10 Brilliant Tips For Moving When You Don’t Want To

Seeking tips on how to move when you don’t want to? If you’re negotiating ways to stay where you are instead of channeling that energy into relocation 101, then it’s likely why you’re doing everything you can to dig in those heels and stay put. It’s super hard to get motivated to move when you don’t want to. But believe it or not, moving doesn’t have to completely suck.

Here are 10 brilliant moving tips that will forever change how you move when you don’t want to.

This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means I may make a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking a link but costs you nothing more). Read here for the full disclosure policy.

10 Game-Changing Tips For Moving

Follow these 10 tips, in no particular order, to help motivate and inspire your move. You might even enjoy it a little in the process.

1 – Eat Whatever You Want From Your Favorite Locals

It seems so obvious but one of the easiest tips for moving is to eat local from your favorite restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, food trucks, bakeries, butchers, etc up until the big moving day.

Perhaps you intended to try every local restaurant in town as part of your bucket list, but an unexpected move cut your food goals short.

Or you can’t imagine life without your weekly treat because you’re moving too far away, like cross country or moving back to America, for any sort of food shipment to be possible. These all play into reasons why you don’t want to move.

How do you fix this?

Create a list of restaurants you want to order from and rotate through the list as moving out day nears. Eating whatever you want from your favorite local restaurants allows you to go through the moving process with a happy palette, an opportunity for the last meal (until you visit or move back), and minimizes extra work at home, too. Win-win.

Eat whatever you want when you’re moving away

2 – Make Time For Self Care

It might sound crazy that anyone moving has time for the salon, but this is probably the most important of all the moving tips: self-care.

One of the very best things I did before moving back to America: dropping cash on a haircut at my very favorite hair salon that I infrequently visited. Certainly, the pandemic didn’t help with the delay of a cut, but the extra pampering made moving feel a lot less stressful – at least at that moment. And sometimes that moment is worth every penny.

Service attendants will go the extra mile to make your last visit extra special, so let them know you are moving. Ask for free travel samples that you can use while in between the move, too.

And lastly, use the opportunity to share how you’re feeling if you need an unbiased third party to talk to. Having someone to air your thoughts to outside your moving circle, with no strings attached, is an easy forum for letting off steam or even cry.

After a good cry and some pampering, moving will feel far less annoying than before you started.

Tips for moving include self-care at your favorite places

3 – Buy Local Gifts To Take With You

Buy local gifts and one-of-a-kind items to comfort and remind you of home as you settle into a new one.

One of the best moving tips and tricks to settling into a new place is to have special items from where you moved. While they might not mean much to someone unfamiliar with your story, they carry enormous weight and the support you’ll need as you leave one place behind and move to another.

When I didn’t want to move, I created a shopping list to be sure I treat myself and my family to items I knew we’d miss, including local art, a vintage flag, a massive supply of Tunnocks, and even favorite knickers.

But if those don’t interest you, a few more ideas of what to buy local to take on your move:

Shopping bag with reference to your hometown
Local picture book
Christmas ornament
Local foods, such as chocolate, spices, snacks

If you’re moving back to America from the UK, consider stocking up on these hard-to-get UK items in the US. And vice-versa if you’re moving back to Britain.

4 – Hire A Photographer For A Home Portrait

Let’s face it. You love where you live. You can’t imagine moving away from your house, and when you start imagining other people in it, you get downright annoyed or worse…jealous.

But instead of imagining how your home will change without you in it, consider framing a photo of the amazing home that you’re so sadly going to miss. A photo of your home and family in front of it is the perfect keepsake reminder of this point and time in your life that you’re so fondly going to cherish.

Hire a photographer at least one month out to ensure professional-worthy photos to choose from prior to moving. Frame it either locally or once you’ve relocated so that it isn’t a loose photo or only accessible on digital. The featured blog post photo is by Lori Loves Photography in St, Albans UK.

Once you’ve moved, find a visible spot in your new house so you can see it every day and smile.

