The difference between packing for touring and for moving

A friend of mine, a frequent traveler, decided to move to a new home quite recently. My first impression was – It will be easy for you. I said so for two reasons – one, he was used to living in different places and two, he knew how to pack quick and fast. This was unlike regular people like me, who need time when packing for a tour, and are liable to forget to pack a couple of things. My reasoning was, however, not true.

What I hadn’t realized was that packing or moving about as a traveler is immensely different than shifting homes. When you travel, it is for a short duration and you always know you are coming back to your same home. Shifting homes is a different ballpark altogether and being a traveler of any sort doesn’t make it any easier. When you have decided to shift homes, you must pack everything including fragile crockery, cumbersome almirahs, bookshelves and valuable items. It is a time taking process which is best left to professional packers and movers.

Ensuring it is done properly

You need to keep just a couple of things in mind for your move. This will ensure your goods are packed properly when moving.

Type of Packing Material

In my experience, packing material is more than using cardboards borrowed from neighbors and stuffing newspapers as cushioning. Your refrigerator and glass-door book shelves need wooden crates to prevent dents and breakages. Bubble wraps need to go around crockery and other breakable show pieces. When you choose your packing and moving vendor, make sure they are competent to take care of these things.

Quality of Packing Material

If you want your precious belonging to be safe over a long-distance move, don’t skimp on the packing cost. Ask the moving and packing team to get good material. You don’t need to be an expert to know the difference between good and bad. A simple visual inspection is sufficient in most cases. Otherwise just touch and feel to be sure.

Skill of the Packing Team

All good material is useless if the person handling it has no idea what he is doing. Ensure that you have checked the service record of the packers and movers. Thanks to the internet, this should be easy.

Taking Care of the Unknown

Even if you do everything correctly, there is a minuscule chance that something may be damaged en route. Do take care that you have insured your belongings. Almost all reputed movers have a tie-up with one or more insurance companies. You can, in all cases, negotiate for better rates.

Knowing You Have Mastered the Art

You may wonder if you to have mastered this art with the steps mentioned. The real answer to this is simple – If your belongings arrive safely to your new home, you have done it! It makes the pain you took over packing it properly so worthwhile.

Moving houses can really be a hassle but it is something that most of us will do several times, if not dozens of times in our lives so it’s important to make these occasions as stress free as possible. Finding a new place is wonderful and exciting until you start to think how much crap you have but don’t worry these simple tips can ease your shifting.

Change the locks after shifting

Make sure to change the locks of your new home because someone might have access to your old locks. After moving, it’s always a better option to change the locks just to be on the safe side unless you want strangers showing up at your home in the middle of the night.

Check for plumbing leaks

You don’t want clogged sinks, tubs or toilets as a memory of your first day in your new home. Always make sure to inspect plumbing fixtures in your bathroom and Kitchen.

Get rid of pests

Having guests can be fun unless they are six legged or eight legged crawling creatures. They can be a real nightmare for you, You can’t let those nasty pests contaminate your new home. Call up the pest control and quickly get rid of them.

Steam the Carpets

Smell of your house represents your lifestyle and can either leave a good or a bad impression on your guests. Make sure to get rid of that foul smell and dirt hidden in your carpets by steaming your carpets.

Find the shutoff valve

Safety always comes first. After shifting, locate your Shutoff valves which provides you with a safety function to stop the flow of gas quickly and positively.

Locate the Breaker box

You don’t need to be the person who searches for the breaker box when the power goes out just locate the breaker box in your home and learn the electric circuits in advance.

Wrinkle no shirt, tangle no jewelry, leave no beauty product behind, and still have room to spare. Because every last inch of your suitcase counts, and you don’t want to break a precious bottle of Chanel No. 5, or worst case scenario: lose your bag, it’s time to streamline your approach by following these ten easy packing hacks.

1. Wrap dishes in clothing

Wrap your dishes into your clothing to save money on bubble wrap AND pack your T-shirts in one scoop as well to give more space to other item of yours.

2. Cover liquids in plastic wrap before putting the lid on

This is one of the most important packing hacks. Pour down your liquids in a plastic wrap and seal them tightly so you don’t have to deal with spills or goopy mess in your bag destroying your precious clothes.

3. Put Styrofoam plates in-Between Breakable plates

A cheap and quick way to safeguard your expensive plates is by putting Styrofoam plates in-between your expensive breakable plates.

4. Put screws and small furniture accessories in a plastic bag

You will be able to put the crib back up right away if you put all of your screws and accessories in a plastic bag taped to that piece of furniture.

5. Thread your necklaces through straws

A brilliant technique to keep your necklaces tangle free is by threading them through straws so you don’t have to waste your precious time untangling it.

6. Use Glad Press’n seal to ‘freeze’ dresser drawers

Why waste your time packing and unpacking your dresser draws when you can just use Glad Press’n seal to freeze them so that they become their very-own moving boxes.

7. Use suitcase for packing your books

If you have a large collection of books then it’s best advisable to pack them inside a suitcase as those things can get really heavy.

8. Put your Pillows and blankets in garbage bags

No we are not throwing them away but keeping them relatively clean and you can also use them as a padding between furniture in the moving truck.

9. Pack essentials last

Things like your tool belt, an overnight bag and any toiletries/needs for baby should go into your car last so you don’t waste time looking for essentials.

10. Label your cords

Lastly and most importantly don’t forget to label every box/suitcase so you know where’s where.

These few packing hacks will help you to get through the shifting on your own. But it is always advisable to move with professional packers and movers to reduce the burden of shifting.