Moving around the world is a bit like those big 3-D puzzles... only in your puzzle, you have pieces to Big Ben, the Eifel Tower, AND the Taj Mahal. You've got to try and shove the pieces together, and while it looks a bit haphazard in the beginning, after a while, things start to take shape. A bit about my experience with moving in the past:
I was born in California and my family moved to Missouri when I was 1 year old. I can't really count that as "moving experience". However...
- In 2001 we moved from Missouri to Las Vegas, NV
- In 2005, I went on tour with the Blue Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. We were home based out of Denver, Colorado but visited 32 states in 3 months (ie, we lived on a bus). More to come on my future "how to live out of a suitcase" blog post
- After touring with Drum Corps, I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii for college
- In 2006, I moved back to Las Vegas and into the dorms
- In 2007, I moved from the dorms into a new house in Las Vegas. Some will claim that its harder to move from one house to another... and I have to say that moving in laundry baskets in your POV certainly has its disadvantages.
- In 2008, I moved from Las Vegas to Virginia
So... you get the picture. I love moving - it gives you a chance to reinvent yourself and to start fresh on a regular basis. Change is good my friends... just remember that you'll need to roll with the punches.
Anyway, as someone who has moved quite a bit, I have a few tips:
- You've heard it before, but the biggest tip I can give is to BE PROACTIVE. Sure, we're being helped with our move - but who's move is it? That's right... its YOUR move. This PCS isn't near as stressful for me as it is for some of my friends, because I'm really trying to own the process and take care of as much as I can, myself.
- Prepare for things to go wrong. Murphy is alive and well, my friends - and in every move, SOMETHING goes awry. Be ready for it, and prepare yourself to cope with it. Something will always catch you by surprise, but if you leave a bit of a cushion or a threshhold to deal with problems, they become far less stressful.
- Start going through your things, yesterday. It's never too early to par down the things you own. Even for someone like me who seems to move every two years, there's always room to "trim the fat" (so to speak). It's amazing how much stuff people can collect over the years - and if you don't use something now, chances are you won't use it after lugging it around the world. Goodwill is your friend.
- Clean out the pantry. I have a can of black beans that has made it through two moves with me now, because I never seem to start eating through my pantry early enough. True, you might be making meals with Jello and Green Beans, but do you really want to move all of that food? Again, the pantry is home to a whole menagerie of things you didn't know you had. - Make sure your luggage is in good condition. There's nothing like pulling your suitcase out at the last minute and realizing you forgot to replace it when the faulty zipper broke last trip. Overstock.com has some GREAT deals on suitcases.
I'm certain that I'll come up with more tips before I leave, and as I do, you'll see them in this blog. The plan for the next few weeks is that I will be writing about some of the places that I saw last summer in Japan, and a brief trip review from my Dominican Republic trip. Stay tuned.
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