If you have moved to a new city when did you start planning?

I am moving to Calgary (2 1/2 hours away) next summer and am already getting things ready to go. Brandon thinks I am crazy

I have about 2 pages of things I (we) need to do before we move and I just think that if I don't start now it will never be done

Do you have any tips? Such as things that need to be done that are usually overlooked,ect? Any advice? By the time we move I really think I will have lost my mind!

The last time I moved to a new city was over 30 years ago, and I had two months to plan. If I had had two years, I would have used them. I think it's an enterprise that fills up whatever space is available.

Off the top of my head, I don't have any particular tips, but I'll put this question on the back burner, and let it simmer...

i moved to japan from new york just over a year ago. from the time i "knew" i was going to be moving to the time i actually moved was almost 6 months, but about half of that was spent planning my wedding (we had a 2 1/2 month engagement.) since this was a military-related move, there wasn't really much that i was able to do to prepare other than getting my things and all the wedding gifts packed up and shipped. the only furniture we had was a bed, so that helped. from time to time we think of things that we left with our parents in "storage" that we wish we had, sometimes they can send the item(s) to us, sometimes they can't. the last time i "moved" before that was when i went away to college, but since i didn't bring all of my things and was able to go home more often, it wasn't a very big deal. since you have until next summer, that will give you plenty of time to find a place to live (if you don't already have one) and aside from starting to save some money to cover moving expenses and the purchase of any major items you may need i would say there's not a lot you can do so far in advance. (maybe i'm wrong?) you'll want to check into phone companies and other utilities you need/want a couple of months in advance and set up everything so that they will be turned on and working when you get there or very shortly afterward. in any case, try not to let the move consume you or stress you out this early in the game; i'm sure you will have no problem getting everything done in time.

New I was moving from Kentucky in August of 2003 - started planning in August of 2003. Finally moved in May 2004.

well my situation was a bit different.
I moved out for the first time and didnt really know what to expect.
we were bombarded with bills, and trying to get some furnitures so we were poor for a while untill we got a visa card.
so we got our telephone lines up on my names, the internet. we got the electricity running and we payed off our bills.

I also did some packing about a month before i moved out. we had to go back 3 times to get everything i needed
slowly we got everything we needed

I moved 500 miles away from the town I grew up in, and the only town I knew, with 2 weeks notice

It seems overwhelming, but it (obviously) can be done in 2 weeks, so having that long will make it seem like no work at all!

I just closed all accounts and started new once I got there. I left a lot of my furniture behind for a lady in the next apartment who moved in with nothing a month before (left her husband in the middle of the night). I stayed with my sister-in-law for 2 weeks until we found a house to rent. I just packed up and went!

Let's see, have you:
. . .checked into utilities in Calgary?
. . .found out how much those utility deposits will be?
. . .started house-hunting? or will you have to wait until closer to time?
. . .decided which bills you'd like to pay off so they don't move with you? (I had some accounts with local stores that I wanted settled before I left town)
. . .made lists of those things you'll need right away and those things you could place in storage/sell? My ex was very keen on lists upon lists upon lists.
. . .done a thorough inventory of the house, both for insurance and to estimate the amount of boxes and moving materials you'll need? The military insists that you do this before every move, no matter if you're doing it yourself or hiring it out.

I think it's wonderful that you have so much time to plan - you should have a lot less stress on moving day!!! I moved with two months notice, but I only had a small 2br apartment to pack and I was moving into an already-established household. I underestimated the truck size and had to take an extra day to cram everything in all the nooks and crannies, and left some additional items behind (nothing I couldn't live without, though).

I have moved cities, and countries, several times in my life. I find it is the moving out rather than the moving in, that is hard. Remembering to cancel everything, arrange forwarding addresses, packing up and generally saying goodbye. It is amazing how little you can live with when you start in a new place, if you have to. But pack one large suitcase with essential clothes and papers that you carry with you, if you are sending other things by FDX or whatever, because stuff sent by courier can get delayed - I know, my 5 boxes of what I considered necessary immediate stuff got stuck in customs for 5 weeks, leaving me with only one bag of clothes. But I am not a light packer - I envy people who work all round the world on one backpack!

You 'll know where I'm going and when.... but my advice is you're doing fine! Tie up as many loose ends as possible in advance and then you don't have so much to do closer to the time. I started to get things ready to go about a month ago and it's been a real marathon run. You've got the advantage of staying within the same country, so you can pretty much bundle everything into a lorry/van or whatever and go. Good luck with everything!

I have no advice Ashley, but all the best!

Wow! It must be wonderful to have so much time to plan. When we moved last summer we thought we'd have lots of time, but it all turned out happening much faster than expected. Thank God my family was more than willing to help us!

Erica has some great suggestions...start getting together all the information you can and organize it in a folder or book. (Something that won't get lost when the actual packing begins.) You can also start collecting boxes and packing up some of the stuff you won't be using before you move.

Originally Posted by Tari

start getting together all the information you can and organize it in a folder or book. (Something that won't get lost when the actual packing begins.)

Click to expand...

That reminds me: if you have *help* packing, be sure to set that book FAR FAR away from the stuff that needs packed! I unfortunately left a lot of boxing to the last minute, and I had a very *helpful* neighbor box some things for me, but I neglected to tell her about the pile I had set aside to ride in the truck with me. When I returned from the other room, everything was packed and on the truck, including the important stuff I had set aside. Oops!!

I moved to a new province actually 614 Kilometers from my home. It took me 27 days to decide to move, move my stuff, get a home, place my kids in schools and find a doctor.