Logistics of moving across the country

[manna1084]

Hello, I'm new here and was wondering if anyone had any advice on moving across the country. We are looking at how to move her, her dog and all of her stuff from Washington state to Maryland.

[R&R]

When I made the move from NH to CA (and then back again), I had a tow hitch put on my car. I rented a U-haul trailer and loaded it. My (ex)SO flew out from CA and we drove back. It took us about 4 days to make the drive.

[Ejoriah]

We recently moved from Kansas to Arizona (granted we did it together and it wasn't to close the distance, but still).

You said you want to move all her stuff... do you really mean that? All the furniture and everything? What we ended up doing is selling the majority of our furniture and then renting a Uhaul box. Basically you fill it up, then the company ships it for you to the desired location. It was pricy but we wanted to travel light since we were driving.

Start packing early. Depending on how long she's been living at her current place it might take weeks to properly pack everything up. I only lived at my previous apartment for a year, and it was tiny, but it took a lot longer than I thought it would to get everything in boxes and squared away. So much clutter! A good place to start is out-of-season clothing items and accessories. What's the timeline for the move? Something that many members here have done is bring some of their belongings with them during visits so that there are less things to bring for the "big move."

As far as moving with pets... it's a lot easier since this will be a domestic move and you don't have to worry about quarantines etc. If you're planning on driving, make sure to give yourselves time for plenty of breaks so that the dog can get out and do its business/stretch its legs (that will of course depend on the kind of dog, its age and needed activity levels). If you're flying, check airline rules - if the dog is too big to fit in the cabin with you I would suggest just driving, as cargo conditions for pets on planes aren't optimal (but that's my opinion).