The vastness of the US - How do you move house?
Posted by chocolatesuperfood@reddit | AskAnAmerican | View on Reddit | 533 comments
How do you move house between large distances?
The US are huge - what do you do when you want to move from Boston to L.A.? Ship everything via trucks (hire a moving company) and take an airplane? Have someone local stay at your new place who will let the moving company in, while you arrive later? Do you drive across country by car? Do you actually move all your furniture from the East Coast to the West Coast, or Seattle to New Orleans? Do you ship your stuff via an actual ship, if possible (e.g. San Francisco - San Diego)?
Thank you!
Adept-Town5944@reddit
From what people usually share, moving across the U.S. isn’t as overwhelming as it sounds; it just comes down to planning and choosing the right method.
Most people either hire a full-service moving company, rent a truck for a DIY move, or use portable storage containers. Some drive everything themselves, while others fly and let movers deliver their belongings a few days later. A common approach is packing essentials in your car and leaving the bulk to professionals.
Many also take the opportunity to declutter selling or donating large furniture instead of paying to move it long distance. It can save both money and effort.
In reality, it’s all about logistics: booking movers early, organizing utilities, and packing properly for a long journey. If you want to keep things simple and stress-free, working with a reliable company like Isaac Moving can really help since they handle most of the heavy lifting and coordination.
At the end of the day, you’re not moving your whole life just the parts you choose to take with you.
CharlesDickensABox@reddit
Sell everything before you move and buy new stuff when you get there
Get a big truck
Both
There are also moving companies that will bring a container to your house that you pack up and then they ship across the country, but those tend to be more expensive than 1 and 2.
MyNameIsNot_Molly@reddit
I want to add that most people drive themselves to their new home as well instead of flying so they can relocate their vehicles with them.
ToastMate2000@reddit
You can also have your car shipped, though.
wookieesgonnawook@reddit
Which doesn't make a ton of sense when you could just drive it there. Unless you're in an extreme time crunch for some reason.
11twofour@reddit
And because driving is fun
idontagreewitu@reddit
Agreed. I kinda wish I'd put all my shit into pods and have them shipped to my new place and I'd just driven my car there with a trunk full of clothes and passenger seat full of snacks.
MamaMidgePidge@reddit
That's what we did for one of our moves.
WordPeas@reddit
Unless you have fighting kids
DodgeWrench@reddit
Unfortunately… not everyone thinks driving is fun. I would rather not. And I own 4 road vehicles.
Shiney_Metal_Ass@reddit
I wish
Betorah@reddit
Or not because you hate driving long distances. Also, if you’re alone, it could be dicy.
boilermakerteacher@reddit
Depends. If my only car is a Porsche 911, I’m probably not willing to throw a ton of miles on it to move cross country and crush its value. Or maybe I have 2 cars and can only drive one across. Or my job needs me there quicker than I can drive that distance. Or maybe I have kids that will struggle in the car for 4 days crossing the country.
PraetorianHawke@reddit
You own the porche for the wrong reason if you're trying to "save it" to hold value lol.
Emergency-Doughnut88@reddit
It's common for families that have 2 cars. When my family moved from Connecticut to Illinois, they put our second car right in the back of the moving truck. We all pulled into the bigger car and drove with a few stops on the way.
ToastMate2000@reddit
Driving thousands of miles is not enjoyable for a lot of us. And a long long road trip with small kids is probably even less fun than flying with young kids.
ScarletDarkstar@reddit
It's actually not, in my experience. We could stop when someone needed something, there weren't tight schedules or missed connections involved, more resources in the vehicle to pass time and snack rather than limited to what we could carry. Stopping to see something interesting breaks up some monotony.
Fyaal@reddit
You’re not wrong, but it also turns a 3-4 day coast to coast drive into a 8-9 day drive. Easier for me to do the drive solo
Bright_Ices@reddit
8-9 days? How often do you stop?!
Fyaal@reddit
Ny to LA is 41 hours of driving, no traffic, no stops, most direct route. If you’re with the family, stopping to see things, making a trip of it, food breaks, pee breaks (which happen way more often with a wife and kids driving), and you’re driving daylight hours, you’re really only knocking out 8 hours of driving a day give or take. You can make up some hours here or there, but at that rate you’re at 5 days. Throw in a stop at a national park or something, and take away the most direct route, easy for the number to really balloon.
Whereas back in the day with my truck and a log of Copenhagen I did colorado to NY straight shot. Wouldn’t recommend 27 hours of driving for both safety and because it sucks, but that couldn’t be done so easily with a family in the car. I’d usually make that a 3 day drive, go see Scott’s Bluff national park or visit my brother in Chicago on the way.
Just saying the times really balloon when it’s a road trip with the fam versus one guy
Bright_Ices@reddit
My family did a lot of cross-country road trips when I was kid (and when my sibs were little, so there were 3 of us kids). We did all kinds of fun stops, but we did 22 hours in 3 days pretty regularly and 32 hours in 4 days a few times. I think my parents would have lost it after 5 days in the car.
I guess we stopped for shorter times. Also we live by a bunch of national parks, so we took shorter trips to see those, instead of trying to pack them in into a longer 9 day drive.
Fyaal@reddit
That’s fair. I guess it depends on who you’ve got and what you want to see. But something like the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone? I’m doing a whole day. Carlsbad is a four hour stop, painted desert and petrified forest are most of a day. Big bend is a whole day +. Rocky Mountain and great sand dunes half a day each. I’d spend weeks in each of them if I could.
Bright_Ices@reddit
We’re closer to Yellowstone so we did dedicated trips there a few times. Our only drive-through trip was on the way to and from Glacier (yes we stopped for Yellowstone there AND back!) Another time we did a week at Yosemite, which is different but just as wonderful.
Fyaal@reddit
Jellystone is amazing. I love that place. I guess for me that would be Saguaro, would really just do a drive through there
Bright_Ices@reddit
We did just a drive through of Badlands Natl Park one time. Spent a big chunk of the day stopping at a lot of the places and jumping around on rocks, but it was HOT, so we were done sooner than we’d expected. What a beautiful place, though!
Sharp_Ad_9431@reddit
It took 2 days to drive what should be a 10 hour drive with a pair of 70 year old ladies. (My mom and her friend) Multiple stops for bathroom breaks and needing to stretch. 😴
Fyaal@reddit
That’s been my experience more often than not driving with older people or kids, with the exception of my grandfather who would power drive PA to Florida in a day with just a cup of coffee every gas stop. Old guy was the man
Waisted-Desert@reddit
Spoken like someone who doesn't have kids.
"I gotta go pee."
I thought you just went?
"I did but I gotta go again!"
*stops at next exit
Did you go?
"No, I don't gotta go no more."
Are you sure? We're not stopping again for 4 hours.
"I'm sure."
*15 minutes later
"I gotta pee, for real this time!!!"
Bright_Ices@reddit
I have been both been a kid (one of 3, the others were younger) and traveled long distances with kids as an adult. We just did it differently. If you’re interested in details, I left a longer comment in reply to the not rude reply on this.
ScarletDarkstar@reddit
Lol, I guess it depends on how much you drive it. I did it many times in 3 days with the family. We just stop fairly late and start early. The kids sleep in the car some.
klimekam@reddit
The older I get I really don’t think I can do this. Being in the car that long is just too painful. I’m fairly certain my absolute MAX now is no more than 6 hours in a day, and I would need a couple days recovery after that. And that’s as a passenger. As a driver I don’t think I can do more than 3 hours anymore.
Cock_Goblin_45@reddit
Are you 60+?
klimekam@reddit
I’m 35
Cock_Goblin_45@reddit
You’re way to young to be that sensitive to driving.
Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit
We live in the middle of the country and do a summer road trip to one of the coasts every year since the kids were little. We stop a lot and the kids got to see a lot of things along the way.
InevitableRhubarb232@reddit
Yeah but almost always way way cheaper to drive if you have multiple people
Even-Guard9804@reddit
Always cheaper to drive. Just shipping the car there is more expensive than the drive and a hotel or two. Thats before you consider the flight and likely need a rental car for several days.
MakalakaPeaka@reddit
Eh, if you're in a two-car household, you ship one and drive the other.
goodsam2@reddit
I really enjoy a long road trip until the last day when you need to just get somewhere.
nakedonmygoat@reddit
When my family moved from Fresno CA to San Antonio TX, over 1500 miles. It was me and my 6 month old brother in the car and my father following in the U-Haul with our dog. On Night One my brother started screaming bloody murder as soon as the sun went down. I tried to quiet him but was only 7. When it happened the second night, it became clear that driving after dark was out of the question.
Then I developed tonsillitis and spiked a fever in Gallup, NM. I became delirious and we drove hell for leather to my grandparents' house 180 miles away. My father had to leave us there, after I was on the mend. He had to go check in at his new job. He then flew back, got us, and we all drove the rest of the way.
So yeah, long car trips with young children can be an interesting experience.
TipProfessional880@reddit
I was about to say exactly this. If I had to make a cross-country move, I would definitely choose to just ship my cars. At the very least, I would drive one & have my wife & kids fly to our new home.
nomadschomad@reddit
Or you just don’t want to spend three days driving across the country
Ladybeetus@reddit
There is a service called a drive-away. Where people who need cars to be driven somewhere sign up and people that want to get somewhere sign up and they are matched. So I drove another ladies compact car loaded with all my shit cross country 2000 miles back in the 90s. It was fine except her car kept over heating because it wasn't up to all day driving. Had to get a mechanic to replace something. Anyways, there was a lot of paperwork but ultimately I think we were both satisfied with the arrangement.
cerialthriller@reddit
I mean I wouldn’t want to drive from Boston to LA that sounds horrible
schmatteganai@reddit
or if your car won't handle the trip well (antiques, project cars, cars that will do perfectly fine at your starting and ending location but can't cross the Rockies, or say an EV that you need to move through an area without reliable EV charging infrastructure), or you don't want to add the wear/tear/mileage, or you don't want to take the relevant roadtrip.
MarbleousMel@reddit
I had my car shipped this last time for two reasons: 1) nit enough space for what I needed to carry with me, and 2) the major one-I was having electrical problems with all of the lights on the passenger side. I really didn’t feel safe driving 1,000 miles in it.
That turned out to be a very good decision because it turns out there were some major issues after a pin broke off, which then caused some melting. I had taken it to be looked at before I left, but it went out the week before my move and they couldn’t get the piece in until after I was due to leave the state. The first time I took it in, they just said a bulb was out, so my confidence wasn’t super high.
Beautiful-Report58@reddit
If you have several vehicles, it’s a necessity.
BlaggartDiggletyDonk@reddit
Or you are moving from, or to, Hawaii.
ThePickleConnoisseur@reddit
Wear and tear and the costs could be more than just shipping it
christine-bitg@reddit
It made sense for me to ship my car halfway across the country.
That was because there were two of us moving, and my company would pay to ship one car. We shipped my car and the two of us drove my partner's car from California to Texas in three days.
hail_to_the_beef@reddit
I remember my grandma moved from Chicago to Phoenix in her mid 70s and had to have her car shipped because she could drive to the grocery store or her friends house fine but she wasn’t going to be able to drive 4 days across the country.
gard3nwitch@reddit
I think it's for when you have plenty of money but hate long drives
anonymouse278@reddit
I've known single people in the military with more than one vehicle choose to ship one and drive the other for long moves. Or ship their car and drive a moving truck.
Xyzzydude@reddit
But if you have two cars…
teslaactual@reddit
Generally driving it across country is still cheaper than having it shipped
Mercuryshottoo@reddit
That's rich person behavior
FourLetterHill3@reddit
My brother-in-law’s girlfriend sold her furniture and then shipped her car and the rest of her belongings to his house when she moved. She has two cats and felt a 3 hour plane ride would be less stressful for them than driving them for a couple days. They were heavily drugged for the plane ride.
noviceartificer@reddit
Pro tip load your car with stuff then ship it
MaddyKet@reddit
You’re not supposed to for a few reasons, but when I did in 2007, I got away with having some boxes in the trunk.
quikdogs@reddit
Driving to your new home, with a car packed full of crap, antsy dog in the back, and anxiety about your new digs and whether you can actually afford it, is peak USA
Sleepygirl57@reddit
You forgot a couple of fighting kids.
livelongprospurr@reddit
Yeah, we never flew; and we changed schools six times before I even left home. We always had to wait for the moving van, so no point in flying and just waiting in hotel rooms. I personally enjoyed sightseeing across the country and back. We saw a lot of country. Dad was a corporate engineer so he traveled to various sites a lot even when we were settled somewhere. He worked for aluminum companies as a thermal engineer (furnaces). Alcoa, Kaiser and Reynolds. All American companies.
Wilfried84@reddit
I drive about once every five years, so I'd just as soon not.
Massive-Rate-2011@reddit
There's also ful lservice movers tht will load and unload a semi on your behalf. Work paid for mine (and 2 car delivery) for a 550 mile migration.
Cinisajoy2@reddit
550 miles does not seem that far to me.
Massive-Rate-2011@reddit
It is if you're moving an entire semi-trailer full of stuff and two cars, kids, and dogs.
CharlesDickensABox@reddit
Yes. Or you can cheap out and hire a bunch of kids from your local university who will show up and do it for pizza and beer money, but they will probably break some stuff you like.
Tony_Lacorona@reddit
College hunks are tracking your location (isn’t that a weird ass company? It’s like having a barely legal maid service company or something)
CharlesDickensABox@reddit
I don't know about any company. When I was in university someone would just post a flyer in the dorm/quad/academic hall/local restaurant bulletin board and interested parties would call. These days I'm sure it can be done via Facebook or Nextdoor, but I've never actually attempted that.
Tony_Lacorona@reddit
No I mean there’s a national chain moving company called College Hunks Hauling Junk and it’s…a choice
crazycatlady331@reddit
We used them to move the furniture out of my (late) grandma's apartment into various family members' homes (including mine). I have no complaints about them.
Tony_Lacorona@reddit
Were they hunks
Letters4You@reddit
They're never hunks. I make that joke to my wife all the time.
gard3nwitch@reddit
IIRC, "College Hunks" was started by actual college students. I'm sure they're all like 40 now and it is kind of weird, but they probably thought it was funny when they were 19.
firelock_ny@reddit
So will the bunch of day-laborers the "professional moving company" uses.
After-Willingness271@reddit
nobody’s that cheap anymore
IanDOsmond@reddit
If someone else was footing the bill, this is 100% what I would do.
And if someone else was requiring me to move, I would 100% insist on them footing the bill.
lifeofGuacmole@reddit
Yes you pay for the truck to ship it. Hire people to pack or pack yourself. Hire people to load and unload the truck. It was half the price of hiring a moving company. We sell off the stuff we don’t want to keep. This is the time to get rid of older mattresses and other things. Many trips to the charity shop. Many trips to the dump. I’d set stuff out I was going to have trouble getting to the charity shop and it’d be gone before dark. Even scrap wood would be gone. The hardest part about moving isn’t the actual move. It’s connecting with people in the new location.
Massive-Rate-2011@reddit
Yeah Personally if it's a big move and the stuff is worth, a full service company can't be beat if you can afford it. I think it was like $22k for all of my stuff in 2020.
AFetaWorseThanDeath@reddit
That was precisely what my partner and I did when we moved from Denver to Portland a few years ago. We used that along with option 3 above, as it was the most frugal option and we didn't have a ton of cash
4Q69freak@reddit
Moved in a 26’ UHaul pulling my packed f150 on a trailer, wife drove packed Jeep Liberty pulling 14’ Jon boat loaded with less fragile stuff. Each with a teenage girl riding shotgun. We moved almost 600 miles and about a 10 hour drive like this.
amethystmmm@reddit
Poor people (bottom quintile) pack everything into car, get to new place, get some new furniture from Goodwill or SA or what have you in the new town (if they have to move further than a little bit) and go on with life.
Lower class people (Next to bottom quintile) might sell stuff and do above, or might rent a U-haul for their stuff (there are other places, Rider, etc, but U-haul is ubiquitous).
Middle class people (middle quintile) are going to hire this done (two men in a truck, what have you) or hire the Storage pods people and pack themselves or a combination of the two.
Upper class people (second from the top quintile) are going to definitely hire it done, and probably own several (not more than 3-4) properties, so they may just show up at the new place and buy new stuff without selling the old one.
Super rich people (top quintile) are going to just buy a new house in the new area and keep the old one, for sure. and they have people to do all those mundane things like pick furniture.
xaxiomatikx@reddit
“Second from top quintile” do not own 3-4 homes. They might own 1 vacation place, but I’d wager the vast majority don’t. I say this as a middle-aged engineer who is in the top 10% income and wealth.
Tullyswimmer@reddit
I don't know if I'm top 10%, but pretty sure I'm top 15%, and this is the same thing. I have one house. I cannot afford another, and will not be able to unless my company's IPO pops off, I win the lottery, or my and/or my wife's parents die.
If I do move again though... I'm hiring someone.
pmgoldenretrievers@reddit
100%. If you’re in the 50-75% income bracket you maaaaybe own a $100K cabin. OP is off their rocks thinking they own multiple houses.
mrggy@reddit
Yeah, even my parents who are near retirement age and in the top 5% of household income nationally only have one house. It's a nice house and they could maybe afford a vacation cottage, but they're not owning multiple properties with staff like the person above suggested. That's top 1% (or even top 0.1%) level.
My parents do use full service moving companies though. There's definitely a category of people who are willing/able to pay to outsource the worst parts of moving, but aren't maintaining 3+ different residences
LiqdPT@reddit
Ya, I'm right there with you in demographic. I only bought a house at 40 and certainly don't have more than one. I think the poster vastly overestimates the upper quintile incomes and how much of a hockey stick there is within the top 3-5%
BlaggartDiggletyDonk@reddit
You can get some decent stuff at Goodwill, or at least you used to. I still think about that kitchen table I had.
AFetaWorseThanDeath@reddit
Nailed it.
I myself have moved many, many times over the years, and every single one of those fell squarely in the first two brackets lol
bass679@reddit
I've done the first three of these, this is pretty accurate
nomadschomad@reddit
I would say…
1A. Hire a full service moving company to do at least some of the packing, load the truck, drive your stuff across country, and unload it.
ShowScene5@reddit
Having moved across country in the past year, it is cheaper to pack your stuff into pods and have them shipped than it is to rent the equivalent volume truck and and pay for the gas to drive it.
Mustang46L@reddit
There are a bunch of companies that will drop a trailer at your old house so you can fill it as you have time. When you call them they'll pick it up and store it until you're ready to have it delivered to the new place.
