There comes a time in every person’s life (hopefully) that they must move out of their parents' house. If you’re lucky, mom and dad will let you store some stuff in the attic until you get settled, but eventually it has to go.
Moving into a new place can be exciting and a great new start for you. It is actually sort of fun getting to decorate a new place and start from scratch in an entirely new environment. You get a chance to explore a whole new city, with a whole new set of interesting people and entertainment. In theory, moving should be one of the best experiences for you.
But at what cost?
In reality, moving is actually the worst and here’s why.
1. You realize how much crap you have.
You never realize how much unnecessary junk you have until it’s time to move. You end up finding things that you never even knew existed in the first place. I’m talking phone cases for a phone that you haven’t had in years kind of junk. Or that puppy calendar your mom got you for Christmas eight years ago that you never got around to actually opening. Or even a diary from your dramatic younger years filled with bubble lettered art and pathetic attempts at drawing horses. You’ll find so much crap that it becomes overwhelming.
2. Your inner ‘hoarder’ comes out.
After you get over the initial shock of how much stuff you have, it comes time to throw it away. Most of the stuff hasn’t seen the light of day in ages, if at all, so it should be easy right? Wrong. Suddenly that stuffed animal you used to sleep with becomes the only thing in the world that can make you happy, and you can’t throw away the three boxes of markers because what if you decide you want to color sometime in the future? God forbid you get rid of those VHS movies that you watched as a child that aren’t even compatible with your current DVD player. It all becomes suddenly precious and valuable, and the thought of getting rid of it is enough to make you want to dig your claws in for just a little bit longer.
3. You get all sentimental.
As you are sorting through what to keep and what to get rid of, a hoard of memories will surely crash into you and remind you of the good times. Every piece of memorabilia has the ability to illicit a different emotional reaction from you. You are suddenly hit with the realization that if all goes according to plan, you will never live there again. Your childhood home will become part of your past and something to look back on. Your bedroom will most likely be turned into a guest room and even weirder still, you will be the guest that uses it. Yes, your mom will tell you that their home will always be your home, but it’s just different now.
4. You have to pack everything up.
The time will come when you have to pack everything into boxes and it is a very sad day indeed. I am convinced that packing is the absolute worst thing in the entire world. I have been known to show up for overnight things with just a contact case and a toothbrush because I hate packing so much. If you’re anything like me, then packing up your crap is a living nightmare. But it must be done. It may take you an excessive amount of time to do it, but you will inevitably get everything packed into cardboard boxes. The boxes will end up extremely heavy and you will probably be sweaty and on the verge of a mental breakdown, but once you look around the empty room you will still feel a deep hatred towards packing and swear up and down that you will never do it again. Or that might just be me.
5. You have to find people to help.
You truly find out who your friends are when it comes time to move. Chances are, you don’t actually have enough stuff to hire movers, but there’s just enough that you can’t do it alone. The text messages you craft are equal parts guilt trip and bribery. “Hey! I miss you so much! I haven’t seen you since I helped you with that one thing that one time… How are you? Yeah, I need help moving. I’ll buy you food. Please.” If you’re lucky, they will volunteer their time to carry massive boxes for you until your friendship is almost ruined. If you’re even luckier, they will have a pickup truck. I suggest having at least one friend that has a truck at all times. They might need a little more convincing to help because they will probably assume that you are just using them for their transportation abilities, which is mostly accurate. However, when in doubt, go with a free meal.
6. You have to unpack.
You and your loyal friends finally get everything into the new place and you can breathe a sigh of relief. Oh wait. No. You can’t because now you have to unpack everything. Although not quite as bad as packing, it still sucks when you are exhausted and just want to sleep, but your sheets are in the bottom of some box in the living room. You are torn between wanting to pull an all nighter to just knock it out and taking your time until the sight of a cardboard box drives you up the wall. Either way you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a bright light that comes with the warmth and comfort of knowing that you are finished with the miserable process of moving.
7. Your address changes.
It may not seem like a big deal, but having to learn a whole new address is frustrating. Filling out forms at the doctor’s office or dentist becomes an ordeal because now you have to recite a new zip code, and you always forget if the two comes before or after the one. Not to mention that you have to let everyone and their mother know that you’ve moved so they can mail you things at the new address. Now every time one of your friends wants to come over you have to send it to them because it’s just as new for them. After so many years of living in the same place, engraving a new address into your brain is more difficult than it should be.
Moving is definitely an experience that drains you both physically and emotionally. It disrupts your life and forces you to put everything on the back burner until it is finished. With the help of some friends or family and a positive outlook, moving can almost be a tolerable thing.
I guess it is what you make it, so if you can look past the general awfulness of the things listed above then you will have a decent experience. If not, then good luck.
