Last year, we made the long-distance move from England to Wales. Relocating so far away was a daunting prospect, so we did everything we could to help make it run smoothly.
I’m pleased to say, that the move was actually surprisingly unstressful, so I thought I would share some of the things I did before the move and leading up to moving day that made it as stress-free as possible.
Decluttering
The first thing on my list before such a big move was to de-clutter our house! With two toddlers, we had accumulated a LOT of things that we no longer needed, so the first thing on my list was to have a good sort out and make a few trips to the dump and charity shops.
I think we made around ten trips to the dump in total, and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is about to embark on a long-distance move.
Firstly, de-cluttering can help you reduce the number of items you need to pack and transport to your new home. This can save you both time and money, and could be the difference between hiring two and three moving vans!
By getting rid of items you no longer need or use, you can also create more space in your new home, making it feel a lot more comfortable and relaxing when you move in.
It can also make unpacking and settling in easier, as you’ll only be surrounded by the items that truly matter to you. And as a final bonus, decluttering can be an opportunity to donate or sell items to others who may need them, reducing waste and benefiting your local community.
Creating a Moving Checklist
As soon as we had a moving date, I created a moving house checklist. This listed everything I needed to do in the run-up to the move, and ensured that nothing was forgotten. It was great to be able to tick things off as I went through each task!
Check out my moving house checklist here.
Packing as Early as Possible
I’m usually the sort of person that likes to leave things until the last minute…
However, when it came to moving house, I knew that packing as early as possible would make the whole process less stressful.
As soon as I knew we were moving (even before we had the moving date) I started packing up items that we rarely use. By packing one box a day, I never felt overwhelmed by the prospect of suddenly having to pack up a whole house.
The only downside to this was that we had to live with boxes around for a few months, but I would take this any day to save the stress of suddenly rushing to pack everything up in time.
Staying on Top of The Admin
Going back to my moving checklist, staying on top of the admin really helped ensure things ran smoothly. I kept a folder of all moving-related documents and set myself reminders on my phone of when I had to do certain things on my list.
Choosing a Reliable Moving Service
Choosing a reliable moving company was really important to me, so I didn’t just go for the cheapest option. I wanted to know that all of my belongings were in safe hands and that they wouldn’t cancel at the last minute.
I got quotes from around seven moving companies in total, and I also read reviews from their previous customers to help me make a decision.
The company we used, in the end, were great! We did our move in two parts by taking advantage of a self-storage facility (more on that in the next section), and the movers were super accommodating, so I have no regrets!
Using a Self-Storage Facility
To make things easier and avoid having a breakdown in the chain of sale for our property, we decided to do our move in two parts. This meant firstly moving our belongings to a self-storage facility, and then staying in temporary accommodation for a couple of weeks until the purchase of our new property has completed.
As with choosing our moving company, choosing a good self-storage company was important, as we wanted to know our belongings were safe and secure during this time.
Cinch Self Storage provide secure, CCTV-monitored, and climate-controlled self-storage units across England, which means that you can rest easy knowing that your belongings will be taken care of for you. Several of their self-storage locations offer the flexibility of extended or 24/7 access, and they will happily refund any unused storage days. This is a great perk, as, like myself, your schedule may be hectic, and your move date may not be set in stone.
Once we had our final moving date, our moving company collected all of our belongings from the self-storage unit, and brought them to Wales, where we were waiting!
Childcare
Perhaps one of the key parts of making a long-distance move easier was to ensure that we had childcare on the day we moved out! Luckily we had grandparents nearby, who looked after our little rascals and allowed us to concentrate on directing the movers and giving our house a final clean for the new owners.
If you don’t have family members you can rely on, I would definitely recommend contacting a local babysitter or childminder to keep your little ones occupied for the day—and the same goes for pets if you have any!
Final Thoughts on Moving from England to Wales
Moving from England to Wales was a great move for us, and much less stressful than we thought it would be. Living in Wales is very different to living in England for a lot of reasons, but I will dive deeper into that in a future post.
I hope you have found these tips helpful! If you’re embarking on a long-distance move yourself, feel free to drop any questions in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!
