Posted on 2 Comments

Alaska-The Necessities

OMG Becky yard Sale Sign

This is the 3rd installment of my Alaskan journey.  The greatest adventure of my life is unfolding before me. A move from the dry desert of Utah to the beaches and forests of Alaska. Where will I end up? Come along for the ride…

I am now at the point of selling anything that is easily cleaned up and absolutely unnecessary, so that I can guesstimate what it will take to move all my treasures up north.
I was tentatively planning on using UPack to move my household items.  Its a long trailer that is charged by the linear foot, which was far less expensive than a UHaul.
Yesterday I went online to read reviews on the company…mostly I wanted to see the bad stuff people were saying. And there was an eyeful of those; but also very good reviews, too.
This morning I read their moving tips section and one of the points really got me thinking:

  • Keep in mind that furniture made of particle board is more susceptible to damage when shipped assembled. It is not built to withstand the normal stresses that occur when traveling in a moving truck (which is why manufacturers ship disassembled). While it is safer to move this type of furniture disassembled, it can be less sturdy after being taken apart and reassembled.

I was planning on moving quite a bit of just that- shelves and desks and tables.
This has totally shifted things around in my thinking. Can I downsize enough that I won’t have to rent a UPack trailer? When I stop and glance around, if I saved my self the $5-$6K trailer, could I replace the meager furnishings I have with that? And I’m thinking the answer is yes.

What are the irreplaceable things I have to take? My computer-yeah my dinosaur desktop. The cats and their needs-they have a large tree house. All my art supplies- clay, painting, wreath, gardening.

I can actually sell every piece of furniture I have, and replace it up in AK with whatever my furniture needs are there. Now this changes a big piece of the moving and selling plan. I was planning on having a yard sale starting tomorrow and this weekend, for which I am unprepared at the present.

So far I have been using the local FB Yard Sale pages to sell individual items. An actual yard sale attracts many more people. I’ve done both and a yard sale is quicker, and because of that, more profitable.

So that’s where things stand as of this afternoon. Yard Sale on the menu…any takers?

Til I feel the need to say more,
Cindi