On moving

Moving is never as easy as you think it will be. The transition of houses, the actual physicality involved... and for some reason you always have more stuff than you thought you had. Many people de-clutter when moving home, we didn't. Although we have more stuff than we want, there is not much we can get rid of. In fact, each time we have moved the past few years we have found ourselves having to get more stuff for the next place. When we first came over we had 20 kg's worth of suitcases each, mostly clothing a couple of cameras and small things that we thought we needed. Then we found we needed sheets and towels and countless other little things that really we hadn't thought about. Living in a houseshare meant that we didn't need to purchase furniture or stoves, or cultery. But over the last 3 years we have been gathering little things, like the set of glasses and wine glasses because the house didn't have any or enough. And then last September we moved into a one-bedroom flat and found we needed plates and bowls and a kettle! So we went shopping for more stuff. But luckily again, the flat was partly furnished so we didn't need to buy a couch or bed. We made do with the lumpy old sofa. And then we moved again...

This time however, we didn't have any boxes, and although we asked around and looked on freecycle we couldn't get any. I did not see the point of buying boxes. So we moved with bags and the few suitcases that we had. It was not fun. It was the first time I hadn't had enough boxes in a move, and I think that the first rule of moving should be - use boxes! I have used wooden boxes, cardboard boxes and even - a couple of times in Zimbabwe, wooden coffins. I think my parents still have them sitting full of books and stuff in the garage. It did freak out the men who had to carry them though. Anyhow, moving with tesco bags is something I never want to do again. We were lucky enough have the whole month to move our stuff in, and it took that long. Because we moved in a little blue corsa. A couple of trips every couple of days meant it took a lot of trips. Luckily we were only moving about 10km or so. Moving in a small car is possible, especially if you don't have lots of big bulky/heavy things. And we have done so before. We also didn't have much money to pay for a removals company, so we did it our way. And half-way through moving, the car broke down - twice! We were collecting a box from a relative and a sound started rattling, badly. Our corsa was not happy. So we went home and called a mechanic, who ordered a new piece for it. While he was doing that we decided to get him to give it a service at the same time. And the next weekend - when we were moving again, something else broke. We talked nicely to the car, crossed our fingers and kept moving. By now our moving deadline was too close for us to allow the car to get fixed. We moved the last of our things, parked our car and called the mechanic. Turns out it wasn't a serious problem, and it was fixed in under half an hour. And I am so glad its over! We managed to fit everything we owned into the spare bedroom, so that the day we moved over we only had stuff piled in one room and so we can decide where we are putting things as and when we get to it. At least its out of the way while we redecorate the rest of the flat. Now its just a matter of getting into that room to find stuff when we need it!