Now that the bathroom renovation is in progress (and we finally have a flushing loo!) we have been able to think about moving! My husband and I have moved house 11 times over our years together, can you believe it? Sure, many of those moves were new-term hops into different student accommodation, but for 6 years we stayed put in just two different homes, so I really don’t know how it’s added up to so many moves. Looking back, it all seems rather tiring!
That’s the problem with renting, I guess. It’s never really your home, no matter how cosy you make it or how many roots you put down in an area. Rents increase, landlords sell their property and leases come to an end. Circumstances, work and courses change and we have to roll with the changes, which often means another move is on the cards.On more than a couple of occasions we’ve been happy to hand back the keys. There was the mould-infested maisonette (a converted single garage in reality) that we skipped away from when we moved to uni. And then there was the break-in at our student accommodation that caused everyone to move out after a term. Dodgy neighbours and noisy streets were the worst. Thank goodness we did move and found ourselves better places to live.
I’m delighted to be putting down roots in a home that I don’t have any plans to move out of. We’ve already spent a long time renovating the house, and spending that time in the property has helped us to familiarise ourselves with the area (super-quiet), neighbours (all lovely) and house (mould-free). So this move feels different. We’re not running away from somewhere horrible, we’re moving into somewhere lovely and I really couldn’t wait to load that moving van.
Hubby likes driving big vans (who are we kidding, I love it too!) so we almost look forward to the day when we pick up a truck from the van hire company and start loading. It’s just when it gets to lunchtime that we start to wonder why we’re moving again. But we keep plodding on, and get the job done.
Sometimes we’ve had a helping hand with our moves (and I can’t count how many friends we’ve helped move house in the past too – anyone would think that we like moving!) but often we’ve packed up our stuff and shifted it box-by-box ourselves. This time was no exception. We hired a van for the day, and had all kinds of plans to take our old bathroom to the tip in it, and pick up a new shed from the DIY store while we had use of the van. But after one load of our stuff (and many more items still to go) all other plans went out the window and we concentrated on the move in hand.
After 14 hours of loading furniture and boxes into a Luton van, and unloading those same (although somehow heavier) pieces of furniture and stacks of boxes at the other end, I was ready for a holiday. We always say it after every move, but next time we’ll hire some cheap movers to help us and save our aching backs! Where’s a local man-with-van when you need one, eh?
Although hopefully, there won’t be a next time. At least, not for a long time. Let’s get settled.
This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
