Preparing for our pack out was probably the most stressful part of our move. Being that this was our first time PCSing, I really had no idea what to expect. I had tried asking people I know and women on the Facebook wive's page for our duty station for advice. Some of the advice I received was something along the lines of:
- don't do anything, the movers do it all for you!
- pre-package everything you can into original boxes (some also suggested leaving the lids open so movers could inspect the goods)
-separate things by room
- one lady was really rude about it and made a comment about how on earth did families manage to PCS before Facebook (that was the extent of her comment)
There was plenty more advice I received, but those seemed to be the most common. I would say I did something in between. I just could not bring myself to believe that there was literally nothing I should do to prepare for someone to come in and to box up my entire house. One blog that I found extremely helpful was the thecultivatedmother. She had some really great advice about how to prepare your house for the movers. Her blog has an entire section on her PCS experience to Japan.
I decided that there was no way I was leaving my house "as is" for the movers- that was just too hard for my OCD self! For one, there was so much stuff I was convinced we no longer needed. Rule of thumb: if you haven't used something in over a year, get rid of it (either trash, sell or donate)! We had also decided we were not bringing our daughter's toddler bed with us; she will be getting a "big girl bed" in our new house! I knew we were not bringing the furniture in our guest room (we sold that before I left), so I made that room the place to put anything that was not going in our HHG (household goods) shipment.
I had Mike box up all of our major appliances (mostly kitchen appliances) and put the box for our 55 inch TV next to the entertainment center for the movers to package (that way they are 100% liable for any damages incurred). We also bought about 10 large plastic bins and a handful of smaller ones. We tried to group like items together so we would know where things were once we got our house back. I am really glad we decided to do this because I learned a few things during the pack out! Here's a list:
- yes, the movers REALLY do pack everything!
- however... they sometimes put things in the most places... for example, they stuffed our bedroom pillows into our bookshelf as a space filler. They also found things to set in the space under our dining chairs (in between the legs)
-the movers were really good about writing which room things came from on the packages (the exception to this were things stuffed places, as mentioned above)
- Japanese movers are FAST! Our entire house (with the exception of our UB shipment and things not going to San Diego) was packed up in about 4 hours total, including their break time.
I had heard that Japanese movers were quick and efficient, now I've seen it first hand! I also feel like they did a really good job packing everything safely, but there is no way for me to know that until our shipment arrives (and I have a place to live!). It was surprisingly hard for me to see all our things go and have an empty house. I was so excited to move, but I remember wanting to cry when everything was gone!
Our UB (unaccompanied baggage, or express shipment) was the next day. Most people usually put dishes and important household items in this shipment. I was not really concerned with those things since I knew I would be staying with family in the meantime and would not need those things right away. Instead, I put most of my clothing and shoes, our 32 inch TV, our bed linens, some office supplies, our wireless router and the toys not being shipped to California immediately. Our UB shipment was really small, and took them about an hour to pack up. I had brought all of it out into the living room area after the movers were finished the previous day. I really feel like it made it so much easier to group things together like that.
All in all, I'd say the pack out process went pretty well. I really wish I had started to prepare sooner though. The night before the main pack out, I got about 4 hours of sleep and Mike stayed up all night (he's so great) getting everything ready. We had a busy month or so prior to the pack out with family visiting and Mike returning from deployment so it just ended up being really rushed and hectic. Part of this was also due to the fact that Alexis and I were leaving about 3 months early. I am sure that things were packed we no longer need nor want, but it's not like we can't get rid of them on this end once it's all delivered.
My to do lists really made things easier, and I'll be keeping those in my moving binder (see previous post) for our next PCS!
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