On Moving [S. Worthen | Weblog]

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I've read several posts in the last day by people who must move, or who are considering moving, and observe that they hate moving. So do I. It's a pain carefully packing up all my belongings into robust containers and lugging them, trucking them, or shipping them to another location. So many people hate the inconvenience of the process that it left me wondering if anyone actually likes moving.

[Poll #1001062]

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There are 15 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

It may sound sad, but I have moving down to a science. Before going off to university, I'd moved house no fewer than 7 times, so by the time dorm-hopping and ocean-hopping came about, I'd perfected my packing routine. The only part I hate is finding someone with a car for the purpose of making said moves (or hoping nothing gets lost by the airline/postal service).

If I remember correctly moving is considered to be one of the most stressful things a person can do.

I dislike intensely having to move, and the concomitant procrastination and organization, but once I start doing it then the process of spring-cleaning and reorganizing my life is actually rather fun.

we moved a _lot_ when i was a kid - i think it averaged out to about every 18 months - and so i had packing down to a fine art and i wasnt a packrat.

now i have an entire house, i own so much more stuff that the idea of moving is scary and horrible ;)

however, i agree with Mirrorshard: clearing out Julian's stuff was annoying but i felt better afterwards.

I sort of like moving and sort of don't, but the balance tips towards liking. What I dislike is the chaos it generates: bits of packing material everywhere, the irritations of having to find somewhere to move to, the transport issues. But I quite enjoy packing and unpacking, and the excitement of settling in to a new space. And I have rejoiced at moving out of most of my former dwellings -- many of them have represented exile, while new homes always possess some possibilities.

I don't know that it's possible to like moving. The physical difficulty of it aside, it really calls home to you ("you" being the average middle class Westerner) just how trapped you are by your *stuff*, all these things you didn't even realize you owned.

People tell me I'm lucky I'm only moving to another floor in the same building. But it doesn't matter - whether I'm moving to another floor or another state, I still need to pack and move the exact same amount of stuff.

I've moved a lot and I:

love the fun of looking for new places to live (aasuming the move is my idea and not as the result of life disasters - although even then the positive act of finding somewhere new has helped me through the sadness of the end of a relationship);

hate dealing with landlords and real estate agents; hate packing and moving;

love unpacking and getting everything just how I like it;

hate the period of unpacking when you'll run out of the initial momentum, feel like you have everything unpacked but are still tripping over boxes;

hate having to find out how the new place works - rubbish pick ups, dealing with utilities etc;

love the excitement of having a new place to live.

And I'll be doing it in a couple months too. Oy vey. It's the looking for a new place and getting everything packed that stresses me out.

There are aspects that I like and aspects that I don't. The best part of moving is the ability to REALLY purge. I don't like to move when it has to be really quick - throw everything into a box and get out - but when I can take the time and really look at my stuff and decide what belongs in the new place and what doesn't. That's the fun in moving.

Though I know there will be problems, my next move, to London, will be the first one ever that I am happy about because I'm getting to do it because I want to, and not out of necessity, illness, family, etc.

I dislike looking for a new place and arranging for help with the move (esp. transport issues, as mentioned above), but I like packing and unpacking. It gives me a chance to really clean everything and be harsh on myself about what I keep and what I don't.

Actually the main problem is the interruption it causes. I would like moving if I could take as much time as I wanted to and really organize myself (and if I had some extra money set aside for the new place so I didn't feel guilty about buying new things for it). But I always have to make myself move more quickly so I can get back to research/classes/etc. That's the part that annoys me the most ... moving can never be a priority until moving day comes, and by then you're going crazy with last-minute annoyances that you could have prevented if you'd had more time earlier.

I like the bit about starting anew and building a new home. But that's about it. The rest of it is like tearing down your entire life and trying to stuff it in these anonymous boxes. It's like nothing you love is safe, and all the walls you built around your little castle have been torn down and you're naked before the world.

I cannot stand being/living in one place for long, but the process of moving is so clunky and piecemeal and annoying that I can honestly say I hate to move. If I could whittle my junk down by half I think I'd be a happier little camper; I'm still irritated by the amount of furniture one simply must have to live a civilzed life--bed, table, chairs, bureau, bookcases.

Since I was 18 I have lived in fourteen different spaces, sometimes in several over the course of one year. I can't stop wandering, it seems, but I do so hate moving.

I love the excitement. The putting things into boxes bit is mechanical, like several others I've done this many times. I love upacking boxes at the other end and going 'oh that's where I put that' - I'll do the whole lot without a break. It was particularly exciting when I got to unpack my stuff over 3 months later than I'd shipped it - it was like a massive Christmas in March. Normally I don't worry about the transport bit, either someone has been around who can help or I've paid to get it all moved - but then I don't have any furniture or items like that so its really easy for me.

I just like throwing things out.

October