The first decision regarding your move is whether you are going to hire a professional moving company/van line or do it yourself.  Either way, you’ll find a wealth of information available from the moving company/van line or a truck rental company.

Regardless, chances are you’ll pack some things yourself.  You probably will handle certain valuables or irreplaceable items even though a van line may move the box or boxes with the majority of your other household belongings.  Whatever you pack should be properly labeled and well identified if the box or boxes contain fragile items.  If you use a moving company, they are responsible for any damages and will usually exert caution on items they pack.  Be alert to the various provisions for insurance and make sure that you are properly covered for problems.

If your are packing and moving yourself, it’s even more critical to label.  Often you’ll think, “I’ll remember what’s in this box” because it’s heavy, light, big, little, etc.  Wrong! When your new garage has three hundred boxes in it, you’ll be lucky to remember what was in the last box you packed, much less what it looks like.  Also, when you’re moving yourself, you’ll probably use “used” boxes from retailers, liquor stores, etc., which tend to already have writing on them.  You may find it helpful to buy tablets of colored paper or simple construction paper.  Tape on at least two sides of the box, two pieces of the same color paper.  Write on one of them what the box contains.  Then assign each room of your new home a color; literally tape a piece of colored paper on the door to the room.  When you’re moving in, you simply put the boxes in the corresponding room, i.e., yellow-labeled boxes go in the room with the yellow paper on the door.  You’ll find this very helpful when you have children, friends or relatives helping with the move.

Moving is never easy, it’s in the top ten stress factors of life.  But, there are things that can be done in advance to make it as simple as possible.  Look to the professional for advice.