Whether your long-distance move is within the country (e.g. Penzance to Perthshire) or from one country to another, it’s the kind of move that involves more forethought than when you’re simply flitting between studio apartments in the same town. Moving everything you own over a considerable number of miles requires certain manoeuvres, tips and tricks that it’s well worth knowing about and thinking about in advance. Here are some of our ideas to help you get ready for the big day.
- Allow yourself a longer pre-moving phase than if you were just moving locally. This is especially important if it’s your first ever long-distance move. Give yourself at least double the amount of planning and preparing time.
- Do proper long-haul packing. If your worldly goods are travelling huge numbers of miles on road, by sea and by air, and being handled by a whole chain of different workers and drivers, then they need to be doubly safe. Make sure everything is cushioned within its box and fill boxes fully so that their contents don’t rattle and shake. Top quality moving boxes are a must. This is not the kind of move that allows you to get away with second-hand cardboard containers from the corner shop.
- Don’t pack perishables, food or liquids. There’s a variety of reasons for this. You could inadvertently attract vermin, who’ll try to feast on your shipment. And then there’s the risk that, over long distances with multiple handlers, goods can get crushed and broken, leading to seepage and damage of other items. Whether it’s tins of paint or food items, the hazards are many.
- Do organised packing. You may take this approach when you move locally, but it’s even more time-saving when you do it for a long-distance move. Mark each box according to the room where ti belongs in your new home and also create an all-important Day One box, containing everything you’ll need on arrival – cooking utensils, clothing, crockery etc.
- Put your name on every box. This is vital because during a long-distance move, at some point your boxes will share space with other people’s. In the highly likely scenario of there being shared stages of the shipping process, you don’t want your boxes to get accidentally confused for someone else’s.
Read more long distance removals tips in part 2 of this article
