience with local movers Ottawa, but this is a completely different thing. People come and pack your things in a truck – that is where all the similarities end.
For something to be a long distance relocation, it needs to (in most cases) take longer than 4 hours or go a certain mileage. Whatever is longer than that, be it just a big intrastate or a huge interstate relocation is considered to be a long distance relocation.
This means that they are no joke. They take seriously resources and therefore require a lot. First off, you will see the difference in the price tag that these long distance relocation will have in comparison to those that you will find on their local counterpart. Long distance relocation can cost quite a bit, not to mention additional services. We will talk about pricing in the bit…
Long distance relocation is also quite demanding in the planning phase, which is exactly what we wanted to cover. When you are preparing for a long distance relocation, you really need to prepare. You need to choose your movers months in advance, figure out to what home you are moving, to what schools your kids will be going, how to regulate paperwork, and much, much more. All of these challenges of a long distance move are part of the planning phase.
However, the greatest solution to the planning phase of the move is to simply – plan better. No much hire science about it, unfortunately. Find movers that have good communication with you and get to work early.
Too much stuff
While we will talk about how the price is calculated exactly, one thing that you should know right now is that the weight is everything. The weight of the possessions will impact the price of your long distance relocation quite easily. Having too much stuff definitely be one of the challenges of a long distance move that is more difficult to solve than others.
This is because the only solution that really comes to mind is downsizing. The problem with downsizing, however, is that nobody likes to do it. That is completely natural. Rare are individuals that would just volunteer their own stuff away. However, when you are trying to move as a long-distance away and you need to move as light as possible, that is a quite sensible thing to do.
When you are downsizing, you have 4 real options
- Donate. First of the options for downsizing in order to face one of the challenges of a long distance move we are going to propose to you is to donate to charity whatever it is that you no longer need. Be it a bed, a chair, a sofa, a wardrobe, a cd player, a mixer, etc… Charities will take pretty much anything and everything.
- Sell. Of course, you can also always sell them in a garage sale or online. This will also provide you with a slight financial boost that could help pay for your long distance relocation.
- Scrap. However, we all must recognize that some things simply cannot be used anymore. Thee will not be of use to anyone and are best disposed of.
- Recycle. Be it as it may, however, try to recycle the things you dispose off. In that way, you are helping the battle against climate change!
How is the price calculated?
One of the biggest moving mistakes you can make is to think that this long distance relocation will have its cost calculated in the same way as your local relocations. That is not really the case.
In local relocations, the biggest factor is the workload and the time needed. However, with long distance relocation, the single biggest contributor to the price is weight, combined with distance. These two are very important to movers and even slight changes in these two will result in noticeable shifts in the price.
Lack of a storage
One of the often-overlooked things is that, if you are moving into a smaller apartment and you simply don’t have much of what to downsize anymore, you have a problem. You are facing the lack of storage, rather easily solvable of the challenges of a long-distance move. In order to be storing family memorabilia, old sky equipment you are going to use for the winter holidays, etc – you need a proper storage facility. Be sure to ask the movers if they offer any.
Settling in
Finally, after having your long distance movers Ottawa relocate you to Vancouver, it is time to settle in. You might be thinking that this part of the move, its end, does not earn its place among challenges of a long distance move, however, we disagree.
It is simply the least noticed of the challenges. Distance from friends and family, a new city and a climate – all of these can and do present a challenge. You can definitely get over them, but only by being ready to face them.
In summary
We hope that our presentation on the challenges of a long distance move will help you face and overcome them. Best of luck!