My husband, my dog, and I arrived in Atlanta on a humid June day.
We had spent two days in the car, weeks packing up our life, and months emotionally preparing to leave New York, where we had both lived for nearly a decade. The actual move was among the most daunting aspects of relocating, since we had to transport all of our belongings nearly 1,000 miles away.
Over a month after that sweaty arrival, we’re mostly settled into our new home, hanging pictures on our walls and finding walking paths in our neighborhood.
Overall, moving was a success, but there were a few things I would’ve done differently.
I’m happy we prepped for our move early.
My husband and I knew we would be moving to Atlanta almost a year in advance, and we made the most of the time we had.
We spent the fall and winter knocking things off our New York to-do list, like visiting certain museums and dining at our favorite spots.
Then, when the New Year hit, we officially put ourselves in “prep mode” for our end-of-June move. We didn’t want to feel rushed when it was time to actually leave the city. I made a to-do list, breaking down what we needed to get done within the month.
February and March were full of tasks like cleaning out our closets and finalizing our work arrangements, and in April, we decided what furniture we wanted to take with us. By early May, we started packing boxes, giving us nearly two full months to pack.
Because we didn’t procrastinate, we were able to stay fairly calm as we packed up the life we had built in New York. There were definitely moments we felt overwhelmed, but splitting the move into clear steps helped us stay organized.
Getting movers helped, but I didn’t love the option we selected.
Instead of driving a U-Haul ourselves, we did a “consolidated move,” where professional movers loaded our belongings onto a larger truck with other people’s stuff headed in the same direction. It cost a little over $4,000. That’s pricey, but it would have cost closer to $10,000 if we had our items moved individually.
It seemed like a good deal, especially since my husband didn’t have to drive a U-Haul with all our possessions while I drove the rental car with our dog. We also felt good about the company we picked, as it had strong online reviews. The movers were prompt and careful the day they packed up our stuff. Their office said our items would arrive in two to 14 business days, but assured my husband that three to five days was more realistic.
Unfortunately, that estimate was way off. It took 15 business days (24 actual days), and my husband and I were frustrated, to say the least. It was difficult to get an update on the status of our belongings, even after calling and emailing to request information. To make matters worse, when our things finally arrived, our television screen was cracked, and we were only compensated for a small percentage of its value. In the end, the move didn’t feel worth the money we spent.
If we could do it again, my husband and I would have rented a U-Haul or gone with a different moving company that was more experienced with interstate moves.
I was happy we didn’t pay movers to pack our breakables, though.
The moving package we paid for included professional packing of paintings, mirrors, and our television (so much for that), but it did not include packing our kitchen breakables, which would have cost hundreds of dollars extra.
We were worried about making sure everything was packed securely, and we were determined to do it ourselves to save money.
It was time-consuming, but we pulled it off. In addition to packing paper, foam, and bubble wrap, we used our linens, sweatshirts, and jackets as extra cushioning for our boxes with breakables. It left me with a lot of laundry to do, but only a single mug was broken when our items arrived in Atlanta.
I wish I hadn’t taken a full week off to move right away.
Because we did a consolidated move, I knew it wasn’t clear when our things would arrive.
Still, I took a week off from work after we drove down, imagining myself spending it unpacking and decorating our new home. That didn’t happen because our belongings were delivered later than expected.
During the week off in Atlanta, my husband and I got our new driver’s licenses, but it didn’t feel like the most efficient use of time. I had already returned to work when our stuff finally arrived, so I unpacked at night and in the early hours of the morning, which wasn’t the best way to get settled.
In retrospect, I wish I’d only taken a day or two off that initial week and arranged to take a few days separately when my stuff got to Atlanta.
I don’t regret renting a house without touring it in person.
When it was time to house hunt, my husband and I considered flying to Atlanta to look at options in person. We ultimately decided it wouldn’t be worth the price of the flights, given that a costly move was approaching.
Instead, we made a detailed dream list for our future home to make sure our priorities were aligned. Then, we became rental app addicts. I constantly checked Zillow and Apartments.com, refreshing multiple times a day to make sure I didn’t miss the perfect home.
