Leeeeaving on a jet plaaaane

[sincere]

Okay, so, you all don't know how much money has been gnawing at my brain. We're making a pretty big move, from metro Denver, CO to Delaware, in about five weeks. And I've been fretting because this is the feedback I get from various people in my life:

Me: So I'm going to move.
Peers: Obviously you're going to roadtrip it with a rental truck. It'll be great, you'll see the country, so much fun!

Me: So I might roadtrip it.
Mom: Are you crazy? That's like five days on the road, just to save some money? The only way to do it is to fly, and then ship everything. Then you'll just be here, and the travel will be done.

Me: I might actually fly.
Peers: Flying and then shipping everything?! Now that is crazy. You'll have to ship your car, hire movers... It'll be so expensive! What a monumental waste of money.

My mom made a very compelling point -- the road-trip would really only be fun for the first half a day, probably -- but my peers got me feeling pretty bad about the extra expense. So I finally broke down and did a price estimate, and it turns out the two methods are actually fairly comparable for me.

I'd probably have to rent a truck, since I would be terrified of attaching a trailer to my dad's car, and the gas mileage would suffer anyway, and I would be terrified of driving a car with such an attachment. And, of course, the size of the apartment. So that's $900 for that kind of move. Then I have to pay the gas, which is another $800 because of crap mileage -- even the 12ft truck was 6-10mpg. Then I still have to ship my car, which is $800! So that's $2500 to drive my own stuff across the country -- then I have to move it all myself.

The tickets to move myself, Elizabeth, and the cat (in the cabin, under the seat in front of me, no cargo holds ever) would be $550ish -- but I have $400 in travel vouchers from my last stupid hateful evil flight. So that's only $150, and we'll be there in a matter of hours. Then I ship the car, $800. Then I called the first mover -- guys who would do all the physical moving for me -- and their quoted price was $1800. Which amounts to $2750.

Is me potentially injuring myself with hours of physical labor, spending four days in transit, driving nonstop and being terrified the whole time, and risking losing (and definitely traumatizing) my cat, really worth the $250?

Yeah, I don't think so.

Comments

[dawning_light]

Movers are godsends, really. The only reason I could think not to use them would be if your entire house is furnished with fragile family valuables or something you wouldn't trust in the hands of another human being. And even then, close call. Fragile valuables tend to be heavy. >.>

Not to mention the cat. I can't even imagine my dogs shoved into a truck cabin for five days. So not worth it.

eee I've been listed! My aunt lives in Delaware and it takes barely 2 hours to get there -- a drive I might actually be well enough to make after my surgery. ^^ It might be my only hope of finishing ToV, stupid headaches

[sincere]

/crosses fingers for awesome surgery results!

Delaware is our stopping point; it's actually my mother's new giant house, where we'll be staying until one or both of us has a real job offer in one of the surrounding areas. Which, given rainfall's prospects with people pounding down her door, shouldn't be too long.

Our big considerations at the moment are Philly and Baltimore, if either of those are closer to you~

[dawning_light]

Baltimore is where I used to work, at the University, so yeah I'd say so! Philly's not that far either, three hours pending traffic, totally doable trip -- again, assuming decent health is a thing. Which... let's go with that assumption. Because I say so. (yea)

[sincere]

There will be such Tales-playing! Such unbelievable Tales-playing!