BM7-D7-GM7-Bb7-EbM7@reddit
I should point out, often times when someone moves across the country it's for a job, and the vast majority of the time the company that hired you will pay for it.
I'd argue actually, if a company wants to you to move across the country and doesn't pay you for those expenses, then don't go work for them, it's not a good company.
msmsms101@reddit
I honestly found the uboxes and pods to be cheaper than the full name moving companies for cross country.
kirstynloftus@reddit
Yea, my cousin and her husband moved from Virginia to Alaska and then to Colorado (military), they rented a truck and drove most of their stuff themselves, with the biggest stuff (furniture mostly) driven by a company. But they live a very minimalistic life before that because of how often they move (harder now that they have kids, though)
Practicalbeaver@reddit
I just moved about 650 miles. I did number 3, except I hired movers on either side to help load and unload. But it was still a boat ton of work.
Th3MiteeyLambo@reddit
I moved from ND -> NC, and we did this moving truck that were they dropped the truck off, we loaded it, and they moved it to the new address. Then repeat for unloading it.
It was cool and it worked out to like 1/5 the price of actual movers.
Not_an_okama@reddit
This can be reasonable if you dont care how fast it gets there. The shipping company will hold it for a bit until they have extra room on a boat or train. My buddy did this last year moving from the bay area to detroit. Iirc it took like 6 weeks to get the bulk of his things, but he packed essentials into his car and drove. Just bought a new bed when he got here.
Pinepark@reddit
When we moved north to south we did a full combination of what you described!
Sold a lot of things. Rented a smaller truck that I drove and husband drove van filled with items. Also had a pod that we shipped to our new home.
PandaPuncherr@reddit
This. Its a combination of all of these.
Im probably moving from colorado to Michigan soon. Plan is...
1) sell anything that I dont want and things that I won't want in 2 years. Specifically big items, obviously. 2) Get a "POD" and ship that across the country 3) Pack my car to the brim.
jdealla@reddit
I moved from NC to CA and back.
We used a container. Sold cars in NC, didn’t buy in CA, bought when we came back.
Angrywheezer@reddit
There are also traditional moving companies that will pack load everything in a truck, drive it to the new location, and unload it all into the house.
Responsible_Ask3976@reddit
Movers are so great! My boyfriend’s employer paid for it
xaxiomatikx@reddit
24 feet is 7.3 meters, not 11.
CharlesDickensABox@reddit
You're right, of course. I brain farted and used the 2.2 conversion for lbs to kilos. Oops.
BB-56_Washington@reddit
Both times my family moved across country, it was a mix of the first 2. Sold or got rid of almost everything except what would fit in the uhaul.
MamaMidgePidge@reddit
We've done two big cross- country moves as a married couple.
For the first, we were young and poor. We gave away a lot of furniture as it was 2nd hand and not the best quality. Didn't make sense to pay to move it. We rented a U-Haul truck for the rest and drove it across the country. We had friends who we paid with beer and pizza who helped us load up the truck and we unloaded it ourselves upon arrival.
For the second move, the new employer paid for movers and that was really nice. They packed it and drove it to our new home. We drove our one car with the kids and enough stuff to get us through the first few days until the truck arrived.
heatrealist@reddit
I moved a couple of times. I did not have many things so I rented a small trailer from u-haul. Put my crap in there and towed it to my destination.
Js987@reddit
When I’ve moved I’ve either hired a moving company who used a semi-truck or rented a box truck myself.
IllGolf9885@reddit
Yep. From Indiana to Florida then back to Indy, drove a u-haul every time
robinhood125@reddit
U-Haul once charged me $60 because i didn’t realize the person before me had inaccurately reported the gas tank percentage. I did the math and the gas they claimed I used worked out to 2 MPG. I told them I know they get horrible mileage but there’s no way you believe it’s THAT bad
idontagreewitu@reddit
I've moved a few times. When they give me the truck at my starting location I photograph all side of the outside and close in on any preexisting damage, as well as the gauge cluster showing mileage and fuel tank status. Then do it again at the drop off.
robinhood125@reddit
I do all that every time I rent a car. Multiple customer service agents at U-Haul still wouldn’t give me my money back
IllGolf9885@reddit
Exactly that’s crazy lol
TalkativeRedPanda@reddit
I think that's why pods or abf upack is popular. Costs more, but you save the gas, and the stress of driving a full trailer.
IllGolf9885@reddit
You’re not wrong. I wish I would’ve done the math back then lol but moving forward it’s more than likely I will be doing the pods
imsurethatsright@reddit
Im surprised that pods cost more now. We haven’t moved in a long time but 15 years ago they were cheaper than renting a U-Haul. But I’m sure I factored fuel in when I was pricing it out.
posaune123@reddit
The gas mileage for a fully loaded Uhaul is shocking. Even with the annoying speed govenor
IllGolf9885@reddit
Oh absolutely. And that was just one way for me. I had to fucking drive back 😭😭
feryoooday@reddit
The complete opposite, I sold everything large, vacuum sealed my clothes to shrink them down, stuffed my tiny commuter car with everything that did fit plus 2 cats and a great dane, and drove for 2 days (don’t worry, night in a hotel in between to let the fluffies stretch out).
BlaggartDiggletyDonk@reddit
You were able to find hotels that accepted your critters?
BoopleBun@reddit
You gotta look ‘em up ahead of time, but there are chains that accept them as a general rule.
Every time we’ve moved with pets we just buckle down and do the drive straight through though. Sucks, but doable in shifts, even if it’s 24 hours or something.
feryoooday@reddit
Yes, though I may or may not have fudged that I only had only one cat and the dog.
BlaggartDiggletyDonk@reddit
Or that the dog wasn't horse sized?
feryoooday@reddit
Hey, they didn’t ask lol
iswearimalady@reddit
I did something similar when I moved from NYS to North Dakota. It was just me, my '97 Crown Vic packed to the brim, and my hedgehog against the world.
ScienceMomCO@reddit
Good ol’ U-Haul
littlefire_2004@reddit
The first time I moved across country was as a poor, single parent. I loaded the bed of my pickup with the bare necessities, tied that shit down and drove 15 hours.
Kinetic_Silverwolf@reddit
In the early 2000s I moved from Houston to Orlando. I shipped 3 medium packing boxes filled with goods to my new address, packed my Dodge Intrepid with what was coming with me, and drove.
In 2017 my job relocated me from Florida to DC. They covered up to $10k for moving expenses; we had to get CFO approval when the moving company came back with a quote for $10,750 for moving a family of five 800 miles.
For the other 2 long interstate moves we've made, we've rented a box truck, split kids between vehicles, and hauled ass.
DifferentWindow1436@reddit
Hard-core. Good for you. People forget - it doesn't have to look pretty, you just need to get your stuff to the next destination. Have been there myself.
bonzai113@reddit
I moved everything a truck load at a time. it took me a month and 4 round trips to move everything 4 states away all by myself.
Bananas_are_theworst@reddit
Same, all depending on what my company would pay for.
Kinetic_Silverwolf@reddit
Same, as volume of goods and budgetary constraints allow.
idontagreewitu@reddit
I moved from Texas to North Carolina last summer. Single bedroom apartment, so I was able to fit everything into a ~25 foot moving van over the course of a couple of very long days and put my car on a trailer. It was exhausting. Then came the drive. I woke up at 5:30am and drove to Georgia the first day to get a meal with a few longtime internet friends. It took me damn near 16 hours to make the drive, and 7 of those hours were just getting out of Texas! Got in to Atlanta about 10:30pm. Had dinner, went to my hotel and slept. Got up late the next day because it was a shorter leg, so I left the hotel around 10am. Was only 7 hours that day, and got to my new place a little after 5pm. I was fucking tired. Unpacked my mattress, toiletries and a change of clothes, took a shower and vegged. Spent the next day unpacking the rest and delivered the moving van to the depot a little after 4pm.
Some day I'll finish unpacking. Or maybe not. Already half way through the lease...
Cinisajoy2@reddit
You can use a moving company or rent a u-haul truck or trailer. Typically you want to drive or tow your vehicle if you rent a u-haul.
Outrageous-You-4634@reddit
call a person. tell them you need to move from A to B. pay them for doing the thing you employed them to do.
it's really not hard
Astute_Primate@reddit
My sister did a cross country move. She sold a lot of her stuff and put the money towards buying new stuff when she got there
rbroccoli@reddit
Most people will hire Moving Companies and Drive themselves.
My wife and I have made a handful of long distance or cross country moves (Alabama->Southern California->A brief move back to Alabama->Washington->Central California).
We’ve sold most of our furniture each time (Except once) and bought again when we arrived as it was generally more affordable than hiring movers.
Each time, we kept enough to pack into a UBox, (a mini shipping container that a popular DIY moving truck rental company will rent out and ship for you), which costs much less than movers or even renting a truck and driving it yourself.
Anything that we wanted more immediate access to would be packed into the car and in a roof box, and we drove to our new location.
The only exception was the last move from Washington to Central California, where we did not sell our furniture and hired movers, we still drove ourselves. We both liked it better the way we had done it before.
OkDecision1612@reddit
Hire a semi to pack and move your stuff is the nicest way
dobbydisneyfan@reddit
In addition to what people are saying, I’m adding that moving such a large distance permanently isn’t all that common at all.
Serious_Astronomer74@reddit
Moved from OH-> MS. Husband hauled everything in a U-HAUL trailer.
Asparagus9000@reddit
Moving trucks.
They have really big ones here.
And the companies operate across the country, so you can rent in in one state and return it 3,000 miles away.
IllGolf9885@reddit
That’s exactly what I did, those u-hauls take so much damn gas though, I spent 700 just in gas going from Indiana to Florida
News_of_Entwives@reddit
I remember tracking the milelage on mine. It was 5 mpg.
And something like a 50gal tank. Did you know some gas pumps won't let you fill more than $75 in one transaction?
QuietObserver75@reddit
Really, even with a credit card?
News_of_Entwives@reddit
Yup. I figure that's the hold they put in the account so you can pump then pay after, and they don't want to exceed that safety net.
These were mostly on the ohio turnpike.
QuietObserver75@reddit
TIL.
News_of_Entwives@reddit
Complete speculation by me lol
IllGolf9885@reddit
No I didn’t know that 😭 to be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever had to put that much in at once (idk why I think I save money that way, I know I don’t)
SiberianResident@reddit
Much better than spending multiple thousands on a moving service though
IllGolf9885@reddit
Honestly idk lol, but that’s only because that particular trip, as soon as I got to Kentucky I heard this LOUD ass waving sound. Pulled over and I get out and the literal whole left side of the damn U-Haul is coming off, like the whole metal side paneling. LOL I spent so much money on duct tape. It was some grade A horseshit 😭
JenniferJuniper6@reddit
REALLY big moving trucks.
jonesnori@reddit
Yes. If you do this and don't fill the whole truck yourself, they will share a truck between different customers. The downside is a minor delay until all the customers are available.
You do need to get to the new place (or have someone else there) to receive the truck.
Temporary_Pie2733@reddit
If I’m not mistaken, there are also options to have you stuff stored for a short period and delivered to your new house when you are ready for it. I imagine that might be more expensive if it involves unloading your stuff then reloaded onto a local delivery truck.
jonesnori@reddit
Yes, I think both of those are true. I have an idea that the storage is small compared to the trucking cross-country, though.
indifferentunicorn@reddit
I’ll tell ya!
You move only your nicest most important things to the new state, then put all the other crap in a storage building to rot for the next decade in your old state, just in case you ever need it.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-best-warehouse-self-storage-222017585.html
me315@reddit
It’s different for everyone. When we moved across the country we sold most of our big stuff and packed up everything we wanted to keep and rented a truck and drove it ourselves. W
ReverendMak@reddit
I’ve moved from Philadelphia, PA to Pittsburgh, PA, then back to Philadelphia, then all the way out to Austin, TX, then up to Chicago, IL, and then back east to Washington , DC.
Also, while in the Philadelphia area I did two local moves between neighborhoods.
For local moves, I had friends (including one who owned a truck) come and help load up vehicles and move in multiple trips.
For the cross country moves I hired professional movers to pack all our stuff up. Sometimes directly onto trucks, but twice into containers that went into storage for a bit before the actual move. In those cases we were staging our house for sale and living a sort of minimalist life without a lot of our possessions, plus taking a vacation mid trip between old and new homes.
Either way trucks, loaded directly with our stuff or loaded with the storage containers, hauled our things cross country while we drove either one or two cars loaded with family, dog, and suitcases with a week’s clothing. We did some vacation stuff along the way and then met the trucks at the new home. Although one time the trucks were late and we basically camped in our new house for a few days waiting for our furniture.
Then the professional movers unloaded our stuff into the rooms each box belonged in, and we personally then sorted it out in more detail and put things exactly where they belonged.
This is not the only way to do it but it’s pretty common. In all of the cross country moves my employer paid the moving company, since the moves were transfers from one location to another under the same employer, and I work for an organization that has a pretty good moving policy.
Determined-over50@reddit
If your company is relocating you, they often hire professional movers to pack up your whole house. If your house is smaller or if you are just starting out, you sell your possessions and start over.
phcampbell@reddit
I hired professionals to move us from one side of town to the other. We’re too old to hire a truck, gather friends, and provide pizza and beer when it’s finished!
Free-Sherbet2206@reddit
It is completely worth it in my opinion. I hired movers and they moved my whole apartment (2nd floor, no elevator) across town (about a 45 minute drive) in less than 4 hours. It would have taken me days
FlamingBagOfPoop@reddit
Similar to when I hired real movers for the first time. After that I swore I’d never not hire movers..and in fact I’d probably pay for the packing up too. Like I’d be around to help organize and whatnot. But let them do it.
QuietObserver75@reddit
That's exactly what I'm going to do when I move again.
QuietObserver75@reddit
Yeah I was too old for that shit in my mid 30s.
After-Willingness271@reddit
i hired people to move 4 blocks. i have lots of heavy stuff
katlian@reddit
About 20 years ago, a guy in our company got relocated to my office so he hired movers and drove his own car with some clothes and basic stuff to have until his stuff arrived. When his stuff didn't show up in a week, he started calling the company. It turned out that the driver had arrest warrants, panicked about a DUI checkpoint somewhere in North Dakota (? or maybe Montana), and abandoned the truck on the side of the road. A bunch of his stuff got stolen while the truck was sitting there. Our poor coworker hadn't planned on living out of a couple of duffel bags for weeks instead of days.
Tom_Tildrum@reddit
When my father's company moved us cross-country, the movers did such a thorough sweep that they packed up the kitchen garbage before we could empty the bin. It was waiting for us when we reached California.
Adventurous-Cook5717@reddit
My son just had this done. He did pack his favorite things and put them in his car, and took them with him.
Couscous-Hearing@reddit
Driving across the US is a great experience. It's also a ton of work/effort. If you've done it before shipping whatever you want to keep and flying is the most comfortable. Cost is similar unless you dont have much stuff and plan to stay at campgrounds along the way.
ArchiveOfNothing@reddit
just moved 32 hours by car away from home, but I’m early in my career and was able to cram what little I had into two cars. i’ve had wayy too much fun decorating my new apartment though, making things extensively more difficult when i inevitably have to move again in a year or so. personally, i think it’s a worthy investment to hire movers (even though it’ll take a chunk of my savings) because uhauls scare the shit out of me haha
ComprehensivePut8006@reddit
On average Americans relocate once every 10 years for work. The economy here grows and shrinks rapidly, markets for skills move about like crazy.
What you do, is select only what you can afford to take with a moving company, sell/throw out the rest. Then sell the house, put the remainder in storage, find a temporary rental, and start working with real estate agents to find another property to purchase.
Then move your self and your stored stuff out there.
Each time you sell a home you will be able to fully pay off your mortgage and put away a serious chunk of money right into your bank account. So the money usually isn't a problem.
But I've seen moves literally break up marriages before.
Total_Ad5137@reddit
U-haul, pack as much as you can in your car, or sell and fly. :(
MMStormbird@reddit
All of the above. I moved halfway across the country in a moving truck with some friends. Another time I had things moved in a shipping container by a company. It really all depends on how much money you're able to put into the move.
epigator@reddit
Believe it or not, they will let you rent a 26 foot U-Haul truck with just a normal driver's license.
MetroBS@reddit
Me and my boy did that last weekend, we were laughing at the fact that he was so unqualified yet still legally allowed to drive a U-Haul through the streets of Manhattan
Not_an_alt_69_420@reddit
On my state's CDL written test, there's three or four questions about what type of driver you need to be most concerned about.
The answer to all of them is someone driving a UHAUL.
BoopleBun@reddit
That’s what my dad always told me growing up and learning to drive, to beware of U-Hauls, Penskes, etc.
He wasn’t wrong. We’ve rented out the bigguns ourselves with towing a car behind them multiple times for long-distance, interstate moves. Like multi-day ones. They don’t require jack shit beyond a regular license.
madcatzplayer5@reddit
I love it to be honest. Freedom comes in special ways. Being able to rent an 8m long truck with the same driver’s license you got at 16 or 17 years old is hilarious and amazing at the same time.
Tullyswimmer@reddit
Ryder and Penske will rent you a whole International diesel truck with air brakes and everything with a normal driver's license. My dad did that when he and my mom moved to their current house and I moved to mine in the same week.
KoalasAndPenguins@reddit
I pay a lot of money to moving companies to pick up furniture and boxes I pack and take them wherever. I try to de-clutter get rid of a lot of unnecessary things every time we move. I take important documents, family heirlooms, and medical necessities in the car when we leave to drive our vehicles to the new home. I have GPS trackers inside some things. Everything the moving companies take gets insured for loss or damage. I have spreadsheets of items from each room that we made to keep track of how/where it got packed. I take suitcases with 2 weeks' worth of everyone's clothes. Before the move, I get the new house cleaned. I also stock it with soap, toilet paper, towels, and a first aid kit. We get utilities set up before the move. One adult stays at each house to coordinate everything during the transition. It is expensive.
Hudson100@reddit
Child and partner sent a U-Haul pod with their stuff. They drove from Wisconsin to California. With a cat in the backseat.
Mobius3through7@reddit
I just rented a big ole box truck and brought all my stuff with.
