Our cheaper moving solution

Today is officially my 100th blog post as the Tribal Future, I would love to say that I did that in only 100 days, but I didn’t.  My extended break in the summer put a crimp in that.  I have to say, right at this moment, I am somewhat proud of myself, and I have greatly enjoyed being able to reach so many people.

I suppose an entire post of me patting myself on the back is out of the question, at least for today, so instead I will give you something better.

With our move getting ever closer, we are investigating our possible moving solutions.  I think I know which way we will end up going, but I thought it would be a good time to talk about our experiences with cross country moving, on the off chance it can help any of you out.

Uhaul Truck:

The good news is that there are even more options than ever out there for folks looking to move across country.  Of course your most basic model is probably this.

A big old Uhaul truck of some kind.  Now I would certainly say that for a local move of some kind, that’s the way to go.  It gives you the flexibility to meet your own schedule and make as many trips as you need, which is good.  Where that model breaks down in on your long distance move.

For the sake of demonstration purposes, I used Tucson, AZ to Spokane, WA for all price comparisons.  That falls into the realm of close enough.  To rent a 17′ truck from here to there, which is probably what we would need, is a whooping $1463 before fuel.  Those trucks get what, 8 miles to the gallon?  Then on top of that, I would have to drive that thing up there, and miss getting to see the sights with my wife in the car.  Doable, but not our best option.

A Big Semi truck moving company:

I never really considered this one as an option for me, so I don’t have any relevant feedback or price comparisons on this one.  I don’t like the idea of other people touching my stuff.  I don’t want a piece of equipment where my stuff is shared with someone else’s.  I also might very well end up living in a rural environment which might pose a challenge for a semi to make it.  Unless this was my only option, I would avoid it.

PODS:

This is the option we used when moving out here to Tucson from Pittsburgh.  I have to say, at the time it was great.  They dropped the thing off at our house there, we took a couple days to load it up, then they picked it up and whisked it to Tucson.  during the entire process, the only damage was a lamp shade that melted in the heat at the top of the pod.  Not a big deal to us, but be warned, in the sun they get hot.

I was actually all set to use them again, but I’m not going to.  Why?  Two reasons, they are ungodly expensive now, and their sales process is outdated.

So I decided to get a quote on PODS.  I go to the website and fill out the zip codes and dates of our move.  A smart company would give me a price at this point so I can make a buying decision, but no, not PODS.  I get connected to a call center in Florida, where what sounded like a fat sweaty phone troll read a price off of a computer screen.  Hey PODS, I can save you some money.  If you let the customer see the prices, you don’t have to pay phone trolls.  So what should have been a 30 second quote process, actually took about 45 minutes, since the first time I called in, I had to leave a message.

I could actually live with that unpleasantness, if at least I was getting a deal.  I am not.  To move our POD up to Washington would be about $3000.  I would be more specific, but I don’t want anymore troll talk.  That’s just not gonna work for me.  So while I think they offer a solid surface, I can’t recommend them right now.

Ubox (Uhaul’s Pod option)

This brings me to the solution we have chosen, at least until we hear something better.  The U-Box from Uhaul.  I have not used these personally yet, although I will give you feedback when I do, but someone I know in the prepper community recently completed his move with these and had a good experience.  They are basically like PODs except cheaper and less frustrating with more flexibility.

So their actual boxes are smaller than pods, but you can order as many as you want.  I am hoping we can squeeze in one if we sell off some stuff, but two is worst case.  Best part is, you can have them drop off two, but if you only fill one, you only pay for one.  Excellent.

To get a quote, I go to their site, I pop in my date and zip codes, bam, I have a price.  To move one box to Spokane is $1356 plus $65 a month for storage.  Two boxes is $1960 plus $130 a month for storage.  To me that’s a no brainer.  It’s everything I love about PODS, with nothing I hate.

So if you are planning a long range move, that’s my feedback for you.  Right now, unless they completely screw the pooch, U-box is the way to go, and believe me, if they screw the pooch, you will all know about it.

 

 

A good time to evaluate progress

So today is the last day in January in 2013, the year that wasn’t supposed to happen according to some.  Amazing how all of that Mayan hype sprang up and consumed some people, and now its even dustier than the fake Y2K disaster.  One whole month of the new year has slipped by, and to me it has passed in the blink of an eye.  So much has happened to me since then, and most of it has been awesome.  Hopefully you feel the same way.

