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

[prefacing]

+10000000000 to flying.

Plus, it sounds like things are looking pretty good with Li's job hunt, so hopefully it won't be too bad to make back that $250. You guys (and the cat) don't need any more stress. :(

[cypher]

That's not even taking further driving expenses into account -- you'd need to get food for all of those four days on the road, and probably you'd need hotels (or else you need to factor in the extra misery of trying to sleep in the truck for days) -- flying definitely sounds like the better plan to me.

[sincere]

Yeah! She actually heard back today from the people she's still mostly in love with, and they were like "Are your ears burning, is that why you called? Because we've been talking about you all day and we are so close to being able to move forward with the next step."

SO EXCITE

[sincere]

YOU ARE CORRECT! omg, the motels and the food were considerations that occurred to me, but I didn't even think about adding them into the final calculation.

/throws everything onto an airplane so fast

I'm sure the roadtrip thing is great -- ideally when traveling with other drivers so you can take turns at the wheel, and probably when not traveling with all your belongings in a truck that gets 8 miles to the gallon. But in terms of the big move... I am definitely coming down on the size of "the expense is worth it".

Even if it were much more expensive. Which it turns out it isn't.

[cypher]

haha, yeah, I did all the driving when we moved from Philly to Seattle (with two cats in the cab of the truck) and was expensive and stressful and like...okay, road tripping is cool? But moving all your things in a clunky awkward truck does not feel like a cool adventure. By the last night of the trip I was crying from exhaustion and frustration when the panicking cats wouldn't let me sleep and I'd been driving an average of 12-14 hours a day and everything was terrible.

It's kind of funny by now (seven years later)! But at the time it was awful. A+ airplane.

[dawning_light]

Oh wow, definitely fly. It sounds cheaper to say but when you price it out? Really not.

Logan and I moved ourselves twice and decided never to do anything so monumentally stupid ever, ever again, and we were only moving an hour away! I could not imagine doing all that plus driving for days in between. Even if it were to cost substantially more I'd definitely say movers are one of those things that can't be lived without.

Delaware is so close to me... clearly I have the best priorities...

[sincere]

I am definitely not averse to having other people move my boxes and the handful of furniture we're taking for me. The idea of going through all that effort and spending days driving and risking my cat is just not worth it, but it's still a huge relief to see real evidence that the air+ship route is not substantially more expensive -- not even counting motels and meals on the road.

/!!! /adds you to the list of things :3

[sincere]

Oh wow. Yeah, that's exactly my move, and exactly what I feared it would be like! sdlkfjslkjg /quietly crosses off that option with confidence

I expect that a total of 6ish hours of travel, only 4 in the air, will be easier on the cat than days of torture in a car, especially a cramped space like a truck cab.

[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!

[temples]

Delaware... :3

I wonder how close this is to Canada!

I am feeling so much better about money stuff now that my father has sent me the money he owes me and my boss finally got back to me about going to work again, so maybe squeezing in one last visit before I start school could be A THING!

[sincere]

Closer!

/eeeee a thing!!

/brings Jes here forever

[sakusha]

Go you on responsible price estimates! That is like the paragon of Responsible Adult Behavior, along with doing taxes and using placemats It definitely sounds like flying is worth the extra expense.

[sincere]

It was a big relief, honestly. Maaaaybe I should've done it sooner. I did my taxes, too!