Moving across country, tips and tricks?

[Meresgi]

Moving from CA back to Maryland. Got a dog and 2 cats, myself and roommate.

Been here in MD looking for a place but haven't locked one down yet but they have to start work in MD May 20th.

We both have cars, 1st idea was to do a uhaul ubox, load it up with shit and then send it over and drive across country with both cars. However their car has some check engine light on and I don't trust it for 3k mile drive. Mine is an EV and don't want to be stopping an extra 5+hrs for charging it.

Carvana offering me only $1k less then I owe on the car so thinking of selling it off, shipping roommates car and then renting a van from Enterprise and doing the trip that way instead.

Might also get a budget van and load our shit in that we need, aka selling off all the other shit or giving it away, and driving across with that.

Basically have 2 queen mattresses, 65inch tv, 2 computer chairs and dozen boxes of stuff which I think would all easily fit into budget van, or could ship the boxes via USPS for about $60 a box and then try to load pets + those big items into enterprise minivan or still use budget cargo van.

Anyone have any good ideas of how to do this the smoothest possible?

[Melena]

not much I can offer on the non pet stuff, but would seriously recommend hitting up the vet for any sort of anxiety meds as your furbabies may not enjoy the drive.

[Meresgi]

not much I can offer on the non pet stuff, but would seriously recommend hitting up the vet for any sort of anxiety meds as your furbabies may not enjoy the drive.

Hmmm that is true, I have some calming meds for dog still laying around for when I would take them to the vet so probably dose her up with that. Not sure about the cats, have to see if can get into the vet this week

[Anoat]

Sell, giveaway, or trash everything (except the pets and at least one car). Ship your clothes. Start over with new or thrifted stuff in the new place. Simplest solution.

[Buffy]

If you aren't in a rush and you haven't done it before, you should route to some tourist-y stuff. South Dakota if you go north for Mount Rushmore, then pick up a buncha stuff in Illinois.

There are a fair number of presidential libraries around too, those are interesting.

[Julian]

If you go the uhaul route, make sure to shop around. Look at uhaul, budget, penske, etc. Last few drives I've done (it's been a loooong time, thankfully), Penske was significantly cheaper.

One person drive the truck/van/etc, one person drive a personal vehicle, is probably the best way to go, though your options don't really sound ideal.

[Meresgi]

Sell, giveaway, or trash everything (except the pets and at least one car). Ship your clothes. Start over with new or thrifted stuff in the new place. Simplest solution.

Yeah i'm thinking this route along with shipping their prius since don't trust it for the trip, then rent an enterprise van maybe to take animals + some bulkier stuff like mattresses+tv.

[Cyn]

I would honestly have someone watch the cats until you get there and then fly them out to you, unless you've traveled with them before and know they do well in a car for long periods. Also, check vehicle prices where you're at and along the way to your destination. Could honestly be worthwhile to just sell both vehicles and buy something else in a better market.

[Karbuncle]

I have two cats. One >hates< car rides, the other just chills. The one who hates it could never do that long of a trip I think, the other one might even get fidgety after a time. Feeding them and letting them use a RR would also be super hard. Not sure how to get them there outside of what others have said. Fly them out or anxiety meds from a vet.

Either way best of luck… longest move I’ve made was a few states over and at the time i got rid of most of my belongings before moving lol. Travel light, but if that’s not an option, than yah, the other advice covers it.

[Roranora]

if you need a pitstop in Denver, lemme know

good luck, this is a proper situation you have here

[Meresgi]

if you need a pitstop in Denver, lemme know

good luck, this is a proper situation you have here

Thanks, we have friends still in ABQ so might crash there for a night before working up through the horror that is OK and the midwest. Cats moved from Conn down to NM in a car so they're not too bad. Dog made the move from NM to San Diego and i've driven with her back to NM doing a road trip and wasn't too bad either thankfully.

[AoE]

Moving from CA back to Maryland. Got a dog and 2 cats, myself and roommate.

Been here in MD looking for a place but haven't locked one down yet but they have to start work in MD May 20th.

We both have cars, 1st idea was to do a uhaul ubox, load it up with shit and then send it over and drive across country with both cars. However their car has some check engine light on and I don't trust it for 3k mile drive. Mine is an EV and don't want to be stopping an extra 5+hrs for charging it.

Carvana offering me only $1k less then I owe on the car so thinking of selling it off, shipping roommates car and then renting a van from Enterprise and doing the trip that way instead.

Might also get a budget van and load our shit in that we need, aka selling off all the other shit or giving it away, and driving across with that.