WonderfulProtection9@reddit
There are many possibilities here. I don’t think using an actual ship is likely unless maybe it involves Alaska or Hawaii. If I was on my laptop instead of my phone I would go into more detail.
srkasm@reddit
Yes
nmacInCT@reddit
I got rid of most of my stuff, packed most of the rest of my stuff into and on top of my 8 year old Honda and drove cross country with a friend as a passenger. Shipped a few boxes of clothes later. I was in my late 50s and moving back to live with my mom who needed help ... And had a house full of stuff.
the_messiah_waluigi@reddit
My family has moved up and down the East Coast of the United States a couple of times (350+ miles the first time, 600+ miles the second time). Before we even began the packing, we went through all of our stuff to see what could be given away or thrown out. After this, we rented a 26-foot moving van from U-Haul and packed it with most of our big furniture and garage equipment. I believe we left kitchen and laundry appliances where they were and got new ones in the town where we moved to. Clothes and small items would go into boxes/suitcases and be packed in the car or in the van if there was enough space.
Sapphire_Dreams1024@reddit
When my sister and her husband moved from Rhode Island to Louisiana we rented a big Uhaul truck and drove it down. Took us 28 hours on almost nonstop driving. It was the cheapest way to move at the time.
Now they have businesses where you can get a shipping container sent to your home, you fill it, and then they ship it to your new house. Pods is the name of one business that does it, dont know if there are others. I think you can do it to also ship your stuff internationally as well
sdcarl@reddit
We moved a third of the country with four containers that arrived after us (the companies will store, and charge you for it). Rented an RV to move pets and sentimental and most valuable things, and shipped the car.
Tyisha_Schaal@reddit
This depends on your current financial situation. If you are financially well-off, you can simply buy new items. If you have many valuable items worth collecting, you can hire a truck for transportation!
If your financial situation is not very good, you can consider driving yourself.
mdavis360@reddit
We actually don’t move the house. We leave it and start living in a different house.
11twofour@reddit
They moved a whole Victorian from my old block in SF. Very stupid.
FlamingBagOfPoop@reddit
The wife got stuck in traffic one day, “there’s a house in the road, can’t get home.” The truck moving the house was having issues making a turn.
Bright_Ices@reddit
OVERSIZE LOAD
btw was it the whole house or just half of one? I’ve seen half-houses on trucks more often than whole ones. They just split it down the middle somehow and wrap it in Tyvek for travel.
FlamingBagOfPoop@reddit
This was a whole house. It was a historical landmark.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_B._Cohn_House
AgreeAndSubmit@reddit
Thanks Dad
AlphaWhiskeyOscar@reddit
Trailer park gang would have something to say about this if they could read
Zaidswith@reddit
Most of those can't be moved either. The RV parks should be mobile though.
ListenToRush@reddit
lmao
DontH8DaPlaya@reddit
I hate to be the neckbeard here but some people do move the house with them. (Admittedly a very very very minor precent)
IllGolf9885@reddit
I have definitely seen trailers on the back of huge semi trucks lol
MonteCristo85@reddit
Not always.
We've moved houses twice lol.
Nervous-Confusion-72@reddit
Dad jokes. I like you.
I_Want_A_Ribeye@reddit
This is significantly less work and what I have always done. Much easier to move occupants and contents.
Tullyswimmer@reddit
So I've known two families who've made major moves after being "established" in an area (meaning owned a whole house, not an apartment or condo, had it furnished)
One moved from New England to California, the other from New England to Florida.
In both cases, they sold/gave away as much of the large furniture as they could, used a company that rents "moving pods" (basically small shipping containers) for a lot of it, and then packed up one car (one of their families selling their second) with the critical stuff they'd need for the first few weeks and drove it down.
I have owned 3 houses (sold 2) and lived at 7 addresses since I graduated college in 2017. In every case, I have driven a u-haul or similar vehicle to my new house, or moved over the course of a few months, only renting a u-haul for the last big move.
At this point, if I move again, I'll be selling or donating a lot of my stuff, and hiring a full-service professional team to do it.
VegasFoodFace@reddit
In the US roads are typically much bigger and you can rent a rather large truck that can fit a whole homes furniture and even tow your car. No special license necessary. The US is very car centric so this is not a problem at all. The real problem in the US is affording the house in the first place.
Upstairs-Aerie-5531@reddit
Will be moving from Texas to Washington state this summer. We will hire a company to move our things and tow our electric vehicle. Probably 2 big wheelers. We will load 6 adults 4 dogs, 2 cats, and 1 lizard into a minivan. Most of us will be sedated.
Diligent_Gear_8179@reddit
Get truck
Put shit in truck
Drive truck
Take shit out of truck
iswearimalady@reddit
If you're lucky you've got some buddies/family that will help with some or all of the process for beer and pizza
Parking_Champion_740@reddit
I’ve done it both ways…when I was a child and moved from NY to CA we had a moving van and my mom and I flew while my brother and dad drove. When I was moving 1/2 way across the country for grad school, I packed my car and drove. When a young adult I drove across the country, I had a moving van bring my stuff.
Usually if moving for a job the company pays to move your stuff
nomadschomad@reddit
Hire moving company with big trucks. Fly or drive your personal vehicle. Timing isn’t that complicated. Those trucks might take two or three weeks to go cross country especially if you aren’t filling a whole truck because they will make multiple pick up and drop off along the way
BonCourageAmis@reddit
I moved myself 2x DC to SF and back. I drove a 15 ft truck. Drove for 5 days each time.
gumby_twain@reddit
Watch the documentary “Moving”, showing the real struggles of a typical American cross country move.
Disastrous_Fault_511@reddit
I've moved halfway across (1200 miles) three times. Each time I just moved in my SUV with whatever would fit and just bought large furniture after I arrived.
min6char@reddit
Its a giant pain in the ass! Basically all the options you mentioned are available, and there are also nice but expensive services that will just do all of it for you -- if you're moving for work sometimes your new job will pay for a moving service for you as part of your signing bonus, but that's pretty fancy. Most people literally pack up all their stuff, shove it in a huge rental truck, then drive for 6 days (it's about 6 days if you literally mean Boston to LA -- ASK ME HOW I KNOW!). And then if they also have a car they want to take with them they either pay to have that car shipped separately -- there are services for that, and it's better for your car's long-term health than driving it yourself -- or they have a buddy drive the truck while they drive their car (that's what I did for by brother in law when he moved out of state).
It's enough of a pain that when people are moving really far away they sell off a lot of their stuff just to make it easier.
TexasForever361@reddit
Local move, we just load up a bunch of boxes and furniture in our personal vehicles and move that way.
We moved across the country a while ago and we rented a UHaul and loaded/moved everything ourselves. Some people pay for someone to move their stuff, but sometimes those companies rip you off and they cost a lot of money.
Just1Pepsimum@reddit
Yep, there are moving companies that will come to your house, move everything out onto their truck, then drive it to wherever you're moving, and unload it and place it in your house where you want it.
megafly@reddit
Some employers pay a moving allowance as part of hiring.
Direct_Tea5916@reddit
Moving company and then drove ourselves across at the same time. You kind of have to match their schedule so you are there when your stuff arrives. I guess you could pay for storage in your new location but that’s expensive and a pain.
Salty_Permit4437@reddit
Hire movers.
maple-belle@reddit
Do you mean "would you ship your stuff on a boat if moving from San Francisco to San Diego"?
Because I know this is extremely American of me, but I immediately thought "There's no way those cities are far enough apart to justify that... [googles] yeah, that's only 8-10 hours! Why on earth would you pay more money with a drive that short???"
chocolatesuperfood@reddit (OP)
Haha, thank you! I am from southern-ish Germany and semi-regularly drive to southern Italy (my husband has a work commitment there) and it is such a hassle! We always spend one night in a hotel. But usually, for such distances Europeans take trains. I am very often in Amsterdam and we have never taken the car, always the train (10ish hours). Sometimes sleeper trains. But the whole difference (train/car/airplanes) is what got me thinking about the logistics of moving in the first place.
spookyhellkitten@reddit
I have had moving companies move everything then drive to my new place. I always beat the moving company with plenty of time to spare. That was from Utah to Kentucky and Colorado to Germany but for that one I only drove to North Carolina, spent time with family, then flew from VA to Germany. On the way back from Germany the movers packed things and I flew into Baltimore, drove to North Carolina, then drove to Kentucky.
I've also packed everything myself and then unloaded it. That was Kentucky to Colorado and then Kentucky to Nevada. Neither were fun but I enjoy driving so it wasn't horrible.
superanth@reddit
Moving in America can often be more of an expedition than just shifting belongings from one building to another.
Going from Boston to LA requires planning, money, and being prepared to drive a moving truck on a 3 day sojourn across a continent.
Hiredgun77@reddit
I’ve done two methods. Option one is to rent a moving truck and put all your gear in back and attach your car to the back of the truck (or get a friend to drive it).
The second method is to hire a moving company to do everything for you. This method is much easier, but is significantly more expensive.
CG20370417@reddit
Growing up I moved with my parents we moved 5 times, I then moved for college, they then moved 4 more times and ive moved from where I went to college to a city for a decade, then just moved again less than a year ago. The general path has been WA > IL > PA > MD > OH > CA (I go to college) > AZ > TX > CA and for them... ...MD > OH > CA > NJ > FL > AZ > FL
In the 90s and early 2000s my dad had his move paid for my his corporation. It was typically paid for by the company, not a reimbursement, paid directly by them, on top of any sign on bonus.
After the recession, corporate moving largely dried up. His sign on bonuses financed the moves.
For myself, moving from CA to AZ for college was a car load. I brought clothes and personal items and bought what meager furniture i needed in the new city.
After leaving college, I sold most of my stuff. I moved into a 4 person apartment during college, we kept the lease going for years, just subletting it out to new kids, so as I left I just sold it to the guys still living in the apt.
So moving to Texas was easy, few suitcases with my clothes and personal items again.
I spent a decade in Texas, all in DFW, I moved every couple years on average. First time I borrowed a buddies pickup, second time i rented a uhaul, and after that local moving companies--cross town moves were around $1000 for my \~2,000 sqft worth of shit.
By the time I left TX I owned a 2500 square foot house. We moved to CA with me taking a new job. Moving our 2500 house worth of stuff and a car was around $11,000. Thats people coming to pack, load, unload from TX to CA (other routes may be cheaper, this is a "reverse commute" currently, a lot more people are moving out of CA heading East than folks are leaving DFW heading west, so drivers taking "return trips" for less)
Perfect_Storm_425@reddit
Just moved last month. Company hired a relocation service. Packed up all my stuff into containers and shipped my car. I flew out and lived with the bare minimum until it arrived. Took longer than expected, luckily I live within walking distance of my new job.
ham_solo@reddit
I moved from NYC to Oakland, CA, at the end of 2020 after my husband got a job here. We were lucky in that the pandemic allowed us to take our time since he was WFH.
A friend had done a similar move about 10 years earlier, and they decided to use moving trucks to get their stuff across the country. They hire a company that puts your stuff in a pod that goes on a truck, and they drop your stuff at your new address. Unfortunately, it can take up to a month to get your stuff. They estimate the cost based on what you tell them you have, but my friend said once the movers got to his place to load things in, they inflated the price a huge amount because they claimed it was more stuff than they were told. Further to that, some of their items and furniture showed up damaged. He ultimately said it was a bad idea and wishes they did something differently
Based on that, we decided to forgo all of that. We shipped via the postal service the things we really cared about - mementos, and stuff like records and a few books. That cost a few hundred dollars. Other things we sold or just gave away. Because it was COVID, we weren't really able to have a stoop sale, or we would have made a lot more money. One good thing about NYC is that you can leave a box of usable stuff on the sidewalk, and someone will take it within an hour. Once that was done, we loaded many bags and our dog into a plane and flew across the country. We stayed in an Airbnb for a couple of weeks while we found a place, bought a car, etc. I will note we both were working full-time, well-paying jobs, so this was financially doable. People with less means might have a different experience.
matthewrparker@reddit
My husband and I moved from Austin,TX to New York earlier this year. We rented the biggest moving truck we could find, packed our two dogs into the cab, and drove 22 hours over about 4 days. It was rough, but we made it!
ancientastronaut2@reddit
You pay around $14k for a big truck to take a four bedroom house and a vehicle two states over. Or so I heard from a friend.
urquhartloch@reddit
As someone who has done coast to coast many times, you rent a truck and pack as much as you can before driving that truck to your destination.
Trulio_Dragon@reddit
So, this was fun: when I moved across the country, I hired a shipping company to deliver my car.
They delivered the wrong car. Right make, model and color, wrong car. The driver had to take that car back across country and bring me mine at his expense.
sparklyjoy@reddit
I’ve done this 4 times!
1 one member of the family did the road trip with essential belongings packed up in the family vehicle, three other members of the family did a plane trip (this was a parent and two young children who would have been absolutely miserable on a road trip), and also the one adult doing the road trip could make better time that way
2 more money to spend, we had a moving company pack up most of our belongings and ship them by truck and family of four took a road trip so that we would keep our family vehicle without having to pay to have it driven or anything
3 and 4: packed everything possible into the family vehicle and drove it as a road trip- at this time, the family consisted of one adult and a teenage child, family vehicle was a minivan so it fit a lot, but certainly no furniture
x_Caffeine_Kitten_x@reddit
We spent $2000 to rent a 26 foot long moving truck to move cross country. Thankfully we had just graduated college and didn't have much stuff.
My parents are making the same move and have a TON of stuff... they're making multiple trips with moving trucks. It sucks, but it is what it is.
AggravatingCamp9315@reddit
Rent a uhaul and drive for days. You can also hire companies to drive your stuff across the country for you.
SadExercises420@reddit
My friend hired a trucking company to take her stuff from upstate ny to southern Oregon. This was in 07 I think, and it cost over 1k then.
tacosgunsandjeeps@reddit
1k is a steal
SadExercises420@reddit
This was almost twenty years ago
tacosgunsandjeeps@reddit
Still 3k miles for 1k isn't bad
tigercat300@reddit
Moving in the US can be quite the adventure. Renting a truck is common, but if you have a lot to move, hiring a professional service is a great option.
Salty_Significance41@reddit
I work for a large moving company. Most of our customers will leave for their new home after we finish loading their things. We have a set date range we will aim to deliver in, and there's time built in for transit. Some times the spouses separate, with one at origin and one at destination. Occasionally other family members or friends will supervise load and the actual customers will be waiting for us at their new home. Really just depends. A legitimate mover is expensive, so not everyone can go with that option. There are also storage options available in case the new home isn't ready when we arrive.
finnbee2@reddit
We put everything in a U-Haul rental trailer and a truck and moved from Minnesota to western Montana.
BrazilianAtlantis@reddit
When we moved from California to Georgia, we rented a truck and put everything in back.
LiquidDreamtime@reddit
I’ve moved a little myself (Indiana to Florida), had a moving company do it (Florida to California), a mix of sell most and move some (California to Georgia), and 100% by myself (Florida to Georgia).
So my advice to anyone always is sell EVERYTHING. Keep the absolute bare minimum. Don’t love anything.
thomasque72@reddit
... Yes... all of the above.
katlian@reddit
I have actually shipped stuff by ship when moving back from an island in Alaska. I only took a couple of suitcases when moving there, but while I was there, I had acquired and built some items I really wanted to keep. I took them to the dockyard and rented space in an empty cargo container that was going back to Washington. They're usually full of groceries and other goods going to Alaska but empty coming back so it's cheaper to ship stuff that direction. After about 8 or 9 days, the shipyard in Washington called and I drove there to pick up my stuff.
But in the contiguous US, transport by truck is much more common.
sunflower_pearls@reddit
A few years ago my husband and I moved from our home state (Georgia) to Colorado, and it was a 22 hour drive. Before starting the drive we found a place to rent (sight unseen) in Colorado and packed up all our stuff in a rented moving truck. I drove our car with our dogs and my husband drove the truck. We split the drive up over two days (do not recommend).
Recently we moved back to Georgia and we did the same thing with finding a place to live and packing all our stuff into a moving truck, but I was 7 months pregnant so we split the drive into three days instead of two. (And my parents assisted with the last of the packing and the drive because of my pregnancy)
klstopp@reddit
Any or all of the above have, and does, happen all the time!
ezubaric@reddit
We've done this too often, and we use PODs. It's cheaper than other moving companies. The container sits in your driveway for a while, you slowly fill it up (I'm obsessive about packing every square inch so that it won't move in transit), then it gets moved cheaply to wherever you're moving.
While it's in transit, we take a vacation, then return to wherever we're moving. We stay in a model the first night(s) and unpack the POD in our new driveway.
Crap. I now realize that another reason I did it this way is that packing a truck / loading container is one of the few activities (maybe only activity) that my Dad and I both enjoyed and were really good at. There were things that we both enjoyed but one of us sucked at (baseball, biking, car repair, video games, electronics) and things that were both good at but one of us hated (driving, home repair, hiking). I didn't realize answering this post would make me teary, but I'm realizing we'll never stare together with pride at a completely tetrised and strapped down container in the driveway and challenge the youngest available relatives "to try to get anything to move".
JanuriStar@reddit
We have moving companies that'll take care of all of that. I have a friend that moved from the east coast to Hawai'i, from a very large home. The moving company packed, and moved everything, even their cars. I think it took about a month, and they lived in a vacation rental until everything arrived and was set up.
Hwy_Witch@reddit
I rented a truck, loaded up my stuff, and drove it to the new place.
RonPalancik@reddit
My family moved across the country twice. Once in a rented UHaul, then back in a professional movers' truck.
Aggravating_Finish_6@reddit
We boxed all of or stuff ourselves and then hired a moving company to take the boxes and the large furniture and put it on a pallet and ship it to the other side of the country and store it in a warehouse until we were ready to get it. We drove ourselves and made a long trip out of it.
tsefardayah@reddit
My first long move was about 700 miles just after my wife and I got married. She had a car that we drove, and we rented a 16' box truck to pack all of our stuff. We were moving from our parents houses after graduating college, so we did not have a lot to move. Our apartment that we moved into was about 500 square feet.
The next move was about 625 miles and went from a 500 square foot apartment to a 700 square foot apartment. This time we rented a 20' box truck and drove it and our one car.
Our other moves have been shorter (<20 miles) and into houses and adding kids and more cars. In those cases, we have rented a storage unit close to the house being moved into and gradually moved things into it. Then we only had to rent a smaller box truck to move from the storage unit to the house in one go.
KYLEquestionmark@reddit
all of the above
Meliedes@reddit
We've moved a bunch. Typically we use a moving company, but we've also rented a truck and moved ourselves twice. We always take all of our stuff with us. You'd be surprised the odd regional variences on things like appliances in homes or how easy it is or isn't to get decent furniture second hand. Plus, it makes the new place feel like home faster. We have sold large appliances if the new place had ones that were better than what we currently had.
It also helps to be strategic about what you take so you're not showing up to any empty place with no bath towels or a shower curtain. You need a good base of things until the rest of your stuff arrives.
