Moving Day!

Our house has looked similar to a hurricane path for the past week or so as we have prepared for this international move.  I thought we had been very good about taking items to Goodwill, the book donation drop offs and just plain throwing things out on a regular basis.  Not so.  When evaluating all of your possessions and determining if you A) need these things at all or B) need them but can still wait 6 months, it really changes your perspective on your "must-haves."

Jon's company is paying for our entire relocation, which is amazingly generous and very helpful.  They arranged for movers to come to our house and pack all of our belongings.  The container will be on a ship for 6-8 weeks, arrive in Sweden and be placed in storage for 6 months until we move into permanent housing.  So anything that the movers packed, we would not see again for 6 months.

I made a decision tree so you could see our thought process in planning things out.  It turns out that if you're just making a dichotomous decision -- keep or throw away, things are easy. When you are deciding if you want to keep, ship, store or throw away, things get a little more complicated.  How many items could you honestly say that you NEED but are willing to wait 6 months for?  Also, how many items can you possibly fit into suitcases for 6 months of weather?  What shoes do you take? What if we go on an international weekend trip? Should I bring my hiking shoes? Backpacks? Camelbak?  What if the weather is colder than normal? What if it's warmer than normal and all I have our sweaters?  Ahh the decisions!

International Move Decision Tree

Before we could identify the SHIP items, we had to go through all of the nooks and crannies that one hides things.  Cabinets, dressers, drawers, plastic storage thingies. They all hid treasures of items that we had to either part ways with or ship internationally.  We whittled down a lot but for some reason, we still had a lot of boxes packed.

Here's what it looked like mid-packing mayhem.

As soon as the boxes were being packed, my blood pressure instantly lowered and a sense of calm washed over me.  It was emotionally draining and the movers packed at an efficiently frenetic pace but overall it was a good experience.

Only 2 things got packed that we had to go back and "save" -- 1 pack of nearly rotten mushrooms and my unlocked iPhone 4S.  I made the guy go back into the truck and look for my phone. Why did I just spend $800 on an unlocked phone if I wasn't going to be able to use it in 6 months. I NEED my phone!  He came around the corner with it just as his boss was getting ready to take the truck and leave for the day.  We were saved at the last minute!

I would highly recommend the movers at Armstrong. They are a United Van Lines company and they were efficient, friendly and courteous of our belongings.  Having people move your things for you is a luxury.  Similar to First Class, I'm not sure how I'll be ever to move on my own again! (Just kidding)

Calvin is not phased by the move