MOVING HACKS

In just the past week I've moved: 1. A physical therapy clinic out of their old space and into their new place, 2. My sister out of her summer dorm and into her fall/spring dorm, and 3. Myself from one apartment to the next. So you can trust me when I say I totally understand how time-consuming and exhausting moving can be, however, I also find it exciting! Moving spaces is like a fresh start and it hits a reset button for my mind and my mood. But I know the actual process of moving is only enjoyable for me when physically moving things is done efficiently.

If you checkout my previous post, "Dorm Necessities", I provide a checklist of things to bring to college. However, getting the necessities into your dorm/new living accommodation is kind of important. That being said, I give to you some of my moving hacks (majority that I have learned from my Dad) to hopefully help make the physical moving part less miserable.

1. BYOHT (Bring Your Own Hand Truck)

~ It's common for dorms to have one for you to borrow, but your reality for when you go down this path may look like this:

1. You arrive to the madhouse that they call a parking lot and drive around in circles until you find a space.

2. You enter the lobby to people plus their entire dorm/apartment that has taken over the already limited space.

3. After pushing your way through the crowd, you stand in line, finally check in, and get your key.

4. They then send you to another queue to wait for what could be an hour for their hand truck to be returned from the person currently using it to then be passed on to you.

5. You're given about an hour to use it so you sprint to your car to load up the hand truck.

6. You sprint back to the dorm to bring your stuff up.

7. Then you get stuck waiting for an elevator because a) So many people are using it and b) You can't squeeze in with your stuff.

8. After you finally make it up, you find your room and unload everything.

9. Then you go back, have to wait for another elevator, and return the hand truck.

By this time you've wasted about an hour plus just trying to get your hand truck and stuff up to your room. If you bring your own, you can skip the lines and waiting and you can limit the amount of trips you make to the car by bringing a load full of stuff with you while you get your key from the lobby.

2. Find a moving cart/bin

~ Rolling carts/bins make it easier for you to transport the little knickknacks you own. This is an easy way to just throw everything and anything into it and push it rather than having to catch an arm cramp by trying to lift everything at once in an attempt to make it in less trips.

3. Keep your clothes on their hangers and put a garbage bag around all of them for easier transport.

~ This is a simple way to save time on packing and moving clothes. It also saves you money from having to buy more boxes/bins or bringing more suitcases that you would need.

4. Move your clothes with a rolling clothing rack for easier transport.

~ If you have a clothing rack and don't have a garbage bag to wrap around your hangers or if you don't want to have to carry anything, this is a good trick for you.

5. If you have to pack stuff into a luggage or bag:

~ I've said it once and I'll say it again, SPACE BAGS. If you have to pack clothes into a luggage or bag, then the Space Bag method that I shared with you all in my post "How to Pack Every Winter Want In A Carry-On" is also applicable to this. These bags also work well for storing items such as clothes, bedding, towels, and pillows. In addition to this, I've recently begun using other travel packing bags that have a mesh cover to keep my clothes categorized.

6. Place sliders underneath the legs of furniture for easy moving when rearranging your space.

7. If you are moving your bedding from one room to another: wrap the pillows, blanket, comforter, and sheets in a burrito-like manner by using the fitted sheet as the wrapping. To close up the middle, you can tie each side of the fitted sheet together using rubber bands (or if you are like me and don't have rubber bands, hair ties do the trick)

8. Actually follow the directions for command strips in order for your decorations and other housing goods to stay up.

~ During my freshmen year, my impatient self didn't give the command strips time to settle and resulted in my decorations constantly ending up on the ground in the morning.

Impatient self vs. Patient self

9. Bring or have access to a ladder if you plan on hanging things from the ceiling or placing items high up on the walls.

10. Defrost your fridge a day before moving out.

11. Roll up your clothes

~ Rolling your clothes when moving as well as when storing your wardrobe will allow for more room in your drawers or storage bins.

12. Roll your mattress pad and put it in a garbage bag for transport

*Mattress pad on bottom/laying on top of hand truck; bedding on top of wrapped mattress pad*

13. Keep your bins/moving boxes organized by keeping items of similar categories or close locations together.

14. Bring a measuring tape.

15. Wrap fragile items.

~ No one wants broken glass on the floor, only glasses raised high in the air and a toast to this new chapter in your life!

I hope I was able to provide you with a better start to your new chapter. Let me know your moving tips and tricks in the comments! Also feel free to contact me with any comments, questions, concerns, or opportunities. Thanks for reading and happy moving!

XOXO,

Alyssa Ashley

#COLLEGE #LIFE #TRAVELHACKS