7 Answers

• Reputation: 93 Q&A: 0 0 4 14 1 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  2 0 I just moved from Seattle to the east coast (for similar reasons to you). My boyfriend and I shipped 34 (!) boxes via the good old US Postal Service. If you don't mind waiting 2 weeks for your stuff to arrive, the rates aren't that bad. We probably paid about $300 for all of it. We insured everything, shipped media rate and wrapped our breakables carefully. Nothing was lost and only 1 picture frame and a couple cd cases were broken. Sell everything you can part with on Craigslist and use the money to pay for shipping costs. Unless you have lots of cash it's best to part with the replaceable items before a move like that. Travel with the few items you absolutely cannot lose and good luck! westcoastin answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 7 comments by e, Kitts, and Bauhaus… 0 0 Thanks! I really don't have much stuff to begin with--I've moved fairly regularly and tend to purge each time I do. I just really distrust the USPS... e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Insure everything. They're pretty careful with insured packages. I shipped 11 boxes cross country, which cost me roughly $300, but a lot of them were books, and thus really heavy, and one box was really big, which cost extra. Do an extra-ruthless purge, insure everything else, and you'll be fine. Even my wii, my cuisinart, and my pasta bowls made it unscathed. Be careful about media mail, though-- they do sometimes check, and they handle the media mail boxes pretty roughly, and if it isn't actually media, you can run into trouble. A friend of mine got into trouble trying to ship some toys media mail. But I've never had a problem shipping books that way. Kitts commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 If you do use media mail via USPS, pack breakables very well. I sent 5 cartons of CDs that way packed in new moving boxes. Two of the boxes exploded along the way. I figure I lost about $2000-$3000 worth of cds - some rare and out of print. I was insured, but it didn't cover the complete cost. I think max is $1000 a box. Bauhaus commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 ...also, I was compensated for about 80% of the insured value. It takes quite a while to get the check from the post office. I'm thinking it took me about 4 months. Bauhaus commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Bahg it's things like that that really scare me. I'm sorry you lost some of your most prized possessions, that really sucks. e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 I've had a terrible experience using USPS to ship my belongs all over the country. The first time, a box of books was destroyed in their machines. And then they sent me a letter notifying me of the incident, and that if I want to try to reclaim them, they had a huge warehouse full of crap that had spilled out of boxes - back in San Francisco where I'd shipped my things before moving to North Carolina. However, this letter was also destroyed in the machines, and by the time they wrestled it out and mailed the fragments to me in the equivalent of a plastic baggie, the expiration date for retrieving my items had already passed. Not that it mattered since I lived on the other side of the country by then. The second time, I smartened up and had everything insured. They insisted that all of my dozen boxes had arrived, when one was clearly missing. But their scanner said it was there! Never won that argument. The third and final time, all my boxes arrived. One looked a little ... funny. And then I realized that their machine had cut off the top of my box -- and the top layer of books, including the cover of a hardback book -- and that they'd just taped it back on like nothing was damaged or missing. No letter included. I have never shipped anything domestically via USPS since then. So, I would recommend NOT using USPS. I've long since given up during all my cross country trips and now just rent moving trucks/vans, the smaller the better. Sloggerette commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Ugh. That sounds terrible. I'm sorry. e commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 6000 Q&A: 113 0 11 4226 721 3 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 6

  1 0 How valuable are we talking about? And how big are they? Wrap 'em up and send 'em FedEx. You can even ship books, records, and CDs "media rate" at the post office. Or, if you're flying home, bring things on the plane. You might have to pay a little overweight baggage fee, but you did say "precious". Anything that you can replace there for less (like non-antique furniture) than it costs to ship should be gotten rid of. Fnarf answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 4 comments by e, Fnarf, and Jim… 0 0 Nothing too big, but more like a lot of it. Art student leads to lots of things I can't part with, not only work but tools, supplies, etc. I have a hard time shipping prints, negatives, installations, etc... What about my bike?? Agh. I love my bike. e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Get a bike box from a bike store. You can ship it in there. Turn the handlebars sideways and reverse the pedals first (so they face inwards from the crank arms, not out). You may not want to ride Greyhound yourself, but you can ship a bike in a box for cheap via them, or check it as baggage on a flight for more. The bike shop will be able to tell you more, if my info is out of date. I think you can even get a box from an airline. Tip: carry whatever wrench you need to loosen and tighten your pedals and bars with you to the airport/bus depot. Negatives and (unframed) prints: FedEx 'em. Or send them registered mail. They'll be safe. Installations, I dunno. How fragile? Big box? Tools and supplies - well, they have art supplies and tools in AZ. But if you must, wrap 'em in newspapers and box 'em up. You could ship those boxes via Greyhound too; you don't have to ride with. Fnarf commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Fnarf, as much as I hate to cross you - I think the only art supplies they have in Arizona are turquoise and some thread to bind it with. Jim commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Baha. Jim. That's exactly one of the reasons I moved away from AZ. e commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 40 Q&A: 1 0 0 22 2 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  1 1 You can always take a train as well, probably costs around $200 and you don't even have to drive. You can kick back and read, bar car it, or sleep. You can also bring your valuables with you. If they aren't too large you can bring them on board, if large, ship them on the same train. Erleichda answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 7 comments by soundslikepuget, Fnarf, and bikechef… 0 0 Yeah the train is a great idea. You can ship heavy stuff for cheap on the train. Excess baggage fees usually start at $15 for a huge heavy item, way less than the airlines soundslikepuget commented about 1 year ago | Report 1 0 Um, Amtrak doesn't even go to Phoenix, and while they go to Tucson, you have to go to LA first, and stop over for more than 24 hours because of the schedule, meaning your entire trip is four and a half days, which is a long time to be sitting up in a chair, and that's only if you actually live in Tucson. Otherwise you gotta hop a bus from there. I love the train but it's a rough way to get places that are far away. Fnarf commented about 1 year ago | Report 1 0 DON'T DO THIS! Obviously Fnarf probably already quashed this idea but I thought I would add my two cents because I had a horrible experience trying to do this... I tried to move recently from mpls to seattle using Amtrak... I called the Amtrak and they said that this was totally fine and that people did it all the time and that you could take up to 300 lbs per person...the night I tried to move, after months of planning, I was told that all you can take is clothes, and you can't take anything that is metal or electronic, which because I was moving mostly kitchen equipment and stereo equipment was basically everything I was moving... so I now have half of my stuff in storage with a friend until I can afford to have it shipped through normal means...so yeah, don't do that.... bikechef commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 So, how about Greyhound?? Rev.Enant commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 The first train I was on was two years ago--AZ has hands down one of the worst public transportation systems, so taking the train was not really ever considered an option. The two times on Greyhound I had some really awful experiences and that was only for 4 and 6 hours... e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Well I just learned a lot about rail travel off the coast, thanks all! I just made an assumption that Amtrak went to AZ, and now I realize that when I make an assumption, I make an ass out of u and mption? Erleichda commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 I was just reading an article about Amtrak maybe reviving service to Phoenix (they currently run buses there), and the conclusion was, "eh, not likely". Fnarf commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 3723 Q&A: 109 0 27 1716 713 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 1

