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Moving to another state or place can be exciting at first because of the feeling of newness. You’ll have new neighbours who might be more likeable, or maybe there will be more job opportunities around the place. However, what’s not that exciting is the moving process, starting from deciding what needs to be thrown away and putting all your belongings into cardboard boxes.
It can be even more tiring if you have a family because you need to take care of the kids in between packing all your stuff. But before that, you need to find a school near your house and maybe even a nanny to take care of the little ones while you’re away at work. But in the end, all the fuss is worth it.
Still, if you’re smart about it and learn how to organize everything, you can minimize the amount of stress that’s inevitable in such situations and enjoy the process. All things considered, here’s how to pack when moving to California so that you won’t be taken aback by the unfamiliar new setting.
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Consider the region
First of all, before giving you any advice, it’s important to note that California is divided into two different regions. Northern California is the cooler side of the state, with rugged coastlines and redwoods. On the other hand, Southern California is warm and sunny, with sandy beaches and deserts. Therefore, if you like cold weather and less sun, you need to prepare yourself for the North, while the South will feel like a vacation at the beach.
At the same time, you also need to consider if you plan to move to Coastal California (where the weather is cooler and wetter) or Inland California (with a hotter and drier climate). These details are important because you might find that the place doesn’t suit you when arriving at the new house, especially if you don’t like colder or hotter climates.
Some Californian regions can get dangerous in winter (the Sierras and Cascades), while the beginning of fall can be dominated by smoke from wildfires as a consequence of climate change. Now, let’s get moving!
Start with the essentials
No matter where you live, it’s crucial to start planning at least one year ahead in terms of documents. That’s because issuing them might take a while, especially for a family when you need more records to be checked, changed or monitored. Sometimes, the odds are that you need to change them until expiring right before your moving date.
Essential items include all those documents (IDs, money, personal belongings) with which you can’t live or leave the state. If you want to make sure they’re all in the same place, you can have both online copies and keep them in a small safe or lock box. For another layer of safety, you can choose ones that are connected to your phone at all times and can be easily located in case of theft. You can also have copies of all your documents to ensure you won’t have to go back and provide other documents.
Continue with necessary items
Now’s the challenging part. In general, people tend to take everything with them when moving from their house since they consider everything to be meaningful and of value, when in fact, that’s far from the truth. Your necessary items should be your clothes, devices, appliances and utensils. Most houses are already provided with appliances and other essential things, so you shouldn’t bother moving every item from your home to another. However, you may have your reasons to do so, which is why you can hire a company to help you. Moving without stress with Sirelo will give you enough time to care for other things that need to be solved before the moving day, so you won’t have to worry about transport or if your belongings are safe.
It’s crucial to separate the necessary items from things you can find around the new neighbourhood you plan to move to. Think about getting there and having to unpack everything that you considered to be important ―you’ll need to find them a place next to other items that you’ve purchased in the process of moving (because that’s what happens, there’s always something else we need to facilitate the moving process).
How to pack smart
Maybe one of the most tedious processes in this whole moving situation is packing up your things, which you need to be patient with. You’ll need to look for boxes, cushioning and a lot of packaging tape to keep everything in place. To save more space, we recommend folding your clothes by rolling them and then placing them in a vacuum bag, which helps you save a lot of space.
You should avoid packing your kitchen plates horizontally because this makes them prone to breaking. Instead, wrap them individually with paper and arrange them vertically in your box. You can also use clothes or towels as packing materials for any fragile items you have to minimize the risk of breaking or damaging them.
One excellent technique that will save you a considerable amount of space is nesting. It implies that you carefully choose the items you’re going to pack and place them so they can be nested into one another (smaller bowels into bigger ones, kid’s shoes can fit into yours and so on). Of course, that’ll take more time to complete because it’s like doing a puzzle, but in the end, you’ll save time to unpack, and you’ll rest assured that all your things are in place.
Wrapping up
Moving to a new house can be stressful, especially if it’s from another state. But change is inevitable, and you need to do this wisely. If you want to have a smooth move, it’s important to take only what’s essential and necessary to you, and if you want to ensure that everything gets there in place, you can hire a moving company.