For the past six years, Junes have been pretty hectic for us. That's because we made four self-organized long distance moves, which coincided with some significant life events.
So, for the first time in many years, we're not preparing for a big move or any big time events. Cue the sigh of relief.
Here's a recap of our eventful four Junes:
June 2005: Boston to Salt Lake City
Distance: 2,400 miles
Big Events: Keith was starting residency, we were in the process of selling a condo in Cambridge and looking for a house in SLC, which we'd end up buying a month later. Oh, and we were finalizing plans for our September wedding.
Out-of-pocket expense: $$$, especially since we had lots of large items (furniture, motorcycle) and the incompetent, cheap-o movers we hired lost and/or broke several items including our bed, framed college and med school diplomas, various other pieces of furniture, and two boxes that took us over a year to figure out what they contained. I wish I'd had the blog then...endless good material.
June 2008: Salt Lake City to Chicago
Distance: 1,400 miles
Big Events: We just sold our SLC house. I was newly laid off from my job and was starting a new career as a freelance writer. We squeezed in my brother's wedding in Rhode Island before Keith started fellowship, and he was studying like mad for his Derm boards. And I was pregnant, but had a miscarriage a few weeks later.
Out-of-pocket expense: $$. We sold lots of furniture before moving and used ABF, packing/unpacking the truck on our own, so it wasn't too-too bad. But we did ship the motorcycle, which was an added expense.
June 2009: Chicago to Vancouver
Distance: 2,200 miles
Big Events: Luke was 3 weeks old, and this was an international move, which entailed a lot more logistics work than our previous moves.
Out-of-pocket expense: $$$$. Moving across the border added administrative hassle and expense related to customs, visas, and the fact that Vancouver is a really pricey city. Plus, we stored most of our furniture at a facility in Chicago and shipped the motorcycle to Keith's parents in NY, so all of that factored in too.
June 2010: Vancouver to Salt Lake City
Distance: 1,600 miles
Big Events: Keith was starting his first real post-training job in dermatology, and we were moving into a new house after taking an Alaskan cruise. Luke had just turned 1, and I was newly pregnant with Anna.
Out-of-pocket expense: $. Finally, most of the move was reimbursed by Keith's employer, which was huge because at that point our stuff was scattered all over the place. We used a real, brand name mover to get our stuff from Vancouver to SLC, and had our furniture, etc. shipped from Chicago, the motorcycle shipped from NY, and the Subaru shipped from NH. I took a huge sign of relief when all of it arrived at our new home in one piece!
As you'll notice, we criss-crossed the continent, not realizing that we'd end up back in Salt Lake, our first stop on the journey. Though the moves were stressful and exhausting, I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to live in each place. But I am very happy that, this June, we don't have to pack boxes, coordinate endless logistics, or spend a small fortune to get our stuff from point A to point B. What will we do with all of the extra time and money?...oh yeah, we have two kids now $$$$$ :-)
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