“I thought my son was moving back home after going to school in California,” Margaret laughed. “I guess it’s not that much of a surprise that he’s going to stay out there in the sunshine. But now he wants me to send his things to him. My question is ‘how do I ship stuff across the country?’ I’d like to not go broke or crazy in the process!”
The first step in a case like this is always communication. We recommend talking with your son to determine what he wants you to ship and what he wants you to dispose of in other ways. For example – his bed. If he’s been in California quite some time, he may have already acquired another bed and mattress and therefore not need this one. On the other hand, he may be passionately attached to the bed and want you to ship it to him. There is no right or wrong answer, but it is always very helpful to know exactly what you want to ship before you start shipping it.
Once that step has been conquered, you’ll know how much stuff you have to ship cross country. Stuff is a very vague term, so you’ll want to be looking at this pile in terms of size, weight, and ease of handling. If it’s a lot of small stuff that can go into standard shipping boxes, make life easy for yourself by having your local pack and ship store do the job for you. You just bring them the stuff, they pack, address, and have the boxes delivered directly to your son.
Let’s say though that your son has a few pieces of furniture and other larger items he’d like to have shipped cross country to him. This is the point at which you want to talk to your local pack and ship store about small move moving services. Coordinating a small cross country move is much easier when your son is already established in a new address. These skilled professionals will pick up your son’s things, pack as needed, and perform the move with no stress to you.