Driving is more common than flying to the new destination, in my experience, unless you really need to be there NOW. Most people in the US have at least one car, and while they can be shipped, it isn't as common.
MukYJ@reddit
When my family moved from Seattle to Chicago, we packed everything up into the biggest truck U-Haul had to offer, loaded up our car onto a car dolly hitched to the U-Haul, and my grandpa drove it while we flew. He was able to stop and see some family in Nebraska along the way, and he really enjoyed driving.
When we moved back to Seattle two years later, we packed up our own stuff and hired a national moving company. They showed up with their semi truck and trailer that was already 1/3 full of someone else’s stuff, got all our prepacked boxes and furniture loaded in about 2 hours, and drove off. We drove ourselves back to Seattle in our minivan and met the truck at the new house when they arrived about 5 days after we did (they had been delayed by a couple days dealing with the 1/3 of the stuff that wasn’t ours). We stayed with family until our stuff arrived.
I wouldn’t say that one was better than the other, there are pros and cons to both, but on the whole I prefer to do it myself as it’s both cheaper and you only have yourself to blame if there is any damage. But there is something to be said about just sitting back and letting someone else do the really hard labor if you don’t have the time or ability to DIY and you can afford it.
Own-Screen3101@reddit
I’ve moved several times. The best way is to hire a company to pack, move, unload. Of course we had cars so drove kids and pets to the new place. Today the cost is between $15-30k depending on the size of the house.
narwhals_revolt@reddit
When I was young I downsized and crammed what I was keeping into my sedan. Once I also shipped two large boxes to meet me at my destination. With age (and slightly more money) I now rent a large moving van and employ the help of friends/family members to help drive all the vehicles.
kaosrules2@reddit
Normally, I would pack up all my belongings, rent a uhaul and hire people to load it. Then drive myself and my dogs to my new house and hire people to unload it. Pretty inexpensive solution. Now I'm at a point in my career where the company pays for it, so I didn't really pack much myself. Then I drove just my vehicle instead of towing it behind a uhaul.
Alarmed_Drop7162@reddit
Last time, I drove a Penske box truck 441 miles about 8 hours, with my house belongings loaded inside.
TheOnlyNora@reddit
Minnesota to Washington State, 1. Have a Budget of 1st months rent and deposit and gas for trip in savings account.
Job offer with letter
Start apartment hunting within that Budget
Get a rough Idea of move in time for apartment. And coordinate. That move in date to be a couple days or weeks before work start date.
Book enclosed trailer which comes with a 1 month free storage unit uhaul
Pick up uhaul and start filling it up.
Head off following gps, a week before work is set to start.
Get keys for apartment when you get there and throw all your things into free 30 day uhaul storage unit. Then return encloser trailer which has a 7 day rental period for ~$200.
Slowly bring things into apartment after work and get that storage unit empty and clean by the 30th day, then have the office close your storage unit so you don't pay a penny by or before that 30th day
For our family, we had to sell almost everything. We got a 5x8 enclosed trailer for $200 from Uhaul a 7 day rental period with a complimentary 30 day free 10x20 storage unit. Connected enclosed trailer to our van, filled both van and uhaul up with our family's belongings. Drove to state before work start day, filled our storage unit up within that 1st day there, and then returned enclosed trailer before the7 days. got our apartment keys, and went back to storage unit to grab essentials. Go to 1st day of work and Slowly start moving in. Got fully moved in within a couple weeks. Ended storage unit free rental before 30 days.
[I followed this for both our cross country moves]
Wolf_E_13@reddit
My dad moved us around a lot when I was growing up and we just rented a big moving truck and packed everything up and drove to the new place and unloaded. Also, full on cross country moves, while they do obviously happen, aren't hugely common. A very large percentage of Americans live in the same general region for most, if not all of their lives. There's a good chunk of the population who live, work, and die in the same city they were born in.
NPHighview@reddit
All but the first three times we moved, it was for job change reasons. The first three were to go to grad school (I rented a tiny U-Haul trailer), to leave my nicer campus ghetto apartment for a less nice but bigger campus ghetto apartment (we moved by stuffing mattresses and furniture in my car and driving a half km to the next place), and to leave the campus ghetto and move into our new house a few km away (more stuffing mattresses and furniture into cars).
Since then, our new employers have moved us. The moving company sends a representative who walks through, lists all the major items, makes notes about unusual stuff (I've had a workshop since the very beginning). A week or so later the moving van arrives, the crew packs our stuff (including cars), and we take a taxi to the airport. We land, get our rental car, drive to our temporary housing (also company paid), and wait for the moving van to arrive. They unload, unpack, and take as many empty cartons as are available. We spend the next week straightening things out.
HairyDadBear@reddit
Rent a big truck that you can drop off at your moving destination and just drive there.
Or you can ship everything, including your car. But that's the pricier option.
jastwood1@reddit
When we moved in 2019 from California to Idaho our trip was about 600 miles. The most affordable way we found was renting a truck and driving ourselves. The rental truck prices were insane from CA to ID but when I looked at the other direction it was laughably cheap($4,500 CA - ID vs $175 for ID-CA). So with some back and forth driving on my part it went like this, I drove our 1st car from CA to ID and left it with my brother. Rented a 1 way truck from Penske because they dont charge for miles. Drove the truck back to CA and paid someone from FB or craigslist to load everything from our storage into the truck. I then drove the truck back to ID where we paid another group to unload at our new house. Then drove the truck back to CA and dropped it off and then drove our 2nd car with my wife and dogs back to ID. All within 6 days. So even with the extra fuel back and forth we were way below the $4500 for the original rental.
Fae-SailorStupider@reddit
The first two times I moved cross country, I sold everything except what I could hit in my suitcase (I flew), and just started over. The third time I rented a truck and drove most of my furniture and possessions.
I preferred selling everything and starting over. Mainly because flying for 10 hours was a lot nicer than driving for 3 days.
AtomikPhysheStiks@reddit
Unbuild the house amd pack it up.
schmatteganai@reddit
You can also ship things via freight (rail, bus, trucks, sometimes container ships but that's more common for international moves than domestic) or mail boxes to yourself via the postal service.
A lot of people do some mix of all of the above - i.e. hire movers for large furniture and boxes you don't need right away *or* ship these items via freight (freight is usually cheaper), pack and move fragile/valuable/immediately needed items yourself in your car and/or a moving van, mail less-fragile items that can be shipped cheaply (like books), move yourself via bus, plane, or train if you aren't driving a car. If you choose to ship via freight, the big question is boxes, palletized shipments, or a full container/truckload, which really depends on what you're shipping to and from where.
IM_RU@reddit
I've done it a couple of times. As a couple of folks have said, it often depends on how much money you have. As a 30 year old, my family helped us pack everything in a Uhaul and we hooked up our car to the Uhaul and drove across country. The last time I did it we'd already relocated, and rented our house for a year to see if we liked the new place.
Because the move was during a COVID lockdown, we decided to pay someone to help us move: they went through our stuff, sent us pictures and we decided what to keep / donate, then they packed the house up, supervised the moving company loading, and then when the mover got to our new place, I supervised putting our stuff in storage since our new house wasn't complete. When it was, I hired a moving company to move it from the storage place to the new house and an organizer to unpack things and organize stuff that was a pain to figure out.
Yes, it's a sign that we have more money than the first time, but I have the kind of job where I'm paid by the hour. So it's more cost efficient for me to work and pay someone to do some things.
ifallallthetime@reddit
I've done a few mid-distance moves
SF-SD: Loaded up our stuff in a moving truck and drove it myself, with my wife driving my pickup also packed with stuff. My friend drove our other car down for us a week later and I flew him home
LA-AZ: Used the "PODS" company. We packed our stuff into containers and they stored and shipped it for us. We packed our pickup and SUV with the stuff we needed and drove ourselves, with the kids and dog
ratchetcoutoure@reddit
I have been living in 5 different states, when moving, I did both. Big gadgets/appliances, I will ship them. And smaller stuffs, such as books, vinyl, clothes, trinkets, I would rent a truck and a cargo trailer that I attached to my car, pack everything in boxes and drive them to the destination. Fortunately road trip is fun for me, so I don't take them as a burden. When I was single, my best friend would drive my car with the cargo trailer attached and I'll drive the Ühaul truck. But now my spouse helped me with one of the driving task.
Slothnazi@reddit
I moved from Midwest to New England.
Basically, find an apartment/house before moving -> sign lease -> pack all belongings in a U-haul or throw things out -> drive the 900 miles or so -> receive keys and unpack into new apartment/house.
A LOT easier with multiple people. If you're solo then you probably will have to hire help.
HackDaddy85@reddit
I’ve hired moving companies. Drive myself to the new location. And the moving company usually serves a few days later.
MoonieNine@reddit
I've moved across country several times. The cheapest and easiest thing is to sell most of your furniture and just buy new (or used) when you get there.
Forward_Tank8310@reddit
It can be a big challenge. My wife and I moved 4 years ago from Los Angeles to Southwest Florida. I’m a management consultant, so work from anywhere with Internet for corporate clients. We found a moving company to pack & store our stuff. Cars were shipped. Stated in a hotel in Florida using travel miles. Agent put our home up for sale. Bought a house in Florida in 3 weeks. Had our stuff delivered from LA.
Forward_Tank8310@reddit
It can be a big challenge.
My wife and I moved 4 years ago from Los Angeles to Southwest Florida. I am an independent management consultant, so set my own hours and can work from anywhere with Internet for my corporate clients.
We found a few properties online that we wanted to check out in Florida, and arranged both a selling real estate agent in LA and one in Florida to help us there both by phone. As it was during Covid, only one moving company was willing to come and look over our stuff to give us a realistic quote. The others simply gave general estimates that varied greatly, so we went with the quoting one. They packed everything up and took it to a storage facility.
Our cars were picked up the next day by a separate shipping company I booked online, we gave our keys to our local real estate agent, and we flew with our two cats to Florida.
Our cars arrived two days later. We stayed in a hotel using travel miles while we looked at candidate homes with our agent. We bought one and took possession within three weeks.
While in that process, our real estate agent found a buyer for our California house. Things were still selling fast in that part of the country.
Once we knew our future address, we contacted the moving company and had them bring our furnishings and other stuff to the new place the day after taking possession. We handled setting up utilities in advance, so everything was ready soon after move-in.
All in all it was expensive and at times stressful but we’re very glad we made the move.
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FourLetterHill3@reddit
When I moved from Dallas to Los Angeles I packed my apartment into a big U-Haul (moving/box truck). My step-dad drove the U-Haul and my mom and I drove in my car with my cats. I’ve also known people to sell all their things and buy new when they get to their destination, and I’ve known people who ship everything. There are many options! In my opinion, renting a truck and hiring people to help with the packing/unpacking is the least stressful and costs less than the other options.
DocLego@reddit
I moved from Colorado to Wisconsin. Hired a moving company to ship most of the stuff we were keeping, piled the rest in the cars, and drove across the country.
rufus_xavier_sr@reddit
I helped my brother move from Colorado to Florida. Sold his house. Got a month to month rental. He sold everything but the few things he wanted to keep. Loaded it all into a big truck and we drove it to Florida. Slept in shifts and I flew home. He paid someone to unload it on the other end. His wife and their son drove separately later to get the cars down there.
imissher4ever@reddit
Pack everything you want. Load it up in a truck. Go..
Or
Hire someone to do all the work for you.
zen_guwu@reddit
I moved from Oregon to Illinois and back. When I moved to Illinois, I got a U-haul truck and put my stuff in that. I drove three days across the country (towing my car and staying in hotels overnight). When I moved back to Oregon, I used a service called Pods. They shipped my stuff back, and I drove my car back while I did some sightseeing.
TheJokersChild@reddit
We pack the small stuff in boxes, then call up a moving company to load up our stuff and drive it to the new area. I just did it a couple weeks ago. My move was 800 km, so they loaded on a Thursday morning and unloaded Saturday morning. I drove between the two places Friday.
U-Haul is a DIY option if you've got the people to help you load and unload.
Odd-End-1405@reddit
As someone who has changed coasts a few times, it is not that deep or really that much more difficult than a local move...you still have to pack/unpack.
Basically, you pack and your stuff is put in a moving truck, same as a local move. This time, it just drives further.
Depending on how much you want to spend and the number of vehicles in the house determines how you physically get there. We have driven with one of the cars being shipped.
If you don't have a house ready where you are going, you just have your stuff stored until you are ready for it to be delivered.
Depending on finances/desires, it is sometimes more optimal to sell/give away whatever big pieces of furniture you can before moving and replacing in the new locale because moves are by weight. This really depends on your own specific pocketbook though.
SecretRecipe@reddit
Ive done a few long distance moves and each time I just pack personal things and clothes and just buy brand new furniture and housewares for the new home.
Duque_de_Osuna@reddit
Yeah, moving companies if you can afford it, otherwise you can rent a truck from a company called U-Haul and drive it yourself. It is not easy, but people do it.
BurritoDespot@reddit
Not many people are moving across the country as they get older. In your 20s you often just have cheap furniture and crap and you’re better off leaving it behind.
hemlockone@reddit
This! The US is very mobile, but as people start a family and collect more things they tend to stay in an increasingly small region.
Slight_Manufacturer6@reddit
Load it all up in a U-Haul and drive across country.
Beautiful-Report58@reddit
All of the above. It will depend on your budget, time and abilities.
Inevitable-Lock5973@reddit
I moved from the east to the West Coast. I packed everything in my car, including my cat and drove across the country and there I was. I didn’t take anything that wouldn’t fit in my little car. I sold everything out of my house. Sold my house too. I started it all over.
ray_t101@reddit
For the military i moved from the USA to Germany and the military hired a company to come help me pack my things in boxes pack the boxes in big wooden shipping crates along with all my furniture and all my household stuff. Then I had to drive my car to a shipping company and they put it all on ships and shipped it by sea to Germany and when I returned stateside they shipped it all back.
PriorFront4138@reddit
Most people will hire a moving company with a semi, sell everything they dont need/want, and then rent a box truck. Most people pack fragile things and things they care more about with them in the box truck before driving there stuff to there new house at which the moving company meets them there.
mxyzsptlk@reddit
I was in the military for 20 years and with the exception of when I moved to Korea, I always moved myself. At first, everything fit in my car, later, I got a 10’ U-Haul and towed my car on a trailer behind it. By the end, I moved my stuff from Florida to Idaho in 26’ U-Haul with my car towed behind it.
Substantial-Ad-8575@reddit
My company paid for moving. Moving company came to old house, packed everything up. Transported to new house via large 18 wheeler, San Jose CA to DFW TX. Movers unpacked/removed from boxes.
We drove 2 cars, shipped 5 other cars. Sold our Class A RV, bought new replacement. Sold sail boat, 62ft motor cruiser we docked in Bay Area. Bought newer sailboat and kept at dad’s property in FL Keys.
dbthelinguaphile@reddit
In my experience, throw everything in a big truck and drive it across the country.
dmantee@reddit
My ex and I moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco by packing our two cars as full as we could, and nothing else.
cybertruckboat@reddit
I just moved about 800 miles. Not exactly across the country, but pretty far.
We spent weeks going through everything, throwing stuff away, and packing. I rented the biggest box truck I could legally drive. We hired movers to pack the truck (this was a massive help and I highly recommend it). They filled the truck top to bottom without an inch of wasted space.
I drove the big truck to the new house while my wife followed in the car. I hired some local labor to help unload the truck (also a huge help). We were in the new house for a week doing our best to unpack and move in.
Then we drove back to the old house and lived minimally for a week doing final cleaning and repairs. We slept on a mat on the floor. We ate ramen because we couldn't really cook. We had left some basic supplies and tools behind.
Then we rented a box trailer, packed it with the last of our stuff, and drove back to the new house.
So other than loading and unloading the truck, it was a very DIY move. It was kinda fun!
Independent-Dark-955@reddit
I have done two cross country moves. We hired movers to pack up our items and furniture and move it across the country in a truck. We had a car carrier move our cars. We flew across the country and stayed in a hotel (and rented a car) until our furniture and cars were delivered. We had made separate trips by plane in advance to find housing.
According-Drawing-32@reddit
We were a military family. Moving companies move your stuff. We drove, 6 in a station wagon. Those were our vacations, driving cross country, but we stopped at national parks etc on the way.
cometshoney@reddit
We always did self moves after everything we owned was stuck in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for 3 weeks when the moving truck supposedly broke down. We used the money from the North Carolina to California move to buy a truck. We used the money from the California to Georgia move to put a down payment on a house. We would use those moves as vacation time, too. I talked the rental truck guy in North Carolina into letting us have the truck for more than 3 weeks for the one week rental rate. Every time I saw a historical marker along the way, we had to stop. Every state park we came across, we stopped. We let the dogs run in the Painted Desert. I would get my car off the trailer and drive when I got tired of being in the truck. My 3 dogs traveled the entire way in the car, which gave a lot of laughs to a lot of motorists because one dog was sitting in the driver's seat like he was actually driving, and the Black Lab was riding shotgun. The last move, I flew home with my kids while my husband, my dad, and my dogs once again drove across the country with our stuff.
travelinmatt76@reddit
The furthest I've moved is 35 miles, 56.3 kilometers. I just rented a truck and hauled it myself.
vannevar@reddit
When I moved (NY to AZ) I was moving in with someone, so the only furniture I brought was a desk I could disassemble and fit in my car. I did ship some things (postal service) to the new place, but mostly it was my vehicle and the things I could carry in it.
When my mother moved (NY to HI), her wife actually had already gotten the contract for her job in Hawaii months before my mom did and they lived apart for several months. About half the furniture went with my stepmother, and my mom was living pretty barebones until she reached her official retirement date (state job). I helped her pack up the last of her things, movers came and got them, and we took a roadtrip in her car to AZ. She flew from AZ to HI, and I had her car for a few days before the vehicle shipping service took it to LA and put it on a boat to the island.
I think my stepmother just flew with suitcases full of clothes and bought a bed that would end up in the guest room to use until the furniture they shipped came.
Gracefulchemist@reddit
Moved from Chicago to LA last year, and we did a hybrid approach. We got rid of lots of stuff, packed stuff in 1 car and my husband drove it out to find a place to rent. After that, he flew back and we packed stuff in u-haul pods and had them ship it while we drove our other car out with our cats. It was expensive, but still less than getting all new furniture and more reliable than trusting moving companies we could afford.
trinite0@reddit
I helped my friends move from Missouri to Philadelphia. We did it in a two-day road trip (would have been safer with three days) with a huge U-Haul truck and their car. The husband and I alternated shifts driving the truck, and my wife and his wife swapped off driving the car.
