Moving To A New City – How To Move To A New City

11th September, 2018

Despite its appeal, packing up and moving to a new city is a tough prospect. There’s a lot more you have to consider in a long distance move, so we’ve laid out some easy step-by-step instructions on how to move to a new city and start over.

How To Move To a new City

Step 1: Label fragile boxes

Step 2: Pack last what you’ll need to unpack first

Step 3: Label absolutely everything

Step 4: Plan out where your furniture will go in your new place

Step 5: Set up utilities well before you arrive

Step 6: Prepare packed lunch for moving day

Step 7: Put pets in temporary boarding

Step 8: Have phone numbers handy

Step 1: Label Fragile Boxes

There’s nothing worse than arriving at your new place and finding your favourite glass vase shattered into pieces. The risk of breakages in long-distance moves is much higher, so make sure that when you’re packing your valuables, you clearly label them as fragile. This way, they won’t end up crushed by heavier boxes and care can be taken to secure them safely.

Step 2: Pack Last What You’ll Need to Unpack First

A good trick, even for short moves, is to keep your essentials close to hand. There are more things to consider when moving to a new city. Think ahead – will you need blankets and pillows for your new bed? Often the most important daily necessities will be overlooked, so save yourself the trouble of discovering that half the things you need are spread throughout several boxes that haven’t arrived yet – pack wisely.

Step 3: Label Absolutely Everything

Labelling should be top of the list on your moving to a new city checklist. All the time you save by not carefully labelling your boxes is lost ten times over in the time you spend searching through them to find what you need. Things like “books” can probably be left at that, but if you have your hair dryer, vacuum cleaner, and TV cords in one box, don’t just put “electronics”, include each item separately on the label. You’ll be thanking yourself later.

Step 4: Plan out where your furniture will go in your new place

Before you arrive, you should have a good idea of what will go where. When moving to a new city, you don’t have any of the usual fallbacks you’d have in your last place, so avoid disaster by making sure all your furniture will fit ahead of time. Measure every room and take note of windows and doorways – as well as which way the doors open. Measure your furniture and design a layout. Also, think about how you’ll be getting your larger furniture into the new place – you might need to take a door off of its hinges.

Step 5: Set up utilities well before you arrive

While electricity and wifi may not be considered vital, water certainly is, and while not having any of these in your old house may be a little inconvenient for a day or two, missing them on moving day has the potential to be a complete disaster. Especially if it’s a long trip from your last city to your new one, you may end up unpacking in the dark without electricity.

Step 6: Prepare packed lunch for moving day

The big difference between moving to a new city and moving within a familiar one is the amount of time it takes. If you’ve done a lot of moving in the past, you might underestimate this. You need sustenance for long trips! Don’t just pack a lunch for the day, plan ahead and pack some extra meals for after you arrive – you haven’t had a chance to investigate nearby restaurant options yet and you certainly won’t have the time.

Step 7: Put pets in temporary boarding

Pets are the last thing you want to be worrying about when moving to a new city. Delay the future problems you might have acclimating your pet to a new city by putting it in temporary boarding. If you can leave your pets with a familiar friend, that’s even better, but in any case, it’ll be one less thing you have to worry about.

Step 8: Have phone numbers handy

We’ve outlined steps to minimise moving problems, but it’s unfortunately unlikely that nothing will go wrong on moving day. Prepare for the worst by keeping phone numbers and addresses of nearby hotels and your utility companies. You can have hope that everything will go according to plan, but also have the comfort of knowing that you’re ready for it, just in case.

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By following these steps, you’ll be best prepared for moving to a new city. Check out our other blogs for other moving tips and tricks!