Finally, we saw a house we loved on Zillow in early May. It ticked nearly all of our boxes based on the photos. After sending a cousin of mine to an open house to make sure it looked similar in real life, we jumped at the chance to rent it.
It was a little nerve-racking to move into a home sight unseen, but it saved us money and gave us peace of mind to secure housing sooner rather than later. We’re absolutely in love with the house now that we’re settled in.
I wish we hadn’t spent so much money on moving materials.
We didn’t have a car in New York, and it was challenging to buy moving supplies because we couldn’t easily drive to a place like Home Depot. We also couldn’t rent plastic bins that snap shut (which would have reduced the amount of tape we needed to buy) because we were moving out of state. I got a few large reusable containers from Amazon, but pricey cardboard boxes made the most sense for our move.
We bought some of our boxes from a Walmart kit, and we purchased additional supplies as needed from a local hardware store. It felt like we were buying boxes and tape up until the day we moved, and the cost added up.
In total, we spent around $500 on moving supplies. Looking back, it may have been financially savvier to buy plastic bins that I could have resold on Facebook Marketplace. Moving is expensive no matter what, but I wish we had found ways to cut costs on supplies.
Having multiple farewell hangs with friends made my relocation easier.
I knew I would miss the friends I made in New York. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I wouldn’t be able to see them whenever I wanted.
I decided that having dedicated goodbye hangs with my close friends would help me process our impending separation.
In June, my husband and I had an official goodbye party at a bar in Brooklyn, chatting and giggling with friends over drinks. Then, we had smaller dinners and meetups with friends for more intimate, sentimental goodbyes. Some of my most cherished final memories of living in New York include reminiscing with my first roommate from the city, laughing with pals I met through my husband, and going to a burger joint I’d always wanted to try with one of my closest friends.
I’m so grateful I took advantage of the time I had with my friends in the weeks before we left. I still miss them dearly, but I don’t feel like I wasted any time with them.
In hindsight, we should have hired cleaners for our move-out.
My husband and I rented an apartment in a larger Brooklyn building owned by a management company. The building manager provided us with a detailed list for our move-out procedure, which included cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.
We were good about cleaning our space regularly, but some of the things on the list, like cleaning the oven, inside the refrigerator, and the dishwasher filter, weren’t on our regular schedule.
We spent several days cleaning every inch of the apartment, spackling the walls, and scrubbing forgotten corners in the hopes of getting our full security deposit back. Unfortunately, the building only returned a portion, saying we hadn’t cleaned the fridge, a cabinet shelf, and the stove well enough. Sigh.
If I could do it over, I would have hired a cleaning company to clean the apartment. We likely would have gotten more of our security deposit back, and we wouldn’t have had to spend so much time cleaning on our final days in New York.
I also regret not taking a certain box with us in the car.
We tried to keep our car minimally filled, focusing on essential documents and immediate necessities.
I’m glad the movers handled as much as possible, but I do regret not finding space for a box of kitchen items in the car with us. Because we were without our belongings for three weeks after the move, we relied heavily on takeout and restaurants. It made us feel out of routine, and all the eating out was expensive. We also spent unnecessary money on some basic pans and knives to do a little cooking at home.
It would have saved us time and money if we had packed a box of our kitchen basics in the car.
One of our best decisions was to split our drive to Atlanta over two days.
The drive from New York to Atlanta is about 13 hours. It’s doable in one day, but we decided to break it up so our dog would be more comfortable, stopping halfway to stay the night with my in-laws. It turned out to be one of the best decisions we made for the move.
On the Saturday we left the city, my husband and I were emotional. After a fitful night of sleep on an air mattress, we took one last teary-eyed walk through Prospect Park with our pup before we drove off. We teared up again as we rolled out of the city and caught our last glimpse of the Manhattan skyline. By the end of the day, we were emotionally and physically drained.
On Sunday, though, we had a restful night of sleep in a comfortable bed. My husband and I couldn’t wait to get to Atlanta and start settling into our house. Because we processed our goodbye to New York on Saturday, we were able to focus on the new life waiting for us in Atlanta, feeling nothing but excitement and anticipation as we pulled into our driveway for the first time.
I’m so glad the two-day drive made space for grief and joy in our departure.
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