Every year, right around 40 million Americans pack up all their things and move. The bulk of them—about 65%—move locally.
But moving cross-country has also turned into an option for lots of people. Moving across the country isn’t nearly as difficult as it once was.
Prior to making a cross-country move, though, you will need to put together a very specific to-do list. Otherwise, cross-country moving might be more stressful than you could have ever imagined.
Here are nine must-dos when moving cross-country. Make sure you keep them in mind while planning for a cross-country move.
1. Search For the Right Place to Move
This might seem obvious. But when you’re planning on making a cross-country move, you’re going to want to make sure that you conduct a thorough search for a place to move.
In a perfect world, you should spend at least a little bit of time on the other side of the country looking for a place to move in person. But if nothing else, you should do your fair share of internet sleuthing to ensure that you find the best place to live in your new city.
2. Look For a New Job in Your Desired Location
In addition to spending some time searching for a place to move, you should also make it your mission to find a new job in your desired location. As we’re going to explain in a second, moving cross-country can be expensive, so you don’t want to have to spend any time unemployed if you can avoid it.
You might be able to convince your current employer to allow you to move cross-country while continuing to work remotely for them. But if that isn’t an option, you should be able to locate a new job in your desired location as long as you start looking for one early on.
3. Prepare to Pay For a Cross-Country Move
When people move locally, they can often do it for well under $2,000 in most cases. In some instances, they can even do it for under $500 if they’re willing to put in some work themselves.
But moving cross-country is going to cost a lot more than that! It’s not uncommon at all for people to spend upwards of $10,000 to make a cross-country move with the help of a moving company.
At the very least, you’ll likely need to rent a shipping container and have it shipped across the country. It can cost several thousand dollars to do this.
4. Look For a Long-Distance Moving Company
There are almost 20,000 moving companies scattered throughout the country today. That might make it seem as though you’ll have plenty of options when you’re looking for one to assist you with moving cross-country.
But it’s worth noting that only a percentage of these moving companies will be able to lend a hand with a cross-country move. It’ll be up to you to research your options and pick out the right one for your move.
5. Get Rid of as Much of Your Stuff as You Can
Ideally, you want to pack up as little as possible when you’re making a cross-country move. The more stuff that you bring with you to the other side of the country, the more it’s going to cost you in the end.
You should try to either donate or throw out as much of your stuff as you can in the months leading up to your move. It’ll make your move more manageable while making it more affordable at the same time.
6. Think About Hiring a Company to Move Your Car
It usually takes at least a few days for a person to drive from one side of the country to the other. If you’re up for the challenge, you’re more than welcome to do it.
But with gas prices spiking in recent weeks, you might want to avoid doing this even if you don’t think you would mind driving cross-country. You should instead hire a company that specializes in moving cars.
Go here to see how much it would cost to work with one of these moving companies.
7. Start Packing for a Cross-Country Move as Soon as Possible
As soon as you know that you’re going to move across the country, you should begin to start packing for it. Far too often, people wait until the last minute to pack for a move—and they pay the price for it.
You should iron out all the details for your cross-country move months in advance if you can. It’ll provide you with more than enough time to put your things into boxes and to make arrangements with a moving company.
8. Hang Onto All Your Moving Receipts
If you happen to be moving for work-related purposes, you should keep every single receipt that you get while moving. Many of your moving expenses can be written off on your taxes when this is the case.
But you aren’t going to be able to write off moving expenses if you don’t have receipts handy. You should create a special filing system for these receipts and keep them in order.
9. Expect the Unexpected While Moving Cross-Country
Making a local move always comes with a few surprises. So you can only imagine how many unexpected things are going to take place during a cross-country move.
You should expect the unexpected while you’re moving cross-country and lean into any surprises that might occur. They’ll help you to make some new memories as you take a trip to the other side of the country.
Make Your Cross-Country Move a Success by Utilizing These Tips
There isn’t a surefire way to eliminate all of the stress that will come along with moving cross-country. But you should be able to reduce your stress levels by knowing how to move across the country.
Use each of the tips found here to make your cross-country move a little more pleasant. They’ll help you get to wherever it is that you’re going fast and without too many issues.
Get more useful moving tips and tricks by reading through our other blog articles.
