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So, we're planning on moving to Ireland later this year.
Anyone got experience of hiring a van and/or movers to move their belongings long distance? Also more complicated with the need to get a ferry halfway.
Originally planned to hire a van and do as many trips as necessary (can't imagine more than 2), though with a 400+ mile drive each way, and a soon to be 1 year old in tow (not literally, I'm sure there'd be room in the van), I'm thinking hiring someone is a better option.
Presumably hiring someone is the better option?
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As a veteran of 7 moves in 8 years, if you can at all afford it, get the pros in, especially with a little one in the mix; the stress will be so much less. If you've got more than one van-load, proper removers might be surprisingly competitive, as petrol and ferries will all add up. Worth getting quotes from local removers at each end of the journey; if you can be flexible about exact times you can sometimes get someone's return load cheap. I've used both van hire, blokes and a van, and proper removers in the past. The proper removers have all been great, DIY has been a pain but manageable with not too much stuff, and blokes with a van have been 50/50 good/fucking awful - for that option I'd now only use ones I had a personal recommendation for.
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Totally this. You won’t regret it.
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Yep as already stated get a moving firm in.
Get quotes from local companys.
They will vist you and assess your stuff and quote a volume in cubic feet.
For rough ideas, a standard 20 foot box 7.5ton lorry is around 900 cubic feet, the big double decker bus size Pantechnicons removal lorries are around 2,300 cubic feet of volume.if you get a quote in volume, you can use that over the phone for a blind quote with Irish based movers, just remember to try and ditch some stuff, and don't add anything/hide anything as you might run out of space.......... Did it for 4 years, loads of people trying it on....... get a quote then have new furniture delivered a week before moving, then have a paddy because they are 500 cubic feet over volume and it won't fit the truck.
Sending over 1 large lorry load might be marginaly cheaper with a moving company. Should be less hassle. Cost that against rental fee for self move, time taken, and double the fuel and ferry costs.
Be ruthless, anything you don't think you need, get rid of it. We moved people who had stuff still boxed from a move several years earlier, just clear all the things out. This will help speed up the actual day of moving out, and speed up getting everything in the new home.Start hoarding cardboard boxes, box all the things :)
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very much echo above, esp the be ruthless part, done two international moves over past 3 years 1st one wasnt ruthless enough 2nd one was far harsher on what we took.
Also if you can store a few things that you want to keep but not take can help, friends lofts and parents stashing a few bits away.
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here is a sentimental fantasy that London consists of a spread of interlinked “villages”, each retaining its original specificity. I don’t think there’s much truth in this: everywhere, you see the same food chains and cafes, charity shops and bus termini; also, an astonishing number of estate agents. A Martian might conclude that these “villagers” spend their entire time drinking coffee and selling one another their flats and houses.
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Cheap journalism.
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Yo. Not yet. Might start on one this week.
Went out for anniversary dinner with my missus on Saturday night and we were talking about our adopted hometown. Consensus was that there was a lot to love but that we still felt very much political and cultural outsiders. I bemoaned the fact that even though there were some great pubs and nice cafes, at 42 years old I was still more often than not the youngest person in in the room and that I still hadn't met anyone to talk about guitars and records with.
Then as if my magic, my wife got a text from another DFL couple who she'd met the previous evening inviting us over on Sunday morning. Went over for coffee and nearly the first thing out of the bloke's mouth was that at two and a half years in, he still felt like an political and cultural outsider and how he hadn't met anyone to talk about records with. He then told a story about DJing to no-one in a local bar during the hop festival which led to enthusiastic chat about putting on gigs in the local guildhall. My people!
The subject of the golliwog pub came up and they confirmed that is was widely known as hangout for the local UKIP chapter, the windows had been plastered with "leave" posters during the referendum, the landlord (who is a nasty fucker who had been in prison for beating his wife) had flown a union flag for two weeks after the vote, during which time the golliwog had appeared.
Mixed feelings then. Glad my intuition had been right and I wasn't being paranoid. But any feeling of validation was overwhelmed by the knowledge that this kind of shit is thriving right on my doorstep.
Also i'm definitely not going to go in there and bring up the subject of the golliwog.
Fuck.
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Ugh, how depressing... Glad to hear you've met a nearby kindred spirit, tho'!
I think the heat and humidity is starting to get to people here, I really haven't enjoyed being here recently... The worst Queenslander traits are starting to show through: mean, spiteful, racist, impatient and really fucking ignorant... It's made me miss home, a lot... But I can't leave, we've just bought a house...
I did make a couple of friends nearby but things got complicated when it turned out they were dating and one of them was also sleeping with one of my other mates in the city... I somehow got caught up in a bit of high school melodrama and I don't talk to either of them anymore... I'm still in a band with mate in the city tho'...
The city seems so far away! And it's such a pain in the dick getting home after a night out that I haven't done it in months!! I'll solve it soon enough, not easy tho'... Wouldn't change it for the world, London looks grim AF right now...
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Yeah man, I'm super happy to have met a few like-minds. He does software development for charities and she's a uni lecturer. They live almost opposite us in a place full of kids and bikes and guitars.
sorry to hear you're feeling that way dude. A bit of homesickness and WTF have we done panic is par for the course I reckon. I'm feeling far more relaxed about things at the moment. My attitude now is that, if we decide that it isn't the right thing for us then we can change it. We could go back (to a flat) in London or we could try somewhere else.
I honestly love a lot about living here: the house, the countryside and seaside on the doorstep the old town a 5 min walk away with its independent shops, , the markets and local produce, the amenities are great and the neighbors are sweet too... but if we decide that the culture or the commute or the financial situation are not working for us then we'll just make a change. It might not be ideal but it's within our power to change.
Until then I see the ongoing process of assimilation as being a work in progress.
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Moving out of London
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@lemonade
Ha, now you might have a point there.