Moving house is stressful at the best of times, but when you add a long distance between properties into the equation, the whole process becomes far harder.
The reason for this is simple. When you have to transport all your belongings across a country or even a continent, the logistical nightmare that transpires is difficult to avoid.
Let’s break the process down into bite-size chunks to better understand the process and the scale of the challenge.
Firstly, you will have to make sure the sale or end-of tenancy agreement of your current property lines up neatly with the purchase or start of the tenancy of the new property – which is rarely as simple as it sounds. When you throw the administrative spanner of language barriers, cultural differences, and time zone issues into the mix, the handover between the two properties becomes far harder to arrange neatly.
This is before you start to think about which belongings you are bringing with you, and which items you are leaving behind. Again, this is made more complicated by the additional distance because you may not have the money or room to transport everything you would normally like to bring.
Instead, you may have to buy new furniture and clothes at the other end, for example.
Of course, this leads us nicely to the next major challenge facing you when you are moving long-distance – transporting everything.
Depending on how you choose to tackle this, it could either end up being expensive or an incredible pain in the neck if you choose to move everything yourself.
Naturally, you will find other hurdles to overcome on the way, such as learning to love your new home (especially if it is in another country) and immersing yourself in a different culture or pace of life. However, we don’t want to overegg the pudding or put you off making the move entirely.
While these challenges certainly exist and must be dealt with intelligently, everything worth having requires hard work. Moving long distances is incredibly exciting and can prove a life-changing experience.
To help you along the way, here is our advice for moving long distances:
1. Use a Specialist Moving Company
As we have already mentioned, the most arduous part of moving long distances is the actual process of shifting your belongings from one place to another. When you are transporting large items of furniture, mountains of clothes, pictures, cars, and everything else you own across countries or even continents, you are going to have to have pin–sharp organizational skills.
Of course, you could choose to go it alone and transport all your belongings yourself. This is deeply admirable and quite the undertaking, but in reality, it will cause you a great deal of stress and might even prove impossible with your current resources.
One of the key reasons why some people choose to move everything themselves is because they perceive it to be the cheapest way of doing it.
However, in reality, this is unlikely to be the case. Think for a second about the cost of hiring a truck for at least a week, then the fuel needed to drive it long distance, and the cost of ferries, toll roads, food, and accommodation for the journey.
This alone is likely to be more than simply outsourcing it to a team of long-distance movers like Shiply.
By outsourcing the transportation process, you will be less stressed, less likely to make mistakes, and will have more time to concentrate on other challenges relating to the move.
2. Stay in Your New Destination Before Moving
Another useful tip to remember when you are moving long distances is to make sure it is the right place for you before the move takes place.
There is nothing worse than getting swept up in the excitement of a dramatic house move and the drama of the moving process, only to find the reality of living there underwhelming or even unpleasant.
Therefore, you must spend longer than just a normal holiday period spent in the destination. Rent a house for a month and live as you would like to there in the future.
When planning your relocation, it’s essential to consider the type of flooring in your new home; if it’s equipped with resilient, easy-to-maintain surfaces like those made from synthetic materials, it can significantly ease your transition.
If you still love being there, then you will know for sure that it is the right move. If not, you have saved yourself an expensive and stressful waste of time.
3. Immerse Yourself in the Local Community and Make Yourself Useful
To follow on from the previous point, you must immerse yourself in the local culture to ensure you make the most out of the move.
Moving to a completely different area (or country) can be incredibly lonely if you are not prepared to roll your sleeves up and make the effort to meet new people and enjoy new experiences.
What’s more, locals might initially dislike you because you are perceived as an outsider. Rather than feel indignant, be sure to prove them wrong by becoming a useful addition to the local community.
Help the locals out in whichever way you can and be sure to reinvest in the community with your spare time and money.
Lastly, if you are moving overseas, then you must start learning the local language or dialect before you make the move. This will give you a head start in feeling a part of the community and avoiding the strange melancholy loneliness that many ex-pats feel over time. There are lots of easy ways to do this these days, such as language apps.
4. Don’t Leave Your Move Until the Last Minute
When you are making a life change as dramatic as a long-distance move, then you need to give yourself the maximum amount of time possible to make the move work.
Don’t leave your planning to the last moment, make rash decisions, or be rushed in your execution.
Take the time to think everything through and start to put the plans in motion as early as possible. This will enable you to complete every task at a slower and more methodical pace and prevent any mistakes from happening.