The truck was full of about half their possessions (they had unwisely done a first trip by themselves, then realized they really needed help with another one), and the cat was full of their kid, their pet cat and pet rats, and as much stuff as they could fit around them.
It was rough, but it could have been much better with a little more planning.
MakalakaPeaka@reddit
Typically move the things you want to keep by truck. If you have a LOT of stuff and sufficient money, you hire a company, and they move it in a tractor-trailer rig. If you either don't have a lot of stuff, and don't have the money, you pack it into a rental truck and drive it there yourself. We drive all across the country, even from coast to coast.
Tom_Tildrum@reddit
One quirk of traveling coast to coast is that people on the west coast typically take their fridge with them when they move, while people on the east coast usually leave theirs behind. When we moved from DC to LA, we got there and discovered that we had no refrigerator.
Funky-Cheese@reddit
As someone who once moved from Seattle to New Orleans, I sold everything I could then packed the essentials and had it sent on Amtrak. It was a very cost effective way to do it back then (2012). I lived in a small apartment though so I didn’t have much to send after I sold my bed, furniture, etc.
obtusewisdom@reddit
I've moved from Chicago to Denver, Denver to central Pennsylvania, and PA to Boston. We rented trucks, loaded our stuff, and drove. The longer trips required hotel stops along the way, but PA to Boston was easy.
Sufficient_Fan3660@reddit
you rent a truck
you either move your shit yourself, get friends and family to load it, or hire people
then you drive a big ass truck with bad brakes across country
you maybe hit a few minor things because its much bigger than what you normally drive
You can rent a 10.5 meter length truck and drive it without any special license: https://www.uhaul.com/Truck-Rentals/26ft-Moving-Truck/
Good luck everybody else: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLuaPZWkvZ0&t=2s
gioraffe32@reddit
You get a moving truck and drive. And it fucking sucks. I did Midwest to the East Coast back in 2024 and it wasn't experience ever, but it definitely wasn't fun. I flew my dad and brother out to help me. We put into the moving truck then convoyed out east. I drove my car, they drove the moving truck. Took like a day and a half. And then we moved in into my new place and then I paid to fly them back home. Think it cost me like $4000 total.
A friend recently went the opposite way. Midwest to the West Coast. He did a little smarter, I think. He paid for movers to toss his junk in a truck and then the movers drove and delievered it to his new apartment. My friend flew his brother out to the Midwest to help him drive his car across the country. I think he spent like $5000. The shitty part for him was that for some weird reason, it took at least two weeks for his stuff to be delivered!
Next time I move, whether in-town or across the country, I'm probably just going to hire movers. It sucks.
thenciskitties@reddit
On our recent long-distance move, we paid a moving company to ship our things for us. They also could have moved our things to us that weekend. Shipping was half as expensive ($3K), but it also took two weeks for our things to arrive.
The first time I moved long-distance we didn't have as much furniture or money, so we rented a small-ish UHaul to move it ourselves. Quicker and cheaper, but you have to drive a much larger vehicle than you're probably used to.
BigJim1492@reddit
I moved from Boston to San Diego 10 years ago, I pretty much sold all non important or sentimental items and started over otherwise it would have cost me thousands of dollars to ship all my things across the country
WhichWitch9402@reddit
You pack up what you want to take and you get rid of or sell whatever you can. It really isn't cost effective to move furniture/heavy stuff unless it's sentimental. Most Americans will drive to wherever as most of us have at least one car so you fill it up with family, pets, meds, important papers etc. and you start driving.
My dad was in the military. In the span of four years we moved from FL to Alaska to New England, and then back to FL. Military would pay up to a certain amount for move. I was a kid so I don't recall if it was like by volume or weight, but you got x and if you went over you paid. When we went to Alaska, my mom, siblings, and I flew to Seattle. Dad drove one of our cars to Seattle and it and our stuff that came by moving van were put on a ship. We had to sell our other car. When we moved two years later, sold a car, shipped one and our stuff back to Seattle. We were put in temporary housing, then met our car in Seattle and drove across country. Our stuff came by moving van a couple weeks later.
Merad@reddit
In my experience (people I know) most people moving across the country are either young with minimal stuff or else they sell their furniture and only take the most important things that will fit in a trailer or small UHaul truck. Trying to move a house full of furniture and possessions across the whole US is VERY difficult and expensive. Utterly exhausting if you don't hire professional movers, insanely expensive if you do.
For reference my last move was in 2022 from central North Carolina to the western part of the state. About 3 hours drive/200 miles distance. I couldn't tell you how many trips I made during the process of buying a house and having work done on the house before I moved. Dozens, maybe 30+ trips. I used movers but did all of the packing myself, it still cost nearly $4000.
ZinniasAndBeans@reddit
The usual procedure, as far as I'm concerned, is:
- Get rid of what you're willing to get rid of. This will vary a lot by the person--some will get rid of almost all the furniture and re-buy; some will take everything.
- Schedule movers who will carry almost everything in a truck. They'll often come look at your stuff and give you a quote.
- Hold back enough stuff to survive at the destination until the truck comes-- it will normally arrive after you, even if you drive. Basically what you'd bring if you were going to stay at a hotel, possibly with the addition of sleeping bags and extremely minimal kitchen stuff.
- Movers show up, load, drive away. Depending on how much stuff you have, you may have the whole truck, or the same truck may be moving several people's stuff.
- Drive your car, with your family and the stuff, to the destination.
- Either "camp" in your new home, or stay in a hotel, until the day the movers are expected.
- Movers arrive, unload, you spend the rest of your life unpacking boxes.
Alternatives:
Some people rent a truck on a one-way rental and move their own stuff.
Some people cut down on their possessions so much that they can just take them in their own vehicle.
Some people have the car shipped, as well as all the other stuff, and fly.
Some people have one adult drive the car while while the other adult flies with the kids.
Odd-Respond-4267@reddit
I've done several 2k mile moves, typically rent a truck, tow the car with the truck,
Last move, had a company drop off a container, and have it shipped.
After it was packed, I found out that shipping would be a week, I extended the drive up a few days and hit some tourist spots (wine tasting).
Illustrious_Leg_2537@reddit
Hired movers. They packed up the house. We got in the car with essentials and clothes for a week. Truck with furniture and stuff showed up a few days after we did. It was a 20 hour drive. We drove straight though. Truck made one other pick up and drop off along the way. Lost one lamp.
ur_moms_chode@reddit
I got rid of almost everything and Mailed a few boxes... My uncle works for an airline and is Able to get a steep discount from fedex so it didn't cost all that much
w3woody@reddit
We moved from Los Angeles to Raleigh.
The process took nearly a year, from the point where we contacted a real estate agent, to the time we had our stuff in our house again.
If you are not selling a house, but just moving from an apartment to another apartment, the process can go faster. But there are moving companies who will move your stuff cross country. It can be expensive, however, and you have to weigh the cost against just selling everything you own and buying all new stuff at the other end. (In our case, we had a few big pieces we wanted to keep, a lot of sentimental stuff--and got rid of the rest, in order to reduce moving costs.)
Senior-Cantaloupe-69@reddit
I’ve moved cross country, including a Virginia to Hawaii move back in the day. I’ve always hired a moving truck. Most were covered by an employer. Two were out of pocket. I was broke for the first (Wisconsin to Kansas). I used ABF U-pack. They dropped off a semi trailer and I loaded it. I paid by the foot. The second was a year and a half ago (Washington State to Arizona). I had money to pay pros. They sucked. I’d probably do U-pack again and hire local movers to load and unload because I’m too old and bougie to do that myself now.
For cars, I normally drive them. For Hawaii and back, I of course shipped the only car we had. That was okay. Kind of a pain picking it up in Eastern Missouri on my move from Hawaii to Kansas but not terrible. For the employer paid move from Wisconsin to Washington State nearly 20 years ago, I shipped one vehicle and drove the wife and kids in the minivan. That was a long drive. That shipping company was much better than the military shipping from HI to KS. They dropped it off at my house.
ToxDocUSA@reddit
I move a bunch because I'm in the Army. Most of the time I have a moving company come, box up my stuff, and then I drive to the new place and meet them there. Sometimes it's a direct trip like I'm racing the truck. Sometimes they stop and load or unload a bunch of other people from the same truck and it takes weeks.
A couple of times I've partially moved myself. There are companies that will provide large cargo containers and you fill them yourself and then they ship them to you. Other times I've rented my own truck and driven everything (that was more younger when I didn't have as much stuff. Usually we wind up driving one of our cars and shipping the other (separate from the household goods), but there was one time when we sold our cars and bought new on the other end.
madcatzplayer5@reddit
You rent a 5-day U-Haul truck from a Boston location with a car trailer hook-up. You load it in Boston with all your shit, you put your car on the back. Then you drive for 3 days straight to Los Angeles. Unload the stuff, return your U-Haul truck to an LA U-Haul location. If you have a vehicle with a hitch, you can also just rent a trailer that can hold a whole apartments worth of stuff.
christine-bitg@reddit
You sure put on some miles if you drove from Boston to Los Angeles in three days.
I moved from Baltimore to L.A. and it took me about 4 1/2 days. Balto > Indy > K.C. > Vail > Vegas > L.A.
madcatzplayer5@reddit
Google says 44 hours of driving for Boston to Los Angeles. So yes, I’d say 4 days is the best you could do. Sorry for my quick estimate.
christine-bitg@reddit
It's all good. Makes a difference if you have more than one driver too. (I didn't.)
commanderwake@reddit
I packed my car up with everything I couldn't sell and paid a car transport company to take it across the country. Then I flew along with a couple checked bags containing anything that didn't fit in my car. With my start date for my new job I didn't have the time to drive that far even if I wanted to (and I didn't want to).
H_E_Pennypacker@reddit
Most people don’t move a super long distance very frequently. I’d guess most people move a very long distance between zero and two times in their life. Like other commenters have said, if you do that you pay a moving company, or get rid of everything not super essential and move everything you own in 1 or 2 cars, and buy new furniture etc at your new location.
Most people move a lot more within a small area during their life, even with in the same city or area around a city. Which is probably similar to your experience in Europe or wherever you’re from.
jonesdb@reddit
I was single last time I did it. Drove my truck with a covered bed and rented an enclosed trailer to haul everything. 26 hour drive.
browneod@reddit
Moved every 3 years in the Army. Rent a moving truck and pay your Army buddies to help you load and then you drive across country and your spouse drives the car or you hire a mover. More fun when you tow a boat.
subjectandapredicate@reddit
i move between boston and LA every other year and so i keep a good long distance moving truck on hand
Plenty_Vanilla_6947@reddit
Hire a moving company. Some companies will ship the car in the same trailer.
AnnualPM@reddit
Last year I rented a big truck, attached a trailer to haul the car, and drove for 6 days. Washington State to New York State.
d16flo@reddit
I’ve moved cross country twice. The first time I took 4 duffle bags on the plane with me and that was it, but I was starting college and living in a dorm room. The second time I shipped a truckload of boxes on Amtrak and drove with my most important stuff in the car. I sold all my furniture before moving though. One of my friends just did the cross country move with furniture and she got a pod, a big container that you fill yourself that gets moved on a big truck and then you unpack on the other end
fshagan@reddit
My last move was within the state of California, about 125 miles. My company paid for the move. We hired a "moving company" that came and packed up our house, loaded it in two large trucks, and we drove our cars to the new house. A few days later they came and unpacked everything into our new house. Many families use that kind of service to move across the country.
PhantomdiverDidIt@reddit
U-Haul. We moved across country twice, once with a trailer behind the car and once with a truck.
CoderPro225@reddit
I’ve helped a boyfriend move to a different state and a cousin and her husband move several states. Both times we drove. The boyfriend rented a truck. I rode with him and his mom drove his car. My cousin, we drove down a trailer to help and so did her parents. Loaded everything up and drove it back over 2 days. Not a ton of fun but got the job done. And I got to see The Alamo in San Antonio. Bonus!
ImperfectTapestry@reddit
I've made 3 big moves like this: sc-mn for college so I just brought suitcases, mn-wa after college (same plan), wa-hi rented a container tothe Washington home& paid a company to deliver it to my Hawai'i home on a boat about 6 weeks later. Loaded & unloaded it myself with my husband. We sold our car & bought a new one more appropriate for our new location. Many people here are moved by the military & everything is shipped for them including vehicles.
andmewithoutmytowel@reddit
I moved 325 miles (525km) and we used a service called PODS, they deliver an 8’x8’x20’ storage container, you fill it, call them to pick it up Amber they ship it to your new city. Then we rented a U-haul trailer, hitched it to one car, and drove about 6 hours, then moved in. We lived with my parents while we went house hunting.
Bluemonogi@reddit
I have moved between 2 states but not as far as from one coast to another. Most of my moves have involved renting a moving truck, packing it myself, driving it to the new location and unpacking it myself. I have never hired anyone to move my stuff.
If I were moving very far I’d probably get rid of a lot of bulky furniture or appliances and buy new stuff when I get to my new place. I would not fly unless I really had to.
ShinySuiteTheory@reddit
Just had a big move from Texas to Massachusetts.
My wife and I loaded everything in shipping containers which were picked up by the company that provided them and taken to mass.
Then I drove our vehicle (29 hours, broken into 3 days with a small dog and small cat.) and unloaded the moving container with friends when they got there. Then went to go pick my wife and 1 year old up from the airport (they had been staying with her family)
ImportantImpress4822@reddit
You hire a moving company, they load it up into the truck and drive it to wherever it needs to go. It’s like any trucking job, A trucker will spend hours on the road a day. They drive across the country for all sorts of cargo/shipping/etc
Dpg2304@reddit
I've moved very long distances 4x in my life. Washington, DC-->Auburn, Alabama-->Washington, DC-->Denver, Colorado-->Atlanta, Georgia. The first 2 moves were for college, so I didn't have many belongings. I sold whatever I fit into my car. The later moves were more complicated. They involved either hiring moving companies to take care of everything ($12,000+) or renting a u-haul and doing it myself (~$5,000 and a huge pain in the ass).
2PlasticLobsters@reddit
We moved from a house in Pennsylvania to western Washington state moere than a year ago. We either sold or donated most of our stuff. eventually. On the first trip, we took only what we could fit into a pickup truck & a Toyota Camry. Around the 6 month mark, we flew back to tie up some loose ends & brought back 2 suitcases of stuff each. I also mailed myself some favorite books & DVDs.
We had kind of a minimalist thing going on already. Neither of us feels a need to own much stuff. Since we got here, we've been living in a furnished rental. We'll have to leave at the end of June, since the owners of this house are going to return & live in it. If we decide on an unfurnished place next, I plan to kit it out mostly with free stuff from Craiglist or FreeCycle. That challenge sounds amusing.
Which_Initiative_882@reddit
Drive one of these
No special license needed, no training involved.
Ok-Matter-4744@reddit
I sold or donated as much as possible and used a smaller shipping container company (they rent tiny shipping containers that fit 4 on a flatbed truck trailer) to crate my stuff so it could be moved. I used movers to do the actual getting things into and out of the container. Some companies will sell all this to you as a full service deal but I kept getting quoted a lot more than to just coordinate it myself so I just… did that instead of using a company that has both movers AND containers. It was fine. I’d probably do it again. It was a smaller version of what families do, which is hire a whole truck (like the size of several of the containers) or a whole shipping container.
RotationSurgeon@reddit
My family moved from the southeast to Alaska for a few years when I was a kid. We drove cross country while our belongings were shipped intermodally. We had a cargo container delivered, and filled it with our belongings. It went by truck to a rail yard, crossed the continent by train. When it reached Seattle, it then was transferred to a cargo ship, and was delivered from the shipyard to our destination home by truck.
RotationSurgeon@reddit
I should add that we also shipped our second family vehicle, a light pickup truck, in the cargo container along with the furniture and boxes, many of them packed into the truck itself, including a taxidermied pheasant buckled into the driver seat.
Mental-Frosting-316@reddit
Either pack everything in my car and drive, or once I had too much stuff for that I rented a truck and drove.
SaintsFanPA@reddit
I’ve moved a lot. The easiest option is to hire a mover to pack everything, load it onto a truck, and unload on the other end. I’ve shipped cars too and it was pretty economical when weighed against gas, wear and tear, time, lodging, etc.
Nancy6651@reddit
We used full service movers to move our stuff from Chicago to Phoenix. I purged and/or sold a bunch, donated more. Somehow, with our sell and buy closings a couple of days apart, it was only a week after our buy closing that the movers arrived.
Drove in my car since I was moving first, husband flew home.
Husband drove his car later in the year.
Third car was shipped.
schoolydee@reddit
ship by trucks
TalkativeRedPanda@reddit
When I moved from Texas to Ohio, I packed everything and hired space on a freight truck to ship it. I then had to go to receiving docks to get it all, and took like 10 trips with a pickup truck. I also completely loaded down my Civic with everything that could possibly fit in it to take with me.
When we moved from Ohio to another state the air force paid for a moving truck and it was door to door.
When we moved from one city to another nearby, we rented a U-Haul trailer and made 5 trips back and forth.
The more money you have the easier a move is.
AFetaWorseThanDeath@reddit
24 foot Uhaul towing our car on a trailer, 1200 miles (almost 2k kilometers) from Denver, CO to Portland, OR. With myself, my partner, and our cat in the cab. That was a rough trip lol
I'll never forget, after the first night in our Airbnb when we arrived, I went out that next morning to grab something from the cab of the truck. It absolutely REEKED of stressed-out mammal hormones and sweat 🤮😂
i-am-jjm@reddit
Moved North East to Mid West. About 1100 miles. Moved packed, loaded ~42,000 a tractor trailer equipped for moves and unloaded and unpacked a new house. They will not move ammo, alcohol or other such volatile items. They moved firearms, art, saltwater aquarium and golf simulator.
T00luser@reddit
I just find 400 friends with pickup trucks.
Zaidswith@reddit
I've done it a few ways.
Caravan where every person with a license is driving a vehicle full of stuff and someone is driving a big rented box trunk. That can be packed yourself or there are companies that just load the truck.
You can pay someone to do all of that for you. You can pack a pod and it can be shipped cross country. There's even car trains in certain destinations.
I've also just shoved my personal car full of as much stuff as possible and got rid of everything else.
I think it's most common that people drive themselves even when their stuff is being handled by a company.
Loud_Inspector_9782@reddit
Hire a moving company. There are many who specialize in long distance moving.
secrerofficeninja@reddit
Like everything else in America, there’s a company that will be happy to move you for money. Big trucks and dudes to put your stuff in and take out on other end
Vyckerz@reddit
I suppose, depending on the situation, all or some combo of the above?
