Tips for pack out and moving --- PANIC!!!!!

Actually, no, don't panic. I've been missing in action for the last week because I have officially started to panic.  I don't know why, I've been trying to slowly organize myself for this move for the last three months.... But still.  *sigh* I don't think there's a way to do this moving thing without it. (I think it's all mixed up with leaving your home, looking forward to the new home, and all the uncertainty and lack of control that you have with the whole process) I actually had planned to do a post in narrative form about preparing for the movers, but I'm way too freaked out to think about it coherently.
So here are a few notes: 

1.  group stuff according to categories.  Put all your pictures together, lamps together, extension cords, cables, etc... You might use them all in different rooms, but every house is laid out in a slightly different way and what you have going on now might not be what you've got in the future. 

2.  Save your original boxes (for tvs, dishes, anything really breakable) if you can, pack your stuff in it.

3.  Breathe

4.  Empty all your trash (yes, some packers will pack the trash)

5.  Label things that don't go with you.  Put suitcases and small things you don't want packed in another room where the packers won't go. 

6.  If you can, arrange for kids and dogs to be somewhere else, or give them a space of their own away from the packers.

7.  Breathe

8.  Prepare a dinner ahead of time, or know the number of good take out.  You will not want to make dinner, or leave dinner plans until the last minute (same goes for lunch).

9.  Try to write specific notes on each box, if you can (I know that I usually can't, there are too many packers and not enough of me).

10.  Breathe

When all else fails, remember they will pack everything and most everything will arrive at your next place, if you are not organized, they will still pack, and you will be able to organize when you get there.  So long as you have your suitcases, pets, and as many children as you started with you will be fine. 

tips for pack out and moving part 2-- the purge

All right, so I've figured out what I want to go into my airfreight, now what about the rest of this crap?  Now it's time to purge.  This step is not really necessary, but it helps to keep your weight down and believe it or not it helps when you unpack.  I usually start my purge a couple of months out so that I can take my time and I don't get frustrated with how long it takes and quit half way through.
I don't know about you, but for some reason my stuff breeds in the dark.  I might start off with a few sheets of paper or a couple of books here and there, but by the time we leave in two years I've got stacks and stacks of paper, shelves of books, clothes, craft items, and other assorted--well crap that has limited use.  So every two years or so with a pack out date looming on the calendar like an ominous cloud I begin a purge.
I usually start with the least used room, no reason, except that in that room I can make as much of a mess as I want and it doesn't disturb anyone's life.   Then I open all the drawers, go into all the closets, look at all the bookshelves to see what we haven't used in the last two years that I can get rid of.  In this way, I slowly move through the house from room to room getting rid of things. 
I know this step sounds simple, but it is time consuming and will help you when it comes time to actually organize your things for pack out.

Tips for pack out and moving in Part 1--air freight

I know it’s still early, but we are getting close to summer transfer season.  And while I’m not supposed to leave post until July (at the earliest) I’ve already started making my lists and mentally preparing myself for pack out. 

Why, you might ask, are you worried about pack out now?  For heaven’s sake, the movers will come and do everything for you!  Well, my friends, I’m glad you asked that, because, as this will be my sixth move, experience teaches me to prepare early.  While the movers will pack everything for you they basically just want to get everything in a box as quickly and carefully as possible.  This might not sound like a problem, but imagine 3-6 strangers in your house with boxes, paper and tape emptying drawers, closets, boxes, in 16 hours—and this includes loading the truck—and you might begin to understand why you need to be ready in advance. 

First things first:  Do you have items going to more than one place, or in more than one shipment?  For instance do you have an air shipment and a sea shipment?  Are you sending some of your things to storage, or to another house somewhere?  What about your suitcases?

Think about where you are sending your things and by what method.  Speak to your shippers early on in the process to find out if you can ship food, electronics, liquids, or aerosols.  If you get a lighter shipment (like an airfreight) to get you settled in before the main bulk of your household effects arrives, separate out those items first.  In this shipment you want to think about what is the bare minimum that your family can survive on and feel at home.  Things like kitchen supplies; pots, pans, plates, silverware, anything you use regularly to get food on the table—and take it from me pack your muffin pans and loaf pans if you might ever make muffins or bread.  I now have 5 loaf pans and 2 muffin pans because every time I move I don’t think I’ll need them, and every time we get there I need them and buy new ones. Bedding; sheets, towels, blankets, pillows—these may or may not be provided for you when you get to post, but chances are they will be weird, scratchy, and unfamiliar.  There’s nothing like sliding into bed in your own sheets to make you feel at home.  Toys—if you have kids this is a must.  There is nothing worse than arriving to an empty house, except arriving to an empty house with kids asking every two seconds “what can I do?”  Clothes—I would bring as many seasons as will fit, I once packed only summer and fall clothes because we were supposed to arrive at post in early summer and there would really be no way it could take 6 months for our items to arrive… well we didn’t get to post until late summer and by the time our shipment arrived it was late fall and I was freezing! 

Of course, every family is different and you are going to have to make your own lists as to what you send by air.  One way to do this is to make a list of everything you use as you use it for a month, then pare this list down to the essentials. Like getting rid of a pizza cutter when a knife will do, or instead of 3 plates per person per day, one set of dishes for each person. 

On packing day have your packers pack and weigh this shipment first so that if you have extra space you can add to it, or if you are overweight you can take things out before your entire house is packed up.