  0 0 A: Bum a ride with someone heading that direction already, aka rideshare... like this person!: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rid/2013712926.html (and FYI the fees vary both in regards to which states are involved as well as the time of year - the rental car companies have to move their 'rolling stock' around the nation. So, it really REALLY pays to shop around and call ALL the car rental places you might be willing to use to make sure someone doesn't need one of their cars or trucks to be going that way. You might even mention to the rental agent that your choice of vehicle is flexible and you're willing to help them re-shuffle their inventory if it means a deal for you.) - However, the practical catch with the above parenthetical plan right now (a very cold October) is that you're probably not the only one headed for AZ/warmer climes this time of year... Rev.Enant answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 4 comments by e, Emily Steed, and Rev.Enant… 0 0 Thanks for the ideas--and even though I am 23 years old, my parents would not allow me to drive home with a stranger. Ah, yes. Must love over protective parents. e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 The fact that you're 23 is likely also impacting the rates - most rental car places charge more, or ever simply refuse to rent to you, if you're under the age of 25. Not much you can change about that, unless you can convince an older friend to rent the car and tag along for the road trip. Emily Steed commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 "would not allow me .... Ah, yes. Must love over protective parents." I didn't realize the precious valuables were you ;) There are ways to make rideshare safer - much like CL dating - you tell someone who you're with and when, you could fax a copy of their DL to your folks, call the 'rents from the road on a regular every-12 hours schedule, etc. Rev.Enant commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Ha. Yeah, Emily, my dad was going to drive me home. For some reason I couldn't find anyone who wanted to drive home with me. e commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 338 Q&A: 3 0 10 85 12 1 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 Contact an auto drive-away service. Once I needed to get from the east coast to Seattle. I found a service who represented someone who wanted to fly to their vacation home in Arizona but wanted their Range Rover there when they arrived. They paid me a small fee to drive it across the continent. Once there the service gave me a rag top jeep to drive up the coast to the Idaho dealership who was repossessing it from someone in Arizona. It was an amazing deal. Here is the local office of one of these services: http://www.autodriveaway.com/locations-detail.aspx?id=8 Jim answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 2 comments by e and Jim… 0 0 I have never heard of this and it is an amazing idea. My one concern is that this will be in December, I have never driven in snow, and I'd be terrified to do so in someone else's car. I'll look into this though, thank you so much! e commented about 1 year ago | Report 0 0 Sit out the storms before going over a pass - only two or three between here and AZ. The roads are never bad for very long. Jim commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 650 Q&A: 14 0 3 360 50 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0 Bauhaus

  0 0 About the U-Haul rental - their rates are updated hourly and are computer-driven based on two-way demand. Try renting twice. Choose a city halfway (or so) and rent another from that location. Here's why: Last November, I needed a small truck to move from Vancouver, BC to LA. U-Haul wanted $1200. Upon further investigation, I discovered the same truck from Van to Seattle was about $150 and another truck from Seattle to LA was $450. That's $600 instead of $1200. I asked why and the reason was demand. More demand between Van and Sea and Sea and LA than from Van to LA (and of course the other way around - LA to Sea, etc.)Go figure. There may not be much demand from Sea to, say, Phoenix, but there might be more demand from Sea to SLC or Las Vegas and from there to Phoenix. I kind of dreaded having to unload one truck in Seattle for another one, but guess what...U-Haul let me stay in the same truck. It saved them some paperwork. So, try playing around with geography. No guarantees you'll luck out like I did, Also, it'll probably be more than $300 at any rate. That's quite a distance. Good luck with your move! Bauhaus answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by e… 0 0 Amazing. Thank you! e commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 831 Q&A: 25 0 0 376 45 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 1

  0 0 What about a U-haul? They rent smaller trucks too and most of their traffic is one-way. Jack answered in Whatever about 1 year ago | Report 1 comment by e… 0 0 Just checked--it'd be $600, roughly. I am poor, and was hoping for the $300 that rental cars promised before this crazy one way fee. e commented about 1 year ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend: