Cardboard anxiety

It seems that sometime in everyone’s life, they will be required to move. Whether it’s to a new house, new city or even that small cubicle of freedom one would call a college dorm, odds are you will move at some point in the future.

With that being said, I urge you, beg you even, do NOT make the same mistake that I did.

To elaborate, I recently moved to a new house and it was the worst (and yes, I mean absolute most torturous) experience of my life because, simply stated, I was not at all prepared.

The January version of myself, the sweet, naive me thought that moving a house was no large feat.

The February me soon learned how incomprehensibly stupid she was for not packing before she actually moved. Oops.

So, having risen from the ashes (and by ashes, I mean mounds of dust found in the carcass of my previous home) of my failure, I feel the need to help all of my fellow movers, sweepers and soon-to-be box-lifters by sharing a few tokens of advice that will hopefully make your endeavor a little easier.

1. Start packing at least a month in advance.

Timing is the key to your sanity in this situation. Start boxing up things before you actually move, (not the actual day of the move like yours truly) and you should be in the clear. This should give you plenty of time to have basically your entire life boxed away neatly.

2. Have an order of what you pack.

In other words, don’t pack up your underwear before your fourth grade trophies that have become the home to a colony of prestigious dust bunnies. Please, for the love of all that is good and pure, do not pack your underwear first. Seriously, use common sense on this one.

3. Pack an overnight bag.

Let’s face it. Once you actually get into your new home, you are not going to want to unpack to find your toothbrush or some decent clothes. Fix a bag that contains all of the necessities warranted for a day or two lest you be miserable in last weeks feet-smelling sweats and your dad’s punk rock tee from 1983.

For all of my boxing brethren, I trust that you have taken the opportunity to learn from my mishaps and naievity. Stay strong; I promise that the cardboard and extra-strength packing tape is only temporary. Just remember to lift with your legs and brace yourself for the weeks of chaos to follow.