Basically have 2 queen mattresses, 65inch tv, 2 computer chairs and dozen boxes of stuff which I think would all easily fit into budget van, or could ship the boxes via USPS for about $60 a box and then try to load pets + those big items into enterprise minivan or still use budget cargo van.

Anyone have any good ideas of how to do this the smoothest possible?

Moved cross country twice and in all honesty, there's really not a lot of advice to give you because you seem like you have a pretty good handle on things.

I have no advice for pets.

The move to Cali allowed me to stay at a buddies place until I got all my shit situated and then moved to my own place. The move back was staying at my mom's for a few weeks until I was able to move into the apartment I live in now.

I moved all my shit inside of a Gen 10 Honda Civic Hatchback absolutely packed to the brim in my shit including a memory foam mattress and a 45 inch tv that was wrapped well enough to survive a car crash better than I was. Throw away/sell what you don't need.

I did it both times alone so I had to have it mapped out where I was staying every night while also being realistic about how long I was trying to drive. I averaged about 10 hours a day. If you have friends willing to house you, take advantage of that. I also had a friend whose wife worked in the hotel industry so I was able to get sick discounts on hotels.

Make sure your finances are on point. The logistics of me doing this cost me about $4000 and left me broke as shit for about 3 weeks until I got my first paycheck. A lot of the money was me making sure my car could even make the trip at a minimum. The rest was shipping my stuff via mail to my mom's and lodging.

You may have it easier than me because you're doing it with a roommate but figured maybe telling you my story may give you a little insight. Take pictures if you have time and enjoy it. The state of Kansas can eat my whole asshole.

[Meresgi]

Moved cross country twice and in all honesty, there's really not a lot of advice to give you because you seem like you have a pretty good handle on things.

I have no advice for pets.

The move to Cali allowed me to stay at a buddies place until I got all my shit situated and then moved to my own place. The move back was staying at my mom's for a few weeks until I was able to move into the apartment I live in now.

I moved all my shit inside of a Gen 10 Honda Civic Hatchback absolutely packed to the brim in my shit including a memory foam mattress and a 45 inch tv that was wrapped well enough to survive a car crash better than I was. Throw away/sell what you don't need.

I did it both times alone so I had to have it mapped out where I was staying every night while also being realistic about how long I was trying to drive. I averaged about 10 hours a day. If you have friends willing to house you, take advantage of that. I also had a friend whose wife worked in the hotel industry so I was able to get sick discounts on hotels.

Make sure your finances are on point. The logistics of me doing this cost me about $4000 and left me broke as shit for about 3 weeks until I got my first paycheck. A lot of the money was me making sure my car could even make the trip at a minimum. The rest was shipping my stuff via mail to my mom's and lodging.

You may have it easier than me because you're doing it with a roommate but figured maybe telling you my story may give you a little insight. Take pictures if you have time and enjoy it. The state of Kansas can eat my whole asshole.

Kansas is fucking dog shit lol, we did a cross country road trip for fun back in 2021 along same route we'll basically be taking for this and holy shit I hated that state and OK when I did a cross country drive by myself that went a different route.

Yeah been trying to be as frugal as possible but looking like gonna be at least $2800 to ship both cars (my car fucking sprung a flat literally last night so gotta get that repaired well enough to just ride on a truck to destination). Rental from Enterprise for SUV is around $700ish which should fit us both, pets and some random shit we're bringing along comfortably too. Probably end up spending $300ish on airbnb stays or hotel rooms, looked up a few hotels that allow animals. While we can swap driving between us, I literally can't sleep in moving vehicles so that wouldn't benefit me at all much in terms of rest.

Gonna guess it will probably cost me around $5-6k in the end, which sucks but honestly in 5 months that's made back on the rent change alone....fucking CA lol

[Roranora]

the high plains would be a nicer drive if there were herds of bison periodically but, of course, we killed them all just the other century

now we have irrigation pivots and abortion-shaming signs

[Meresgi]

Found UPack which has a bigger crate size then Ubox and made of metal instead of wood. They quoted me about $500 more then Uhaul but I called up and just asked for some discounts and they dropped down to $200 less then Uhaul without any haggling.

Cars getting loaded up on Wayfinder auto transport, both cars for around $2400. Was contacted on Reddit and very quick to respond, tons of great reviews and beat all competition by $2000 or more.

[Elizara]

I"m kinda a vet with this tho it was when I was growing up. But the best I can give you is yes, we used Uhaul a lot but make sure you organize your packing so you can FIND things when you get there. I swear, every time we moved we lost something..

But yeah, we'd always rent a yuuge uhaul truck; having to pack a family of 6's stuff is quite the undertaking, let me tell ya..