The Emersonian Ideals Guide to moving: a series

Moving is a big deal. Although our generation will probably end up moving more times in total than our parents or grandparents, most of us will only tally a handful of moves in our entire lives. I myself have moved four times, which is probably above the average, and I am about to move again. Thus, I consider myself somewhat of an expert, or at least enough of one to write a satirical, yet unhelpful, piece on the subject.


What's the best strategy for packing?
This is one of the biggest issues for those who haven't moved in a while and have accumulated a large amount of Stuff.  It can certainly be overwhelming to envision placing all of your belongings into boxes.  I have two rules for packing which are:
1) Get boxes free, and early. Many businesses have boxes that they will throw out unless someone requests them. The fact that this is true and yet people still purchase boxes for moving from places like UPS is evidence of the deterioration of society.  But you don't know where those boxes have been! you might say.  No, you don't, but why should you care?  In my experience, most of the things that you pack into these boxes are just going to be moved into a closet, awaiting the moment when they will be repacked again for the next move (in all honesty, I do have one box in my closet which I never unpacked).  Furthermore, these boxes are used to ship the products that you buy from these stores... so by the same logic, if you're worried about where the boxes have been (such as the bathroom of an Ebola quarantine unit) then you have more to worry about than using those boxes for packing.
2) Have an order for packing.  For example, when I was moving out of college dorms, my mother always suggested packing cleaning supplies last, so that we could use them until the very end, whereas I suggested packing the speakers last, so we could listen to music and not have to talk until the very end.  Nowadays, though, I suggest leaving everything until last, so as not to accidentally place anything in storage that you might end up needing.


These are my initial tips for your moving preparation.  I hope that you find them useful, if not as actual advice, then to lower your blood pressure.