Working in the military means that you have to be prepared for relocations. Your job takes you where you need to be and you need to adapt to that. Over the years, the items in your possession tend to multiply and it can be hard to decide what to leave behind when packing for a military move. It is a simple matter to hire cross country movers Austin for your relocation, but deciding what goes with you might be a bit more difficult. In this article, we are going to go over the best practices in packing, as well as provide you with some tips on what exactly you might want to leave behind.
How to prepare and what to leave behind when packing for a military move?
Moving requires preparation, lots of it. If this is your first move or one of the first, you may still not know the best procedure. You will need to create a timeline and to sort out many tasks before you can safely relocate to your new home. Before you get to packing, you will need to figure out what exactly to pack. This may prove to be a larger time investment than packing itself. However, you can make this process easier if you follow some guidelines.
First of all – get organized and create a moving checklist
The first thing that you need to do is to organize your time. There will be a lot to do and your time is not infinite. The best weapon in your moving arsenal will be a moving checklist. Create this document before you hire any of the moving companies cross country. Basically, whenever you think of a task that needs doing, write it down on your checklist. You may also want to have multiple copies of the list, one on your phone and one on your fridge, for example. Whenever you complete a task, update the list accordingly. This will provide you with a constant, up-to-date progress report on your moving efforts. Be sure to leave plenty of time for deciding which items are making the trip with you and which you will be leaving behind. What you will need to do is:
Declutter!
The process of decluttering means that you will be taking a hard pass on all of your items and decide which ones you do not need anymore, or have a newer version. The best way to go about it is to create three piles for your items. In one pile go all the items that you are absolutely certain that you will take with you. The second pile is for the items you are definitely leaving behind. Finally, the third pile is going to contain the items that are on the fence, so to speak. The items that you are not really certain about. You may want to try one of the 4 ways to declutter your home if you want to have an easier time of it. Don’t worry if the “maybe” pile gets quite large.
Simply leave the pile be for the time being and come back to it tomorrow. Try to leave emotions such as “but I may need this one day” and to be logical as much as you can. Decluttering can get quite emotionally exhausting and you want to be fresh when you start anew.
Things you should leave behind when packing for a military move
Here are some of the universal “leave behind” items:
- Old clothes – It can be hard to get leave old clothes behind. But if you haven’t worn something in several years, the chances are you will never wear it again. Try to imagine the occasions where you will wear a piece of clothing and if you have something newer, leave the old one behind. If you have so much clothing that you need full packing services for them, it might be time to reconsider. You can always buy new clothes!
- Bulky furniture – Large furniture is notoriously difficult to move. So much so that it is usually a lot better to simply leave it behind. After all, you don’t know if it will fit in your new home the way it did in the current one.
- Things that are difficult to replace – By this, we mean items that are hard-fixed to your current home. Even if you renovated your home with new lighting, it may be quite awkward to replace it before you go. Better to leave it behind, really.
- Purge papers, books, magazines – Books and assorted magazines can add quite a lot of weight to your move. They will inevitably increase the cost if you have a lot of them. Try to leave only the ones that you know you can’t both replace and will read again. Simply get rid of all the other ones. Obviously, leave the decorative books in your collection as they might enrich your new home, too. Every home is better with a couple of books in it, after all!
- Don’t move broken or damaged items – Anything that is broken or damaged is not really worth the hassle of relocating. It is usually quite better to simply replace them.
Ask your professional mover what are the things you should leave behind when packing for a military move
Finally, if you still have any doubts, your best option is to simply ask your movers about the items. They have years of experience with relocations and know what people might want to leave behind. Their advice will be precise and on-point. They draw their conclusions from years of dealing with customers and their wishes. They can provide you with valuable insight which may help you in deciding what to do about packing for a military move. You really have nothing to lose, only to gain!
