These 10 tips will help you prepare for your next long distance move:

#1. Get Organized

The success of your long distance move will primarily depend on how well you organize and manage the time you have before the day of the actual day of the move. In many cases, you won’t have the luxury of letting any day go to waste, so the best way to make sure you’re in great shape for your long distance move is to create a moving checklist, and follow it.

Creating a moving checklist for a long distance move doesn’t have to be difficult – you just write down all the things you have to do before you move out and then arrange those tasks in order of importance. Feel free to consult our general moving checklist below in order to “steal” good ideas.

#2. Hire a long distance moving company

Search for the best long distance moving company in your area.

Making a long distance move yourself can be extreme. The unreasonable costs, potential risks and innumerable dangers of moving across the country by yourself could quickly turn an ambitious self-move into a major relocation disaster.

Ultimately, there’s a big difference between moving hundreds of miles within the same state and moving thousands of miles across multiple states until you make it to your new home. Therefore, your best bet for success is to find and hire a experienced, reputable and affordable long distance moving company.

#3. Find a company that movrd cars long distance

Find a car shipping company

Find a long distance car shipper you can trust.

It’s not easy to plan a long distance move because you’ll have to make sure you’re not missing any important details in the process.

Now that you’ve found a top-rated long distance moving company to transport your household items to the new address, you may realize that you’re not really looking forward to driving your personal vehicle for so many hours across unknown territories.

And even if you’re ok with it, you may happen to have a second vehicle that somehow needs to reach the new home as well.

Get car shipping estimates to compare long distance auto shippers in your area and then pick the best car shipping company in terms of price, experience, and reputation.

#4. Calculate the cost of your long distance move

Being financially ready for a move can be difficult if you have no idea how much your long distance move will cost in the end. Do you have enough money to cover the expenses for your next move?

While local movers charge by the hour, long distance moving companies charge a flat rate based on several critical factors such as move distance, shipment weight, and extra services. What that means is that when moving across the country, you have a better chance of getting accurate cost estimates from professional movers.

Ultimately, that should help you set your budget accordingly.

#5. Inventory your home

Ultimately, the best way to prepare for a long distance move is to know which items you will be moving with you and which items you will have to leave behind. And the only way to know for sure is to inventory your home.

Go from room to room and make a list of all the major household items found there. Feel free to use cutting-edge technology to finish the house inventory easier and faster – for example, the MoveAdvisor mobile app has a powerful built-in home inventory tool.

When moving long distance across the country, the home inventory checklist you create will help you sort out your items prior to packing them.

#6. Decide about your furniture

As a rule of thumb, moving across the country is an expensive affair. Therefore, you should be actively looking for the cheapest way to move long distance. Thus said, one of the most effective ways to lower the moving costs is to leave your furniture behind.

The long distance moving cost is affected greatly by the overall weight of the shipment, meaning that the more furniture pieces you decide to move, the more money you will pay in the end for their transportation.

Assess carefully all furniture items you have in your home and unless some of them are antique ones or have great sentimental value for you, don’t move them across the country but buy new ones after the move.

#7. Prepare the packing supplies

The key to having a successful long distance move is to have your belongings well protected during the long haul. And to be able to pack your things safely, you’re going to need to have the right packing supplies for the job.

When faced with a cross country move, secure the necessary packing materials – cardboard boxes, bubble wrap, packing paper, stretch wrap, packing tape, and permanent markers – in advance, so that you don’t lose valuable time once the packing task is under way.

The good news here is that, given enough time, you should be able to find most or even all the cardboard boxes you’ll need without paying for them. That’s right – free moving boxes for your packing needs!

#8. Sort out your items

Another good advice when moving long distance is to never pack and move all your personal belongings without properly sorting them out first. The thing is that, most often than not, time will have made some things obsolete and you’ll no longer need them as a result.

Remember that packing and transporting items that you won’t use ever again is simply a waste of money – the last thing you need when facing a costly move across the country.

Once you’ve inventoried everything you own, sort those things into 3 different piles: MOVE WITH YOU, LEAVE BEHIND, and THROW AWAY (RECYCLE).

#9. Sell or gift unwanted things

Get rid of unwanted items

You surely don’t need to move all those items with you, do you?

One of the things to consider when moving long distance is that you’re going to have to pay special attention to all the things inside the LEAVE BEHIND category. Why? Of the three piles, that’s the trickiest one to deal with.

You’re going to need to pack and protect all the things you’re taking with you. Also, you’re expected to recycle properly the stuff nobody will ever need again.

Give to friends or give away to charity any items that are in good condition, that is -still usable. Alternatively, consider selling, either online or at a garage sale, some of those unwanted items to help your moving budget.

#10. Start packing ASAP

One of the best long distance moving tips you can ever get is to start packing up your household things as soon as the house move is confirmed. There’s really no point in delaying the start of the most time-consuming task in your moving calendar – packing for a move takes many days, weeks, and even months to complete.

Now that you have the required packing supplies, begin packing with a clear plan of what needs to be done – the so-called PACKING TIMELINE. That packing calendar will guide you through the various packing tasks, thus reducing the buildup of the inevitable stress of moving house.