When my brother moved from New England to Texas he hired a moving company to move some of their larger things. He also hired a company to transport their cars/motorcycles. He, his wife, kids and the dogs drove the whole way in their SUV pulling a box trailer with their valuables and personal stuff they wanted to keep close and didn't trust with the moving company..
They didn't move all their furniture. They decided to sell some of it as the new house was a completely different style so they bought some new stuff.
Junior-Reflection-43@reddit
First time, U Haul from Pennsylvania to New Jersey (we were paying). Then my job paid to move me from NJ to Kansas City Missouri, and later on, back again. But they paid for the moving vans. I drove to KC, and later back to NJ while the truck moved the stuff. It’s nice having them pack, load, and unload.
justaznot@reddit
I’m moving halfway across the country later this year. I’ve moved five times in the last two years, and I didn’t even bother unpacking anything except my essentials the last time so I still have most of it packed up. I have the privilege of owning a half ton pickup truck, so I’ll be renting and loading up a decent-sized U-Haul trailer, picking up a friend that lives a few hours away in the direction I’m headed, and we’re making a road trip out of it. I also just found out that another friend of mine was planning to head out that way around the same time (same route and everything, just different end destinations), so we’re now going to be a two-vehicle caravan to share hotel room costs.
goobernawt@reddit
Typically load up a truck and drive stuff to the new home. Folks with less means might rent a truck from someone like U-Haul and drive themselves. Their model is to have a network of stores across the country, so you can pick it up near your originating point and drop it off near the destination, depending on what they have for locations.
For more money, you hire a moving company and they truck the stuff. You do have to coordinate someone being at the new home to allow them access when they arrive, but that might be as simple as you leaving when they do and getting there before them. More likely than not, you're going to have one or more cars you need to get to your new place and you'll drive ahead of the movers.
Using transportation modes like rail or ship for household moves really isn't cost effective for moves within the US, even coastal moves. Though I have heard that for folks moving to Alaska from the lower 48, it's not uncommon to pack a shipping container and have stuff moved by boat.
sfprairie@reddit
Rent a UHaul truck is common. They are a national chain that rents trucks from small to large. Their largest is 26’ length cargo area and they are pretty much the largest you can drive on a normal drivers license. There are cross country moving companies as well. I have also used Old Domino Freight. They are a national trucking company that will park a commercial freight trailer at your house. You load it and they drive it across the country. I have done that and it works really well. Have also moved with UHaul several times.
SabresBills69@reddit
how do you move belongings..
contract with a moving company
rent a truck to move yourself through budget, U- haul, a few others.
with both options you can also ship your car with the moving company or tow your car.
if you rent a company you coordinate drop off time. it could occur with a large moving company and you have a you get your new place.
if you are in a 1BR with a small amt . you usually need to use large trucks because thry do multiple coordinated moves for the trucker. He might pick up your stuff in nyc, then goes t Philly to pick up 2 different loads, then to dc for a 4 th load. The last 2 loads put in are going to Denver so the truck stops in Denver and unloads it, thrn picks up another load to bring to LA with yours and another person. thus is an oversimplification.
jetloflin@reddit
Literally all of those are possible, as well as just renting a moving van and driving it all yourself.
Nofanta@reddit
We just call it moving, not moving house. You can also move a house, but that involves removing it from the foundation and putting it in a truck. You can either rent a truck and load, drive, and unload yourself or pay people to do all that. Depends on your budget.
AccomplishedTutor846@reddit
When my ex and I moved from one coast to the other, we shipped all of our belongings in trucks and her car by freight train. She flew out (started her new job first), then I drove cross-country solo in my car to join her.
NastyNate4@reddit
Do it yourself and break a bunch of stuff yourself or pay a moving company who will break a bunch of your stuff anyway. Or sell as much as you can before moving
crazypurple621@reddit
The pods are great, but don't fall for rat pack. Pods has a scale on the pod and tells you upfront how much you can load in it. Ratpack only has scales on their trucks and their weight limit is MUCH lower than the average weight should be for the container size because their truck lift is extremely underpowered.
the-hound-abides@reddit
I moved from Orlando to Massachusetts for work.
We hired movers, who then stored our belongings in a warehouse.
We lived in temporary housing provided by my husband’s new employer, as the market in Massachusetts is insane.
Me and the kids flew with the cat. We wanted to minimize travel with the cat (and the kids).
My husband drove one car up with the dog. The dog was too big to fit in passenger area, we were not comfortable putting him in cargo. Especially in the Orlando heat in late July. The tarmac can get unbearable very quickly if they don’t load them immediately and the cargo area isn’t climate controlled if you get delayed on the runway. The other car was stored at my grandparents house.
We eventually closed on a house 3 months later because the process up here is crazy. We contacted the movers to bring our stuff. That was a process. We also contacted a transport company to bring our second car from my grandparents to our new house.
They finally delivered the stuff almost 3 weeks later. We were then able to move out of temporary housing and into the house.
So yeah, cross country moves are not for the faint of heart, especially if you have family involved.
Yankee_chef_nen@reddit
When my family moved from Maine to Louisiana (1500+ miles) we packed our household goods, loaded a U-Haul, Dad and younger brother rode in the U Haul, Mom the dog and I rode in the car in convoy.
That dog lived in 11 different houses in six states.
crazypurple621@reddit
My husband and I moved from Seattle to Albuquerque and yes we really did load up all of our stuff into shipping containers that were picked up by a moving truck, and then drove with boxes of our immediate need items in our vehicles.
It really depends on where in life you are. We had been married for 10 years at that point, had a kid, dogs, and owned a house full of stuff. Replacing that stuff would have been much more expensive, and because we were buying a bigger house anyway we were already looking at needing to buy a few different pieces of furniture. We did sell the furniture that wasn't going to work in our new space, but replacing just the furniture with what we had would have been well over $10,000. Shipping it across country cost $3,000 which the company covered as moving expenses. When we moved up there though we just loaded our cars.
gard3nwitch@reddit
I've never moved more than 100 miles as an adult, but I know plenty of people who have.
Some people will hiring a long distance moving company, yes. Some guys show up with a box truck, fill it up with your stuff, and drive to your new house.
Other people rent a truck or van and DIY it. (This is easier if you're moving locally.)
There are also companies that will drop off what's basically a small shipping container in your driveway. You fill it up yourself, and they'll come and pick it up and deliver it for you. Then you unpack it at the other end.
And then some people just give away or sell all their furniture before they move, and only take what they can fit in their car.
Gyvon@reddit
When I moved from Houston to Missouri the moving company put our stuff on a truck that was headed for Chicago with a bunch of other people's stuff. They would stop at various places on the way to drop off part of their load.
Took about a month for our stuff to arrive.
dr_stre@reddit
I’ve done this twice (sorta 3 times?) over long distances (1500km minimum, up to 3500km).
First time we did a thing where they drop the back of a semi off and you fill it up and then they come and get it and take it to your destination where you get some time to unpack it again. Wasn’t super quick, took like a week and a half at least to get our stuff. We drove separately and enjoyed some national parks along the way.
Second time was closer to full service. We hired a local moving company comprising mostly college athletes or former college athletes. We packed everything first and they loaded and drove it directly to the new location. We drove as well, and actually passed our stuff on the highway twice. Couldn’t do any sightseeing this time unfortunately.
Third sorta time was moving the rest of our first house into our third house after we finally sold the first one just after moving from the second into the third. (Less glamorous than it might sound, it was a long term work assignment, not just a second home for the thrill of it.) This time we did similar to the first time but instead of loading it ourselves we hired local movers to load it and unload it.
All three worked well. First approach was cheapest, third approach was next cheapest, middle time was easily the most expensive. But it was also the easiest.
under_ice@reddit
So many people's first long move are done in a overstuffed Subarus
UnderwaterKahn@reddit
So I think the first thing I think of is most people who move, even to other states, are not moving coast to coast. In fact a big percentage of us live nowhere near a coast. I have lived in five different states in my adult life after living in the same house for my entire childhood minus my first 6 months of life. Most of those moves have been within 200 miles (or about 322 kilometers) of my hometown. Two of those moves have been about 500 miles (or about 805 kilometers). A couple of times those moves have been short term for work or research. In those cases I put most of my belongings in storage and rented a small trailer of necessities behind my vehicle. The other, more permanent moves have been done with the help of friends and family and a rented moving van. I may be making one more big move in my life and in that case I will have most of my belongings moved in a pod or other moving service and I will drive to the new destination with my pets.
Haifisch2112@reddit
My ex wife and I worked for the same company and got relocated from Ohio to South Carolina. They got us a moving company who packed all of our stuff, loaded it onto a big ass truck, drive it to our new home, and unloaded everything. If that wouldn't have happened, we would have done all of that work ourselves, which would have sucked.
energylegz@reddit
You can hire a truck out to pick everything up and deliver it a couple weeks later. Usually long haul movers get enough customers to fill a full truck, so they spend a week or so picking up everyone’s stuff and then a few days driving to the new area. Last time I moved across country it took about 2 weeks for my things to be delivered which gave me enough time to drive to my new house and clean.
Meekanado@reddit
When I moved across the country the first time, I started completely over and bought furniture when I got there. Same with the second and third time. The fourth time I was married with a kid and we put all our things in a pod and had it shipped to our new house. That sucked, so when we move back we’ll hire a moving company and have them handle it all.
Lifelong_learner1956@reddit
Depends on the volume of stuff, distance and budget,
DIY via box truck rental for small to medium amounts of stuff and for economy. Perhaps followed by partner/friend with a personal vehicle.
One friend who was relocating for a job. Her new employer paid a relocation specialist to help her find an apartment and covered the moving company expense. They even loaded her car on the van. She flew with her pet, arrived several days before her stuff and stayed briefly in a pet friendly hotel.
Shipping via water would be unusual for domestic moves. The only people I know who did that were active-duty military moving to Japan (again moving paid by employer)
ghjm@reddit
Yes
No. Moving companies also have storage. They hold onto your stuff until you've taken possession of the new place. In the meantime you probably stay in a hotel for a couple days.
Some people do. It's the easiest way to get your car moved. You can also have your car shipped by car carrier truck, or hire someone to drive it for you.
Yes, people do this all the time. Or rather, hire movers to do it.
No, this is unheard of. Movers move stuff by truck.
There's also a company called U-Haul that will rent you up to (I think) a 26-foot box truck, which is the largest you can drive on a regular driver's license. This is commonly done to save money. People often tow their car behind a U-Haul, or if their possessions are small, rent a U-Haul trailer to go behind their car. U-Haul specializes in one way rentals - you can rent a truck in Boston and return it in LA.
Adjective-Noun123456@reddit
Currently moving my girlfriend and her daughter down here from Seattle, so I can speak to this.
For furniture and boxes we're renting a pod, which is essentially a shipping container that the company drops off at the home you're leaving for a few days. You rent it for X amount of days at that location to load it, then they pick it up and transport it to the home you're moving into, and you have it again for X amount of days to unpack it. Then they come and pick it up.
We're putting her truck on a car hauler. The two of them are just flying down like they would normally when they visit. Everything is going in the pod.
giddenboy@reddit
Uhaul baby
BoydCrowders_Smile@reddit
First time from north to south, my parent's helped by getting a U-Haul that attached to their vehicle, and we all packed it up and drove down, took 2 days travel and unfortunately to my dad, he had to bring the empty U-Haul back up north (it was apparently loud and he was not happy about it).
When I moved from the SE to the SW, I hired a company to load up PODs, because we knew that our personal drive to get to our new place would take longer since we were traveling with pets and had a slight detour - 4 or 5 day travel.
PODs were terrible. Trying to manage the logistics of them was a pain, but not as much as the drop off/pick up with them damaging our old driveway, and one POD having damage at the top and getting rain damage on some furniture during transit.
I don't know how I'd do it again, honestly, but I'd never recommend PODs but hiring at least a company to move large furniture and packages was MUCH worth it. Having pets makes it more complicated. If I did the last move again, I'd probably ask a family member willing for me to pay them to go ahead of time and have a company pack and load a truck to meet them while I have to transport my pets. I will never trust flying with pets.
tilario@reddit
the last time i moved a long distance in the states a company dropped a shipping container off at my house. i loaded it and three days later they picked it up. a few weeks later they dropped the container off at my new place 3,000 miles away. i unloaded it and a few days after that they came and picked it up.
RodeoBoss66@reddit
We walk, ride horses and carry our belongings in covered wagons.
I'm kidding.
It often depends on the size of the household in question. For a family of 3, 4 or more, it's most common to use a professional moving company, who have staff that transport our household belongings long distance, boxed up, put into trucks of whatever size necessary, and shipped, while the family travels to the new home by air or over the road (road trips can be fun and educational!).
For small 1 & 2 person households, it's common to utilize moving rental companies that specialize in providing moving trailers and trucks for self-moving, such as U-Haul , Penske Truck Rental , or Budget Truck Rental.
However, sometimes larger families will utilize the self-moving options as well. It depends a lot on what one can afford and what one's needs are regarding the move.
DesperateHotel8532@reddit
When my parents and I moved from one state to another they hired a moving company and we drove our car to our new apartment. It’s only an eight hour drive, but the movers took longer, so we had to wait for two days for our furniture. I was little and I thought it was fun to run around the empty apartment and sleep in a sleeping bag for two days.
Accomplished-Race335@reddit
We moved cross country in a U-haul truck for one driver and our car with the dog and the second driver. We took a week to drive but you can do it in less time as needed. I think we shipped our books though.
FloridianPhilosopher@reddit
There are a lot of options
Moving company, U-Haul, Pods etc
U-Haul is pretty self explanatory but I've seen Pods get pretty popular over the past 5 years or so
They basically drop off a small shipping container at your house, you fill it with all your stuff and then they pick it up with a truck and drive it to your new place
phydaux4242@reddit
U-Haul has existed for decades for a reason.
SnowblindAlbino@reddit
I've moved the equivalent of Boston to LA (coast to coast) and have done the half-way version of that several times. We have always rented trucks and done it all ourselves. The last big one we had a 23 foot truck, towing our car on a dolly, and our pickup towing our boat. Everything loaded to the roof.
When we retire in a few years we'll be relocating again, about 1,500 miles. I plan to sell/donate most of our stuff then so we can downsize and start over in our new digs...but we'll still need a rental truck for the heirlooms, books, and clothes we'll keep.
Nobody ships anything by water on this scale-- it's too slow and too expensive for partial loads. Hired movers are enough of a hassle over-the-road. The only people I've ever known to ship thing by water were military families moving internationally.
Jsmith2127@reddit
Rent uhuals, or use a moving company.
Pirate_Lantern@reddit
You pack all your things into a moving van and DRIVE.
Imaginary_Ladder_917@reddit
I used a moving company. They were met at the other end by my fiancé.
toastedmarsh7@reddit
We bought a huge enclosed trailer, sold/gave away what we didn’t absolutely need to move, packed it up ourselves, and my husband hauled it 1600 miles across the country. I drove the other car with our kids.
Hamster_S_Thompson@reddit
I moved from NYC to California when I was young and we didn't have much valuable stuff. It was cheaper and more convenient to sell our Ikea furniture and buy new ones in California.
t1edt0ngue@reddit
We moved from Seattle to NYC. The movers packed our things into a semi-trailer truck. It took 2 weeks to get our things, since there were 2 other homes packed into the semi. We took a vacation and then flew across the country to meet our stuff
moskowizzle@reddit
When I moved from San Francisco back to New Jersey, I packed up all my stuff and then a moving company came and picked it up. Took like 3 weeks, but then they delivered all my boxes to the new place. I didn't have a car at the time so I just flew, but if I did have one I could have driven (no thanks) or shipped it (yes please).
Princess_Parabellum@reddit
Box (almost) everything up and send it to the new location by truck. Valuable stuff (jewelry, identity documents, computers and other tech) and pets go in your vehicle and stays with you as you drive cross- country. Take it all out of your car when you stop for the night, load it all up again the next morning when you hit the road again.
justhere4freesnacks@reddit
Because the country is vast, there's an entire industry to solve this problem.
My family did it several times. A couple of times, we had a moving company haul our stuff while we drove. If our stuff arrived before us, the moving company put it in storage until we were ready to receive it. One time, we packed everything in a box truck ourselves and drove it. It certainly wasn't fun but we made it work.
FormidableMistress@reddit
I had to move unexpectedly a few times now because my house became unlivable. Once I had a gas leak in my apartment and my landlord illegally turned the gas back on instead of fixing the problem. So I moved a thousand miles away to stay with my best friend for 6 months. I put everything I owned in a storage unit in the city I lived in and just had a small box of essentials I shipped to her house, and took a carry on bag on the train with me to her city. When I was able I came back and got a new apartment, and moved my stuff out of the storage unit.
AlarmingSlothHerder@reddit
I moved once from Virginia to Texas. Before I had a job. We put almost all of our belongings in a storage locker, my ex went to stay with her parents in upstate New York, and I drove to Texas to find a job.
We made a reservation with a moving company that they would load all our stuff up at the storage unit and bring it to us wherever we ended up in Texas.
I found a job, drove up and picked up the ex and drove her to the Texas town I got the job in. We stayed in a motel for a week. My ex found a house to rent while I was at work.
We started our lease at the house and "moved" in with nothing but our luggage. She contacted the moving company and it took them about a week to bring our stuff. So it felt like we were bums squatting in an abandoned house for that first week. lol
GardenWitchMom@reddit
The same as moving short distances. You pack it all up and load it in a truck.
Struggle_Usual@reddit
Sometimes people hire moving companies and then fly to their new homes (or drive if they want a road trip). Other times they might rent a uhaul or similar and move their stuff themselves. Sometimes they may start totally fresh. I've never heard of someone literally shipping their stuff by sea when moving within the US though. But I do know a few who mostly started fresh but shipped personally items via UPS.
I mean how do people move in other countries?
Tongue4aBidet@reddit
Rent a truck and drive it yourself. Hire a company to load and move while you drive your own car. Load containers they will hold for you and deliver when ready. Put your stuff in storage until you have a place for it. Give away your stuff and start over. It can even be any combination of these.
Usually big moves the pay increase is enough you hire someone for whichever method is cheaper or the company pays for it
FionaTheFierce@reddit
A moving company. Or you rent a truck and drive your own stuff across the country.
But yes - people drive for long distance moves. They drive their cars (which they also need to move), pets, maybe valuables in their cars. Moving truck has furniture, boxes, etc.
The delivery will be scheduled once the owners have arrived at the new house.
TeamTurnus@reddit
Either drive a truck or hire a moving company to do so for you (depending on budget and amount of stuff and size of truck needed).
