The Movers.com Blog

You might be living miles and miles away... But your stuff needs to be shipped!

Some day, you might find yourself in a situation where you can’t be around to move your items from your old house to your new home.  Maybe you got a new job and had to start right away, so you just threw a few essentials into a suitcase and jumped on the next plane to New York City.  Or maybe you just couldn’t bear living in sunny California even a minute longer and decided to move to chilly Alaska.  Now, you’re all alone in an empty place while all your furniture and other belongings sit in your old home.  What do you do now?

The easiest (and most practical) option is to hire a full-service mover.  As the name implies, full-service moving companies do all of the work for you.  They’ll take care of packing all of your belongings, loading the moving truck, driving the truck to your new home, and then unloading it once they arrive.  The biggest drawback: it’s much more expensive than packing and loading the truck yourself.  Tell the movers about your situation and inform them that a trusted proxy will be on-hand during the move to oversee the process and sign any paperwork.

Most full-service moving companies have professionally trained packers and movers, so you can be fairly certain that your belongings will be in safe hands.  However, you should always research several companies before you decide on one.  After all, you wouldn’t want to entrust your stuff to a rogue mover!

Another option is to ask some friends or family members to do the packing for you.  While you might need to pay them to help you out, you’d most likely still be spending less than what you would for a full-service mover.  If you choose to go this route, make sure that the people you hire to help are absolutely trustworthy and up to such a large job.  You might want to look into temporary insurance coverage for them during the move, and keep in mind that they’re not bound by federal regulations like established moving companies.  You’ll also be responsible for any damage that occurs to your belongings during the packing process unless you take out a special coverage policy.

Even if you do hire a full-service mover, you should still have someone you trust on site at your old home to supervise the process.  They’ll make sure that your belongings are handled with care and packed properly.  They can also be available to answer any questions the movers might have.  Make it clear that they should call you if a question is hazy or difficult to understand and that you’ll need to remotely give all final approvals.  This trusted person will also unlock your house for the movers when they arrive, and they’ll secure the property once everything is moved out.

Moving while you’re away from the area doesn’t have to be stressful.  As long as you make a plan and involve people that you trust, it will be a cinch for you.  The hardest part will be waiting for your shipment to arrive!

Have you ever moved while you were out of the area?  Tell us about it with a comment below!