I’m hoping this will be a moving column for you, but these days sometimes it’s hard to tell.
And by moving, I mean the physical act of moving.
I’ve been in the same house for more than 20 years, so I personally haven’t moved my belongings in a long time, but sometimes when I pack for vacation I feel like I am moving to a far and distant land.
For a simple vacation, you have to go through your closets and drawers, trying to figure out the right combination of stuff to take and what exactly will fit into the suitcase(s).
Not to mention trying to predict the weather – or maybe accommodating all four seasons?
This is not a fun activity for me, and it’s even more NOT fun when you exceed the weight limit at the airport – the baggage weight limit, not my personal weight – and you have to shift stuff around, showing nearby gawkers your favorite Valentine’s Day underwear and other assorted “items.”
It would almost be easier for me to throw the entire closet and dresser into suitcases for a trip, saving myself the hassle of guessing what the weather will be like for the next seven days in exotic Wisconsin, for example.
I had a moving experience several weeks ago when I helped a friend move – the sweat was moving off me as fast as it was beading on my dome.
For a true Sonoran Desert moving experience, there is nothing quite like hauling stuff around in the middle of the day in late July.
Thankfully we didn’t have a whole moving van full of stuff to move – just a couple of pick-up loads.
Since our move from Enterprise Drive to Laser Drive more than five years ago, we’ve had new carpeting installed and then later we had said carpeting cleaned.
Just those two “procedures” alone cause you to pack and move a lot of stuff – to the point where you might as well move across town.
I know for some military and corporate families it becomes a way of life, but it would be difficult for me at this point in time to pick up and move every 12 to 18 months.
I suppose it would serve as a disciplinary measure and force you not to keep a ton of clutter.
Speaking of clutter, I’m always amazed how I can look at a set of bookshelves, for example, and think, “Oh, that’s not a ton of stuff.”
But the second you start boxing up that stuff, it turns into a set of 23 heavy boxes crammed full of hardcovers, softcovers and everything between.
Couches and desks suddenly become much heavier as well when you start moving them, especially when stairs are involved.
Having only a two-car garage and no basement also forces me to cut down on that clutter. The only time I’ve needed a storage unit is when I moved from Chandler to Fountain Hills and the house I currently occupy was being built.
Thankfully I don’t have too much stuff that would force me into renting a storage unit these days.
Besides, I’d probably end up on “Storage Wars,” and that would certainly be a unique moving experience.
