Back Roads, Charming Towns : Retirement, Relocation, Vacation : Back Roads, Charming Towns Blog : Vikki Grodner

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

For a blogger extraordinaire, the last few months would have provided ample opportunity for content, content, content.

However, from my perspective, it seemed rather self-absorbed to write about every nuance of our move in numbing detail. Instead, I thought it would be more useful to encapsulate a few lessons learned from our recent familial excursion into a single narrative.

LESSON 1: It takes twice as long as you planned to pack up a lifetime of treasures. Our friends the Morras probably have the right idea. When they move from New Jersey to La Jolla, California next year, they plan to move into a furnished home and "travel light."

This would never work for us, a tribe of sentimental pack rats. Our packing was further complicated by the fact that we were going to put many of our belongings in storage to accommodate our smaller digs and immediate renovations. A manifest of what was packed in each box helped to sort things out on the receiving end.

So if you think it will take two weeks to pack up, give yourself four.

LESSON 1A: Similarly, time lines for renovations at the other end should also be doubled (at a minimum).

LESSON 2: Some movers (as in our movers) don't regard you or your belongings. They also don't keep their word, even with a "binding" bid. In spite of our best efforts (interviewing and receiving quotes from eight potential companies and having extended conversations/negotiations with three), we were still socked with a bill well in excess of what we had planned on or agreed to. And for that "pleasure," we ended up with an inventory sheet full of damaged, broken and disregarded antiques and mementos (mostly the ones we didn't pack ourselves). I am convinced I will never put myself or my family through a move of this magnitude again.

LESSON 3: In spite of Lessons 1 and 2, our relocation was/will be worth it in so many ways. We made this move for a number of reasons.

FINANCIAL: While we adored many things about Basking Ridge and the surrounding area, New Jersey has some of the country's most exorbitant property taxes. Like so many others, we wanted to escape that level of taxation. Other financial advantages are a lower cost of living and the ability to sell our house in NJ and buy a house in AL with no mortgage (all factors to consider when evaluating a voluntary relocation).

EMOTIONAL: We also wanted to follow our children -- both of whom decided to attend college in the south, Stirling has been in North Carolina for two years and Alex will attend the University of Alabama in the fall. By returning to the Birmingham area, we ensured that we won't be paying non-resident fees for both kids all four years (an annual tuition savings of $10,000 a year for the final three of Alex's college career).

And speaking of returning, we have come back to my husband's hometown and the place where my own family migrated to and established roots over 25 years ago. Even more ironic, we have gone so far as to resettle into his childhood home. That's right -- the room where he studied math is now the same place where he now conducts international conference calls as managing director at a consulting firm. A little surreal, as he will be the first to tell you, to be sure.

In the meantime, one of my sisters and her family moved right around the corner from Ken's childhood home two years ago. This turn of events instantly strengthened bond between all of us -- the kids with the kids, the adults wth the adults, the kids with the adults and visa versa -- and has been an additional reward (not unexpected, but a magnificent joy nevertheless).

My other sister and her family also live close by. Alex has found himself a bit of a "pied piper," the fun, older cousin who has returned (he did live here for three weeks as an infant) after a lifetime of living afar. He has clearly benefitted from my lead and is the ultimate "fun time" organizer -- pulling together impromptu swimming get togethers, bowling parties and movie nights.

So as we muddle through an ocean of boxes, endless disorganization and layers of sheetrock dust, it all feels just right (as we hope your own relocation does).