Folks pretty will usually drive themselves since they usually have a car and they need to move that to.
For example when we moved to flordia we drove for like 3 days to get there as a family.
einsteinGO@reddit
When I moved from Maryland to Los Angeles I paid to have my car shipped and flew and met it a day after I arrived.
And yes, I stayed with a friend for a couple weeks while I found and then moved into my apartment. Then I bought all my furniture when I was in my apartment.
Friends who have also moved cross country have rented pods to be shipped and delivered with furniture. And I’ve had friends do the drive cross country themselves.
94grampaw@reddit
The same why you move shorter distances, but you just go further, moving to the other side of town, ivoles the same stuff as moving to the other side of the country, but all your stuff in a box truck and than drive 1-3000 miles than put that stuff in the new place.
whatsupgrizzlyadams@reddit
We had a moving sale and sold all the furniture, and a bunch of other stuff except the beds.
We were able to rent a single u-haul to carry the remaining things. I drove the big vehicle with the 2nd car on a rented trailer.
When we got to the new house, we Thrifted for new furniture. Fresh start!
RedLegGI@reddit
Moved from Ohio to Alaska then Alaska to Ohio. Involved a moving company both ways. On the way back home, drove the car and packed them with a lot of immediate use items.
Tacoshortage@reddit
Lots of jobs will pay moving expenses if they transfer you to another city. Some jobs offer moving assistance as a signing bonus. The moves I've done have all been myself with a box truck because I didn't have much stuff and the distances were short but moving companies with big semis are common.
TheKiddIncident@reddit
You literally can hire a truck and do it all yourself. That's probably the hardest option. My mother and I did this years ago when we moved from Oregon. There are companies like u-haul that will let you rent a truck in one state and return it in another, wherever you're going. Probably the cheapest option.
Way easier to hire a professional moving company. They will pack everything in a large truck and ship it for you. There are several companies in the USA who specialize in exactly this. Not cheap, but way easier. When I got moved by my company, they paid my moving costs, this was awesome and way easier.
Most people will drive their cars across country rather than having them shipped due to the cost. It takes a few days, but you can do it.
Aware-Owl4346@reddit
Moving company. And there are several that will pick up your stuff and hold it until your new home is ready.
adarkara@reddit
We moved from NJ (Philly area) to Colorado. My husband drove out by himself with his car, flew back, then we packed out apartment into a truck. We took 3 days and he drove the truck and my car (me and the 2 dogs in it) and stayed in hotels on the way. Coincidentally the only time my dog ever drank out of a toilet was in Ohio in the hotel LOL
ATLien_3000@reddit
Vehicle travel over far distances is trivial in the US.
Your stuff is only going on a boat if you're moving to an island.
Mid sized trucks and trailers can be and often are rented and driven by individuals.
Lots of stuff in a big truck, you're probably paying someone to move it.
thewickedbarnacle@reddit
I moved coast to coast 3 times. Packed my stuff into an ABF trailer and then drove across all 3 times. Easy. I moved literally next door once and it was worse. ABF is a freight company and they drop a trailer at your house. You pay by the space you use. They fill empty space with a commercial load.
Pleasant_Studio9690@reddit
I moved 2600 miles (4200 km) coast to coast. I sold almost everything, installed a trailer hitch on my little car, rented a small cargo trailer from U-Haul for $400, loaded up my clothes and sentimental items, and drove myself solo. Took me 40 hours of actual driving over 5 days and then I had to re-buy furniture and other household goods. If I did it again I would rent a large U-Haul truck and take most of my stuff back with me..
Independent-Goat-779@reddit
My brother recently moved across country. He hired a moving company. Probably was his best option.
Maybeitsmeraving@reddit
When I moved across the country 2 years ago we did a mix. We sold and gave away a lot. We packed what we were keeping into an RV I owned and I drove that and my partner drove our car, and we swapped halfway. It was about a 30hr drive and we did a mix of sleeping in the RV (not very comfy since everything but the cot over the cockpit was full of stuff) and staying in cheap hotels on the way up. I had a narrow window of time to move with my job and not really any support since I was the one who requested relocation.
RetreadRoadRocket@reddit
We haven't moved coast to coast, but we did move from state to state, about 750km. We rented a storage unit to put it in while we sold our house and then moved it into storage in the new state with a rented U-Haul truck until we got a house here.
Brief-Percentage-193@reddit
For cross-country moves I'd guess that most people would use a u-haul or some equivalent. They rent out box trucks in all sorts of sizes and operate in all 50 states.
If cost isn't a concern we also have companies that would do this for you but it would be quite a bit more expensive to go this route.
The last option would be to sell any items you can't fit in your car and just buy new furniture/appliances/whatever else you couldn't fit.
I've never actually moved across the country but if you hire a moving company there is a very strong chance that you would beat your stuff if you fly. If for some reason that's not an option you could give a key to the moving company. If you can't trust them with a key to your house you should not be trusting them to move your belongings.
seancbo@reddit
I've moved coast to coast a couple times now, and am about to do it again, so I feel qualified to share my experience.
Yes, you can get a huge moving truck and drive that across states to bring everything with you. My parents did this when I was young and it was a massive pain in the ass and extremely expensive.
My preferred method now is to just sell or toss everything bigger than a small box. Mainly furniture. Then pack the car you're taking full to the brim with whatever you want to bring, and start driving. I did California to Florida (twice) and Florida to Washington State this way. And you do, you just drive state by state, 8-12 hours a day, take power naps if you get a little tired, grab a hotel when you get very tired. Takes time, but it's pretty fun honestly. Then you get new stuff when you get there, with quality dependent on how long you think you'll be staying.
Highway49@reddit
If you’re my brother, you trick your younger brother to fly from CA to DC on the pretense of visiting, and then you trick your younger brother into helping you move when he arrives.
Alymander57@reddit
First time at 21, I loaded up my SUV. Second time at 23, I needed a small U-Haul trailer. 3rd time at 27, my dad flew out and drove the small U-Haul truck back to my hometown while I followed in the same old loaded up SUV with the dog I had acquired.
This was almost 20 years ago. My last 3 local moves with my husband have all been by a moving company.
JThereseD@reddit
I moved 1,000 miles and sold my old house after I bought my new house. First I drove my car with my most valuable things to the new house. Then I flew back to make settlement after sending everything in a moving van and I was able to fly back. It was very stressful.
RoxnDox@reddit
Different moves, different methods. Done a couple of military moves, done a couple DIY moves, done a two-guys move for MIL. Depends on distance, who’s paying, and how much stuff to move…
Fire_Mission@reddit
I've moved cross-country a few times. First thing: the culling. Do I really NEED to take these things a thousand miles? If not, sell, give away, donate. Then the packaging. After that, rent a big truck and a dolly to pull behind and transport my car. Then load up and move out! My last move was much closer, so I paid for a moving company to do it for me.
jessek@reddit
Rent a large truck, use a pod shipper or hire a moving company. Selling everything you can’t fit into your car is also an option.
tambor333@reddit
When I moved from California to Texas I used a moving service. I got 40% of a semi trailer to m I ve my 4 bedroom home.
My wife and kids road tripped through Nevada , Utah, New Mexico and Texas to get our vehicles to Texas.
We waited 2 days in Austin to get our truck delivered and unloaded.
NitescoGaming@reddit
I've moved coast to coast twice. First time I packed my car to the brim, drove, and bought furniture on the other side. Second time I got a U Box from Uhaul and packed it with the stuff I wanted to keep, and had it shipped over.
Other options include hiring professionals, getting a bigger truck and driving it yourself, giving away or selling things on one side and buying new stuff on the other.
bjb13@reddit
I have moved many times over the years. There are lots of ways to do it.
In 1978 Intel moved our entire group from California to Oregon. They had trucks pick up our belongings and move them to our new homes. We drive ourselves.
Over the years there I moved 4 or 5 times. I hired a truck and got friends to help move everything.
In 2001 I moved back to California. I got a truck and moved my belongings. I then flew back to Oregon and drove my car down. The day I drove down as 9/11. It was a very weird day driving 650 miles listening to just the news.
In 2002 and later in 2007 I moved from California to Pittsburgh, PA and back. Each time I hired a 26-foot truck and a trailer. I but my belongings in the UHaul and towed my car in the trailer. I’m happy to say I did it without ever having to backup the truck/trailer combo.
In 2011 I went to work in New Jersey. My new employer paid for a company to move my household belongings, another company to move my car on a truck like the ones you see hauling new cars while I flew out from California.
In 2015 I bought a new place and hired a local moving company to move all the furniture while I put the boxes in my car and moved them the 10 miles or so.
InevitableStruggle@reddit
U-Haul does it for me. Never had a move big enough move to require a moving company. Just rented U-Haul and rounded up a few friends.
cactuscoleslaw@reddit
There are companies that specialize in doing exactly this. If you've ever seen the movie Inside Out, the family packs everything they can fit into their car and drives from Minnesota to California, but when they get there, the moving truck is delayed which is a minor plot point
vilyia@reddit
My husband and I moved from Florida to Kansas, which was about 1500 miles or 2400 km. We shipped two UHaul containers by truck, shipped my vehicle by car carrier, and towed a trailer behind his truck and drove to our new home. Three days and two nights of travel (I didn’t want to only stop one night due to our cats traveling with us). It was expensive and we paid for it with the sale of our house.
Drew707@reddit
I've worked with a guy for over 10 years. In that time, he has lived in Minnesota, California, Nevada, Minnesota, Texas, and Florida twice. When he moved from Nevada to Minnesota, he had a friend drive a rental truck with most of his shit the nearly 3,000km while he drove his car. For most of his moves after that, he just decided that he would sell his shit and buy new shit when he got there. I don't fully get it. When I moved back to California from Nevada, it took me a couple of trips with a trailer, but that was only about 360km and much, much cheaper than buying everything new.
No-Koala1918@reddit
Now try moving to Hawaii!
Im_Not_Nick_Fisher@reddit
The alternative option is to get a POD type of deal. Portable on demand storage. Basically a big box that you load and lock your stuff in. Call the company and they come pick it up and bring it to the desired location. Then you unload it at your convenience. Call them when you’re done with it. They can just store it as well until you are ready.
Background-Head-5541@reddit
Rented a big uhaul truck. I drove the truck. My wife drove her Jeep with the dogs in it. Planned stops for sleep. Made it to our new home and unloaded. A couple weeks later I took a 1 way flight back to get my pickup truck with trailer (that had another car inside it).
CraftFamiliar5243@reddit
We moved from the Chicago area to East Tennessee in 2020. We rented a 26' box truck and also used our truck and small trailer to move a few loads in the months before.
ThirdSunRising@reddit
Trucks, generally. For small moves like apartments you generally get a U-Haul box truck. They’ll do a one-way rental for you: rent the truck in San Francisco and drop it off in San Diego. And then someone in San Diego rents that truck and it winds up in Phoenix. It’s a nationwide rental system so the trucks just end up wherever, and they tend to adjust their prices to encourage trucks to move in the direction where they’re needed most. A US regular automotive non-commercial drivers license is good for up to a twelve ton rig, so it really needs to be a pretty big amount of stuff before this method becomes unviable.
For bigger moves you just hire someone. There are big trucking companies specializing in this. I’ve also hired three dudes with a box truck on Craigslist who did the job for a fee. I’ve also just had one pallet of stuff to move coast to coast, so you call an “LTL” (less than truckload) freight company and they move your pallet or pod for you as freight.
Top-Web3806@reddit
I’ve moved coast to coast twice in my life.
First time: I was young and left/sold the little furniture I had accumulated. I packed anything I could into my car and drove by myself the whole way, just stopping in rest stops to sleep for a few. I also shipped a bunch of boxes that I couldn’t fit in my car.
Second time: Older and had a lot of stuff. Hired moving company to move all of my belongings, shipped my car because I wasn’t driving that again, and flew with a suitcase or two of essentials. Car and moving company picked up while I was still at house 1, arrived at house 2 after I’d already arrived
Same person, two totally different ways of doing it.
Combat__Crayon@reddit
I doubt anyone is using an actual ship like even Seattle to San Diego is only like a 2 day drive. I'm not even sure there are that many commercial ships making a route like that, so it would probably take longer.
Perdendosi@reddit
It really depends on how much stuff you have, how much money you have, and how much time you have.
Many people hire moving companies--especially if their employers are paying for it. Large national companies will give you a day to pick up your stuff (or pack up and pick up, if you have the money to pay them to pack for you), and then will put your stuff on giant trucks with other people's stuff and give you a few-day range when your stuff will be delivered.
If you don't have that much stuff, or don't have enough money to hire professional movers, then you pack up your stuff yourself and drive a rented one-way truck, often rented by the U-Haul or Budget Rental companies.
There are some "in between" options too. For example, you can rent a moving container (or two) that is dropped off in front of your house or apartment, you load it up, then a company comes and moves the container for you, drops it off at your new place, and then you unpack and unload. Or you can hire people at both ends to help you pack or unpack.
Generally, people don't fly to their new location when they move because they have a vehicle that they're taking, and if you use a service, you usually get to your new location before your stuff does so you will take some stuff (more than a suitcase) with you. You can have cars shipped, but that's kind of expensive and a waste, unless you're really well off.
Do you take everything? Well, again it depends on your level of wealth. Lots of young folks or working class folks don't have that much stuff. And a lot of what they have isn't very quality, so it's not worth the time, hassle, and cost of moving it. Lots of people get furniture from places like IKEA, or may buy furniture secondhand. That stuff is often not of high quality (so it might not even survive the move), or replaceable for cheap in the new location, so it might get sold at a garage sale, donated to a charity shop, or just thrown away. For large furnishings that might not work in the new place, people might sell houses furnished or partially furnished and leave larger pieces. Or they have giant garage sales where they sell stuff of low value that they don't need to move, or that will be easy to replace at their new location.
People generally don't ship on the sea using shipping containers unless they're doing an international move. I suppose it's possible, but highly unlikely. I'm not sure our ports are designed for handling intrastate shipping (e.g., not having to pass customs, etc.).
OneHappyTraveller@reddit
I relocated at my company’s expense. They hired the moving company. Did everything for me except unpack at the other end.
Melioidozer@reddit
If I had a sufficient moving allowance through work I used a company. Most often, I rented a Penske and moved it myself. Always Penske, NEVER U-Haul.
Sassifrassically@reddit
My friend moved from California to Alaska, she got rid of a lot of her stuff and shipped the rest. Then she flew there.
Calaveras-Metal@reddit
I moved from San Francisco to New York City once. I loaded up all my stuff into a Hertz box truck. Basically the biggest truck you can rent without a truckers license. And drove it myself across the country. I stayed in a few motels and even slept in the cab one night when all the hotels were taken by a car show.
Then I unloaded most of it into a storage unit in Brooklyn because my new apartment was New York smaller than my SF apartment. And I have a ton of music gear, books and records in addition to ordinary stuff like clothes and chairs.
Most folks hire moving companies, especially if they are a family.
But I have a history of doing hard work so moving a house full of furniture is just another sweaty day where I get to eat pizza at the end. I'm also a little bigger than average, so moving a dresser or something isn't a big deal. I've also moved other family members like this. I'm kind of designated mover in this family.
I think the part non Americans have trouble with is that yes we really do drive all the way across the country. My grandpa would drive about a thousand miles with his wife to come visit us down south, then he would drive another 1000 miles down to the tip of Florida for vacation. Some folks would do that trip by plane or train. But the reason American cars are so big and comfortable is because lots of folks like to drive long distances. Or do so for work.
Weightmonster@reddit
Typically moving company (often company pays for this), getting rid of yourself that won’t fit in a suitcase and start new, sell large stuff and move in a car, rent a moving truck and try to drive your stuff… Lots of options.
kamakazi339@reddit
Rent box truck
Will move
SwordTaster@reddit
uHaul is what my husband and I did. North Carolina to Ohio, 10+ hours of driving, many hours of shoving boxes about, multiple trips to get everything. We did it. Next time we make a big move, we're hoping to use a bigger truck and do it all in one trip as now we have 3 pets to move too
Eastern-Eggplant4374@reddit
We packed a big u haul and then towed a trailer u haul behind a vehicle and spent 5 days trucking across America. It's expensive.
int3gr4te@reddit
I've made several long-distance moves now, but the longest one was DC to LA. I hired movers to pack up most of my apartment and put it in a truck, which would take a week or so to get there. Loaded the remainder into my car, along with my partner and cat, and spent a week driving across the country. Visited 4 national parks on the way, too!
old_mans_ghost@reddit
PODS are the way to go. Pack it up yourself. Let the company deliver it to the destination. You unload it. Cheaper than full service movers
GetOffMyLawnYaPunk@reddit
The very first time I moved long distance, everything I owned fit in my Mustang. Of course, everything was my clothes, stereo, & about 10 record albums. I was 19 y.o.
marla-M@reddit
I’ve moved across country 2ce east to San Diego and back again). Both times we had a moving truck while we drove. They can store your belongings if you need them to until you arrive. I had a friend who used Pods and they stored them for a few months while she did some traveling
Reverend_Tommy@reddit
Among the other methods mentioned by people, we have companies that rent moving trucks of various sizes that you load up and drive. The most popular is a company called U-Haul. They rent everything from small pickup trucks to large moving trucks. You do all the work: packing your belongings, loading them on the truck, driving the truck, refueling it as needed, and unloading it at your new residence. Generally this is the most economical way to move.
U-Haul also sells all kinds of moving boxes, bubble wrap, tape, etc., as well as renting furniture dollies and appliance dollies to help move large heavy objects. Here's a link to see what I'm talking about. People in other countries are sometimes surprised that anyone with a regular drivers license can rent such large trucks with no training.
https://www.uhaul.com/Truck-Rentals/
Lootlizard@reddit
I moved from Minnesota, to Florida, to California, back to Florida, and now I'm moving back to Minnesota. Everytime I've just rented a 26ft box truck , loaded all my stuff up, hitched my car to the back, and drove it myself. I've moved over 10,000 KM all in. A lot of people will hire a moving company or a company like PODS to move their stuff but I'm cheap.
SeeYaInOzFolks@reddit
We used pods to move half our stuff. We threw out the other half or sold it. We didn’t want to drive a uhaul at the time because they were price gouging in LA. Drove our van with all our suitcases, computer equipment, blankets and pillows across the country in 6 days. Even stopped for a wedding. The kids had a blast.
TheMainEffort@reddit
When you hire a moving company, it typically involves living in an empty home for a few days on either end of your move. We did this recently and just drove essentials ourselves
AshDenver@reddit
I moved 300 miles (Detroit to Chicago) and did that by car when I was like 19 and didn’t have much. Same when I moved back.