When I was a kid, all I can remember was how slow time seemed to pass.  Except of course in the summer when I got to relax and learn what I wanted to.  School seemed to just plod endlessly.  I used to divide up the day into 5 minute blocks and count down how many more of them I had to endure before I was free.  It seemed that life would take forever to get to the good parts.  My parents always used to warn me, enjoy it now, because it will race by when you are older.

HOLY CRAP!  THEY WERE RIGHT!

To me this isn’t a bad thing, because it must mean my life is pretty good, but they really were right.  Life has a nasty habit of slipping past when you aren’t looking.  So it’s good to stop and take a look at it every once in awhile.

We are at the end of the first month of the year.  We are 1/12th of the way through another one.  Have you made progress on your goals?  Have you taken steps to change your life?  What new people have you met?  What books have you read?  What have you done differently to make this year unique?

There is a value in stopping as we go to see how we are doing.  Far too often people get to the end of the year, and realized they have squandered an incredible chunk of their lives.  If we divide it up into smaller chunks to keep ourselves focus, we are less likely to lose all of our time.

There is no such thing as stasis in life.  Life is change.  You are either becoming richer or poorer.  You are healthier or sicker.  Freer or deeper into bondage.  So time lost, is often change for the worse.  Stop now, and see where you are.  Is this year progressing the way you want, or is it time to kick it up a notch?  Better to ask now, than after all your time is gone.

Fear of Moving

Well, its official.  The gateway homestead is up for sale.  We submitted the workout packet and all of our paperwork to our real estate agent in the middle of Chicken Week, and yesterday they came to install the sign.

Although we have had this process underway for more than four months now, this is most certainly the endgame of the Tucson phase of our lives.  To me at least, there is an incredible sense of finality  that comes with seeing it installed.  I have the same wonderful mix of excitement, anticipation and nervousness I had when we moved to Tucson.  There will also be the whirlwind packing and house-hunting frenzy, but I will probably just be too tired to care during all of that.  So all in all, its off to a great start.  I am very excited.

Now you all knew I was moving already, so that’s not where I am going with this yet, although I do look forward to sharing all of the adventure as well.

Instead it got me thinking about our last move from Pittsburgh to Tucson.  On both ends of the move, people would ask us as polite conversation “Oh wow, that’s such a long way, why are you moving?”  Our answer was almost always the same, “We hated where we lived so we wanted to change it”.  Most importantly, we meant it.  That was actually why we moved, why would it need to be any more complicated than that?

This was so consistently met with blank looks and outright disbelief.  I could never understand it at the time, and frankly I still can’t.  We have started to get much the same reaction this time here in Tucson, and I wonder if we will see the same reaction on the other end in Idaho.  All my life I have been surrounded by people who don’t particularly like their life circumstances, their job or where they live, yet they seem paralysed and unable to change it.  For me the solution has always been so easy, why is it difficult for so many others?  It feels like two frogs sitting together in a pot that’s on the stove.  One comments that its getting hot, and the other just says “Why jump out, the other pots are going to boil too?”

Why are we all so willing to accept mediocrity in the places that we live?  Taxes are too high.  Gun laws are too strict.  There are no jobs.  It never rains.  It always rains.  I can’t have backyard chickens.  My neighbours play music at 2am.

Its a big, awesome, varied country out there.  If you don’t like where you are, for a couple hundred bucks you can be thousands of miles away in a few hours.  There will be somewhere else with the things you want, if you are only willing to go out and find them.  You might get it wrong at first.  We thought Tucson was going to be our forever home, and instead we lived here five years.  If Idaho isn’t our forever home, there are still 47 more states to check out.

The barriers you place to moving are all in your own mind.  I have a job. Get another one.  I have kids. They will think its an adventure if you tell them it is.  My kids will miss their friends.  For about 10 minutes, trust me, after your kids graduate they aren’t going to talk to them anyway.  I have a mortgage.  Sell it.  I have family here.  There is an airport somewhere nearby.

Life is can either be a grand adventure, or a mind numbing slog.  You are much more likely to find adventure, if you are willing to go look for it.  Both the strongest barriers to our own success, and the easiest to break, are the ones we place on ourselves.  So go find an adventure.