Nomad Living

In the past three years I have moved a total of 13 times. This is a lot for a person who had lived in the same house for 20 years. In my case it wasn’t intentional, neither did I like it. My husband, on the other hand, loved it. That said, you can only imagine how bad our moving experiences were. But, I like to think of every experience like an opportunity to learn something, by the time we were going to move for the third time we had learned a lot, and now after three years we have learned a lot more, and I have learned to enjoy the moving experience. Yes, moving to a new place can be a good and fun thing.

Whether you are an intentional nomad or not, the tips listed below will help you enjoy and be more effective on your moving experience.

Location

Looking for a place to live is a lot more than finding the cheapest place. Although this is extremely important for most of us, there are other things to consider. For example location, do not worry, the location of the apartment will save you money, trust me.

• Is it close to your work place? I believe this is a must. Sometimes you can find a cheap place to live, but for a few bucks you can get a place much closer to your work. This means you can save time driving, gasoline and the environment, specially if it’s in bike-ride-distance.
• Depending on your lifestyle, you also want to be close to certain things. In my case libraries and parks are the places I most go on my free time, if it’s close to my new place like short walking or bike distance, it will also save me a lot of gas money and let’s not forget the environment. So, what’s important in your leisure time? The gym? Grocery store? Schools? Hospital?

The Inside

Once you have found the place, make sure to see the inside, never sign anything until you see the place. (I know is a little obvious but my parents made that mistake.) Take your time while inspecting. What are the things you should investigate?

• Lighting. How much natural light has the place? And how much do I need? Depending on what your lifestyle is the answer may vary. If you work night shifts, you might want the least natural light as possible. If not you should consider having the most of natural lightning. That way you won’t have the need to waste power by turning on lights just to see your way. Not to mention natural lighting makes everything look so alive and you will too. This will save you on the power bill, your wallet will thank you, you will be happier and the world too.
• Everything working. Most apartments include the basics in the kitchen. Make sure they work properly, this will save you a lot of headache after you move in. Check if everything in the bathroom is also working. Does the toilet flush? Open the lid of the tank and make sure is in working conditions. If it needs to be changed let the landlord know. It is not your responsibility, is theirs. Keeping everything clear and being straight forward since the beginning will help in the future as well.
• Cleanliness. Does it have an odd smell? Is the carpet or floor clean? Any signs of roaches, rat, mice, ants, termites, fleas, etc? Of course, most of the times is not going to be spotless, but you do need to consider how bad is it and how much time and money are you going to spend cleaning your new place. If it needs pest control, you need to know how bad is it and how long it would take. This can be a deal breaker for many. You would have to see all the pros and cons.

Moving out.

It’s time! You have found the place, you checked that everything was in order you signed the lease and you cleaned your new place. Now comes the moving part. Yikes!

• Make a list and keep it. We know we won’t stay long in this new place no matter how much we want to. So it will be a good idea to make a list and keep as part as your moving ritual. Each time you move you will learn something new, write it down and put on your list, you will see that with time you will become a pro.
• Throw it all away or donate. This has been a life saver for me. It doesn’t matter if you move every three months or every year, you will always have things that you can throw away. Like: receipts, invitations, things you didn’t know you had, boxes, cases, empty anything. PUT. IT. IN. THE. TRASH. If it something you have an emotional attachment to it, take a picture, throw it away, make a scrapbook, done. When you have moved as much as I you learn there are so many things we have that are completely unnecessary and we only remember of their existence every time we move. This also applies to clothing, beauty accessories, jewelry, supplies, etc. Be honest with yourself, Am I going to use this or I think I am but won’t? If you think is still useful and don’t want to throw it away, do some charity work and donate it. This will uncluttered your home and will make some one else happy.
• Organize as you go. This go hand to hand with the one before. As you are throwing things away put your things in order. If you have drawers, organize them immediately, once the drawers are in the new home, placed them were they belong and your done with that and you can move to the next thing. Organize everything you can. This will save you a whole lot of time.
• Clean your old place. This is the last and certainly not the least important thing when it comes to moving out. Why? Well this is more a humanitarian thing than anything else. When I’m going to move to new place I hate seeing how people leave the place. And I have made my own job to leave the place as clean as possible for the new person to come and live. Knowing that I have facilitated the moving experience to someone else is truly fulfilling.

Conclusion

Obviously there’s a lot to do and consider when moving, and everyone has a way to do it. For me this ones have been truly helpful, not to mention I learned the hard way.

I truly hope you can find this tips helpful. And remember your will be saving a lot more than your money and your time. You will also be saving the environment.

Happy moving y’all!