When I moved 1,200 miles (Detroit to Denver), I rented a box truck and hitched my car to it and drove everything out.
When we moved 1,300 miles (Denver to Portland. OR), we hired a moving company to drive it all out, loaded up the dogs and drove.
Same when we moved back to Denver. Movers and us driving our vehicles.
Specific-Peanut-8867@reddit
I’m sure everybody’s already answered this, but most people would either hire a moving company or rent a U-Haul
Emergency_Ad_1834@reddit
I moved from Seattle to Chicago as a renter. We visited Chicago to narrow down neighborhoods and got in touch with a broker to help us find an apartment. We did video call tours and explored the area on google maps until we found a place we liked. We used a moving company who packed and transported our stuff and we drove to Chicago with our computers and a few weeks of clothes while we waited for our stuff to arrive.
It’s not cheap. For a 1 bed, 2 office home we spent over $10000 to move
OtherConversation592@reddit
fold it up an put it in my pocket.
reflectorvest@reddit
You can look at my flare to see where I’ve lived and from where I moved. The only time I flew for a move was when I moved overseas. Every other time, including 6 months ago, I sold big items and packed my car with smaller stuff and drove, then replaced bigger stuff when I got to my new place. I am a single adult though, and I imagine it’s different for people with families.
Do_Will@reddit
Americans have a way of not getting too attached to a place, a house or its contents. And, furniture depreciates very fast and easily disposable or movable. Hence, a decision to move is taken much more lightly than in many other countries. Usually, if an employer pays for the move, maximum furniture is moved. There are several options for moving, depending on budget and ease - Moving companies, Loading and unloading companies, U-Hauls, Trailers. Moving can almost become a fun reset.
Distance only matters in terms of the time it takes to get there - a few hours more.
Hoopajoops@reddit
I've always rented a U-haul it something similar. Next time I move I'll probably hire a company because the biggest pain in the ass is actually loading and unloading. I really don't mind the driving (furthest I've moved was a 22 hour drive time)
Courwes@reddit
Hire a moving company and have them pack everything up and ship it in a truck.
For some people they do it themselves and drive a moving van/ truck across county.
Elegant_Bluebird_460@reddit
Really depends on the person an their circumstances. Some sell everything and just bring their clothes. Some drive a car and uhaul. Those with some money hire a moving company and a car shipping company to get their car their to meet them when they get off the plane.
I have done it a few times. My favorite way was renting an RV toyhauler. A toyhauler has a room in the back for storage. It was enough to fit furniture of a 3bedroom house. I towed my car behind and had my cats with me in the living area. We slept in the parking lot of Walmart one night and two different casinos the other nights. It was fun.
_Smedette_@reddit
Moved from Oregon to Massachusetts. Then back to Oregon. Then North Carolina. Then back to Oregon.
You hire people to move (and sometimes pack) your stuff.
Often you will do a big purge before a move and decide what really needs to be transported.
Traditional-Goose-60@reddit
Couple of friends with trucks and big horse trailers moved me several times
quietude38@reddit
I have a friend who just moved his family from New York City to Mobile, Alabama (for work) and after a moving company flaked on them he rented a 26-foot truck and another friend of ours flew up there to help drive the truck all the way from Queens.
ontheleftcoast@reddit
we used a moving company, it took several weeks for the stuff to arrive. we slept on air mattresses and ate a lot of take out while waiting.
Ambitious-Intern-928@reddit
IME experience most people don't make these huge moves once they're established enough to have a ton of things worth moving, and those that do have enough money to pay professional movers.
U-Hauls and other self moving things USED to be affordable, but now, for most working class people it makes more sense to basically start over if they're moving cross country.
Over half of the population never moves from the state they were born in.
bluecifer7@reddit
Three options:
- Sell all your stuff
- Drive across the country with all your stuff
- Pay someone to ship your stuff
Sapphire_Bombay@reddit
Depending on how much stuff you have and the distance you're moving, either
1) hire a moving company to drive a truck with all your stuff and you fly and meet them there (expensive but easy)
2) rent a U-Haul and drive everything out yourself (cheap but hard)
3) Sell your stuff and buy new stuff when you arrive (medium cost/medium effort)
thatthatguy@reddit
Depends on the move and the economic class of the people. Wealthier people can hire a moving company and then make their own travel arrangements. People my class will sell as much stuff as they can part with, rent a truck for whatever is more cost effective or personally important, and drive the truck themselves.
Sufficient_Cod1948@reddit
There is a whole industry of moving companies and moving rental trucks.
Depending on what stage of life you're in when you're moving, you either pack everything in a truck and move it, or you throw it out and get new stuff when you get there.
For example, my brother moved from Boston to Portland, Oregon in his early 20's. He packed up everything he owned in a station wagon and just left.
BetterCranberry7602@reddit
U-Hauls are pretty cheap
AdStrange2167@reddit
I moved a one bedroom apartment from St Louis to Denver. Total cost was about $3000
willtag70@reddit
I've moved numerous times to different states, sometimes long distances apart. Once I accumulated enough stuff so it wouldn't all fit in my car I used a moving company who packed up everything in their truck, they drove it to the destination. I would either drive my car there, or fly to the new place and the moving company would bring my car. It's common so there are, of course, numerous companies that specialize in the process. I've also moved locally several times, and it's the same, movers come with a truck, pack everything up, drive to the new place, and unpack it all. No mysteries. Some people do rent vans or trailers of varying sizes and do the whole process themselves. There's a famous company named U-Haul that has locations in all reasonable sized towns.
SippsMccree@reddit
Uhaul rental trucks baybee. Or in the case of a previous job they just let me borrow a semi truck and a 27ft trailer with a lift gate. Made it super easy lol
Argo505@reddit
I just moved from Seattle to New York last week. We threw out about 90 percent of our belongings, packed the rest into a uhaul van, then my girlfriend flew across the country (first class, merry Christmas babe) and I spent my holidays driving a uhaul just shy of 3,000 miles.
Not gonna lie, had a good time.
thesturdygerman@reddit
Welcome! I hope you’re enjoying :)
TK1129@reddit
If it’s work related the company might pay for it. I’m from the New York area and lived with a few friends when I was younger. One was transferred from his office in lower Manhattan to the company’s home office in Chicago. They paid his first 2 months rent and for the moving company to transport his stuff. He packed some clothes and items in his car and drove the ~800 miles.
-Moose_Soup-@reddit
It depends on the situation. I would say that for moving across the country, it's common for people to sell a lot of the bulky stuff and just bring what they can't replace. Depending on how much stuff that leaves, they may be able to get by with just a car load of stuff or a U-Haul truck or trailer full. Then they buy new furniture at their destination. Full moving service with furniture across the country is out of my tax bracket, and nothing I own is really worth the cost.
stranqe1@reddit
Uhaul
TehWildMan_@reddit
I've always been a DIY moving kind of guy. Just rent a box truck, pack it up, and go for a road trip
MyNameIsNot_Molly@reddit
Same. Movers can cost thousands of $$$ and I'm cheap
JustATyson@reddit
When I was younger and with less things, I shipped about 3 boxes and packed the rest into two large check bags and flew to my new location. Work allowed me to ship my boxes to them, so I collected the boxes upon my arrival. I did the same thing, but with more boxes, when I moved away. This time, I shipped the boxes via airline cargo and picked them up at the airport.
During a later move, I packed my car up to the brim and drove what could fit (a buddy actually drove, cuz my skills were more limited back then). Later, when I had a bit more things, ei furniture, I rented a U-haul and that same buddy drove it for me.
For my family, we've rented a big ass u-haul and used that to move everything. This typically included a lot of furniture. My dad would do the driving on that. We've also packed up the car and a large trailer and moved like that.
In total, between family moves and my own moves, I've done about 9 cross state lines. A few have been bordering states, and a few have been cross countries.
My family has never been able to hire a moving company. But, doing a move on your own requires the ability to physical move the stuff and drive the large moving vans (even the small ones are large compared to typical vehicles). I'm good at grunt work of moving boxes, but not the driving of those vehicles.
And, as a PSA, be cautious of all small moving companies and brokers! A lot of these are straight out shitty scam companies and are gonna steal your money, break your shit, and lose your shit. They'll then hide beyond contracts and make it hard as hell to recover. They count on people not having the means to sue them. Do research before hiring any of those fuckers! They will also lie to your face.
Dave_A480@reddit
You can hire a moving company to move your stuff by 40ft commercial truck(s)...
Or you can rent one or more moving trucks from companies like U-Haul or Budget, and DIY it.
There are a few companies (ABF U-Pak, PODS, etc) that split the difference - you rent the trailer or shipping container, you pack it yourself, and they deliver it to your destination by whatever mode of transport is most economical.
Most of the time it goes - like everything else in the US - by interstate highway.
gardengrowsgreen@reddit
We have done it before. We put all our stuff in shipping containers and then they are picked up by a company and delivered to the new location.
KrevinHLocke@reddit
I put all my stuff into a suit case. My wife on the other hand needs like 3 moving trucks.
Slytherian101@reddit
Typically, we just fake our own death and start life over as an advertising executive in Manhattan.
macoafi@reddit
There are lots of options for long-distance moves.
You could hire a company like Pods that puts a shipping container in your driveway for you to fill, and then they move it. Then you fly over, and it's delivered to the driveway of your new place.
You could also rent a big truck and fill it, then drive that across the country. It's only like… 30 hours or so to drive across the whole US. If you have a partner and can take it in shifts, you can do that in two days, just have to pay for one night in a hotel.
If you have a car, you'd hook it up to be towed behind the truck. If you have a car, flying is probably not an option, since the car needs to move too. Well, unless you have a partner and kids. Maybe your partner does the driving, and you fly the kids.
Either way, you probably sell most of your furniture before the move.
katamino@reddit
Or you ship the car with the moving company.
Due_Willingness1@reddit
We moved from Washington State to Maine, figured the easiest way to do it was buy an RV, load everything up, make the trip, then sell the RV when we were done
It worked out pretty well
Confident_Dog_4475@reddit
I drove a 16' box truck halfway across the country myself
SockSock81219@reddit
Sometimes a moving company to pack up all your stuff in a big truck, drive it out to your new place, and help you unload it and move it in. But they're expensive and can often break fragile things and sometimes, nightmare scenario, lose your stuff.
U-Haul does brisk business renting out trucks of all sizes to help people move their stuff. You pack it up and drive it out yourself. More economical, but a ton of work.
If you don't have much, aren't attached, are moving to a much smaller home, or moving out to like an island or something, you might just sell or give away a lot of your stuff and start fresh in the new place.
Few people actually move their houses, but when they do, it's usually a mobile home (built and designed to be movable). It'll occasionally be a super historic home that is in environmental danger where it is, if so, it's a whole logistical / architectural / engineering hoopla getting the house lifted off its foundation and loaded onto special vehicles and driven, usually at night to minimally impact traffic, to its new location.
d4sbwitu@reddit
I've never move from coast to coast, but when I moved 6 states away I used a moving van. Then I drove my pets and houseplants in my personal car. I would probably do the same thing.
affectionateanarchy8@reddit
Movers take it over in a semi sometimes including your car if you dont wanna drive it across
RockItGuyDC@reddit
Different people do different things of course, depending on their circumstances.
I moved from Washington, DC to Seattle a few years back. Hired a moving company to take most of my belongings across the country by road, hired a different truck to take my car across, and I flew. I stayed in a hotel for two nights until my car arrived. I had an air mattress and bedding in my car, so I used that at my new place until the truck with my belongings showed up about 10 days later.
If I had the time, I would have preferred to drive myself across the country, but the whole trip is about 40 hours of driving time, and I would have wanted to take my time and experience the places I passed though. That would have meant a 2-3 week trip. I didn't have the time available to do that, but I know people who have.
I was also lucky that my new job paid the cost to relocate. If I had to pay that cost on my own, I would likely have rented a truck and made the drive directly by myself in 5 or 6 days.
Braith117@reddit
U-hauls, movers, a buddy with a truck and trailer, etc.
charlieq46@reddit
Sometimes we drive across the country for funsies. But generally your options are to get a moving truck and drive it yourself, or hire a moving company to take all your stuff. As someone who formerly worked for a moving company, if you're going across country it is much less risk to just drive it yourself. I hire movers when I move around in town, but I've heard so many horror stories about people not getting their belongings for months when they have to truck it across the country.
DuelJ@reddit
I lament that this sub doesn't allow posting pictures because I would otherwise share a photo of a truck carrying a house. like this.
It is a thing that happens and that you're not unlikely to see, though it's usually with smaller houses.
Prechrchet@reddit
It depends on the circumstances, mostly how far you are moving and how much money you have to spend. I had a moving company paid for by my new employer and I have used U-Haul. I prefer to use a moving company, but I insist on packing my own stuff.
With a moving company, part of the process is scheduling both the day of pickup and day of delivery. Usually, you have plenty of time to drive where ever you are going because, chances are that the truck with your stuff is going to have to either pickup or drop off someone else before they deliver yours.
molotovzav@reddit
When I move between closer states a Uhaul will suffice. When you move farther you might hire a moving company. I moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas and we had to send our stuff on a ship in a cargo container.
diffidentblockhead@reddit
Many r/roadtrip posts asking about this
Junior_Lavishness_96@reddit
It’s usually through a professional moving company and usually a big rig truck. There’s also U-Haul and other do it yourself moving companies you can rent a truck and other moving services.
QuarterNote44@reddit
Currently moving from the South to Southern California. Did a U-Pack truck, which ran me about $8,000.
Hawk13424@reddit
I’ve always hired a moving company. They will often store the stuff at the destination until you find a place to live. Drive my vehicle and carry pets.
SilverB33@reddit
The most I've moved is a state over it wasn't too bad aside from making two trips with a moving truck you can rent (U-Hall as they call ot here)
ploodn@reddit
I am a man who owns several pickups and has a wife comfortable with driving them. It helps I dont have many belongings, tbh.
Odd-Guarantee-6152@reddit
We had movers move all of our stuff. We flew our kids out to stay with family, then my husband and I each took a dog and a car and drove for three days across the country.
tnrivergirl@reddit
Ship belongings in a moving company truck. Then drive yourself from one place to another. Most places really require a car, so it wouldn’t make sense to leave it behind and fly. I’ve never heard of anyone shipping things by boat unless moving overseas.
As for the timing with the moving company, you schedule the delivery based on your timetable. If there’s going to be a delay, most companies will park the trailer with your belongings and do some shorter, local moves while they are waiting for you to arrive. Of course, you pay a storage fee during that time.
4MuddyPaws@reddit
It can be different for different people. A lot of times, if it's for a job, the company will pay to move you. At least it used to be that way.
A lot depends on how much stuff like furniture has to be moved. If it's just a small apartment, some people will rent a truck that will hold it and move it themselves. Otherwise, they can get a moving company. I've never shipped stuff. For long distances we used a moving company and drove our own cars packed with immediate necessities, like clothes for at least a week, paperwork and that kind of thing.
Husband and I once moved a few states away and the moving truck somehow got lost. It was our first time and we didn't have many extra clothes with us. That was a pain. We bought sleeping bags and used them on the floor. We moved because of his job and I had to delay my job search because I had no clothes to interview beyond a pair of jeans and a couple of shirts. Learned our lesson.
doveinabottle@reddit
I’ve moved across the country three times. First time I did reverting myself (packed, loaded, unloaded). Second time I packed and loaded and paid someone to unload. Third time paid someone to pack, load, and unload.
EngineVarious5244@reddit
I mean, I did this, OH to HI, and I pretty much started fresh. Most people who do downsize as much as possible. Unless you're military in which case Uncle Sam will pay to ship all your heavy stuff.
But it's also a lot less common than you're probably imagining. People from smaller countries (in terms of area or population) tend not to realize how regional America is. It's much more common to move within a state or at least region than from one side of the country clear to the other. Like even people who move from Hawaii tend to end up on the West Coast.
Aprils-Fool@reddit
I’ve done this a few times, though it was always with the military. Thankfully, they pay for the movers. We drove our cars cross-country while the movers took our things on ahead of us. They got stored in some sort of storage place until we were ready to move in to the new place.
ChapterOk4000@reddit
When I moved from NY to California I rented a I-Haul trailer to fit the belongings I wanted to take and drove. Took 5 days, with stops. The trailer had mostly clothing, personal belongings and a coplue of small pieces of furniture I wanted to bring.
Some people will rent a I-Haul truck if they're bring all their belongings and furniture. You can rent a decent size one and drive with just a driver license, and attach your car on the back via a towing attachment. I did that moving from Florida to New York. That one I did in 2 days, alone.
KaetzenOrkester@reddit
I've moved accross the country twice. There are professional moving services with varying degrees of competence. The first time I moved, the company did an amazing job. The second time I moved, movers from the same company wrapped plastic measuring cups with loving care and left the good china in the china cabinet without wrapping anything. Luckily everything make it intact.
The problem is, everything is local contractors that pack things for shipping. So the first time, the local contractors were great and the second time, they were terrible.
sponge_welder@reddit
People do any and all of these things depending on how much money and stuff they have (maybe not shipping things on a boat, that's usually too slow). You could rent a box truck and drive it cross-country, hire a moving company to take your stuff, pack everything up in a personal vehicle or trailer if it will fit, or just sell your stuff and start over in your new place
kmoonster@reddit
There are as many solutions to this as there are needs to move. Ship via company, rent a truck yourself, use your own car, ship by rail, mix of options....lots of solutions.
DadPuncher69@reddit
When I've moved across states we've rented a Uhaul truck and driven everything ourselves, and we've also hired a company to do it for us and we flew to our new state. It really depends on the distance, our budget, and how much time we have off work.
Live_Ad8778@reddit
Shipping companies. You'll see their trucks all the time.
That being said as an individual who has done a cross-country move twice with very little I opted to handle everything myself. First move had everything boxed up in tbr back and top of my car, second I rented a U-Haul trailer.
Any-Concentrate-1922@reddit
A once moved a few states away and hired a moving company. They took my furniture and boxes and I met them at the new house the next morning.
Traditional-Job-411@reddit
My mom passed away and left ALOT of antique furniture that I wanted but lived across country. I looked into shipping and I could have bought the exact same things where I was at on eBay and such and spend less than having it shipped. I looked at both movers and shippers, crates etc.
I’m of the opinion that you buy new furniture now.
ALoungerAtTheClubs@reddit
People typically hiring a moving company to load everything into a truck. Then you/your family drive out to meet it with your pets.
damutecebu@reddit
Hire a moving company.
dystopiadattopia@reddit
You pay out the nose for a moving company to move your stuff