If you want to create an artistic version, consider hiring an artist to add special details to the house, such as house name and the years of residence.

5 – Have The Moving Away Party

The highlight of moving when you don’t want to is the going away party. Undoubtedly an emotional affair but also a pivotal event in your journey to leave one place behind for somewhere new.

Even if adding a going away party to your list of things to do for a long-distance move may seem like the lowest priority, I can attest that it should be your #1. Your friends and family will want to throw a going-away party for you before you move away. And you absolutely need to say, yes!

Put the packing on hold and moving boxes aside. All of the packing will get done because it has to.

Having a final hoorah with friends is as important as the move itself, even if it might seem impossible amidst a stressful moving schedule.

While having a moving away party the evening of our final moving day seemed like a crazy stretch, and it was…I think about that night and how amazing it was, even in the midst of a pandemic.

We had socially distanced tables outside which made it feel less personal, but the bonfire, laughter, and immense encouragement from everyone gave me the support to truly feel beyond happy and blessed. And I knew then that although I’d be in a different country soon, that the friendships would endure…and we will see each other again.

Get inspired to move back to America with this fun USA Union Jack cake!

Fun Items To Buy For A Moving Back To America Party:

Local cake in a flag design
Fun Union Jack bunting
Photo album for guests to take self-portraits and write special messages that you can read once the move is complete (or whenever you’re ready)
Polaroid or Instax mini camera with extra film

6 – Stay Calm And Just Breathe

When the moving truck arrives and there are packers in every corner of your house, boxes so tall you can’t find your kids, and your coffee pot is 5 boxes deep, take a step back and breathe. This is when the option of turning back isn’t really an option anymore, and the reality of moving hits.

There will be times when you simply aren’t your best during the most intense parts of moving. This holds true whether you’re over the moon about the move or unhappy about every bit of it.

You might want to scream, cry, run away, or all 3 if you’re moving when you don’t want to. It takes a lot of courage to move, which is why some people never do it. If it were easy, everyone would move. But the reality is, it’s not, and it’s okay to feel all the feels that you do.

When those low moments occur where you think you may simply fall apart, try to stay calm and breathe. Step away, go for a walk, find a place in the house or go outside where you can be alone for a minute to take it all in.

Taking time for yourself to step away isn’t the sexiest of moving tips, but you owe yourself that time to process what’s happening.

And don’t forget to congratulate yourself. Because of all your hard work, the moving truck will drive away, completely loaded with all the belongings you make possible. So whether you want to move or not, packing your house and family so that you can be ready on moving day is a big deal.

7 – Check Into A Nice Hotel

Once your house is empty and you’re in between moving into a new place, make reservations at a hotel that you love or have always admired but never afforded yourself the chance. This is one of the best moving tips because movers typically don’t think of the fun opportunities moving presents. The stigma implies it is supposed to suck – but it really doesn’t have to.

When the beds are gone and you’re struggling with the move, don’t make sleeping arrangements work with air mattresses.

Give yourself grace and splurge to help you get through the moving grief. Stay somewhere special as a final hoorah – on either, or better, both ends. You don’t need to suffer through the process.

Turn a move that you don’t want into an enjoyable experience by kicking it off at that hotel you’ve always wanted to stay.

Checking into a lovely hotel instead of using air mattresses is a game-changer for anyone moving. If you want to know how to move when you don’t want to, splurge on where to temporarily stay. That short-term fun carries you through the moving process more than you may think.

Enjoy a luxury hotel when you have to move away

8 – Remember The Why

It’s easy to focus on the negative when you have to move away, and far more so when it’s not your first choice. But it’s also the perfect time to reflect and remember the why.

It can be hard to stay focused on the positive when the move might be unexpected, forced or an outcome from an event out of your control. Pandemic anyone?

Despite the feeling of loss, there are likely some really good things that have happened at the root of the move in the first place. You just need to dig and get to the why of it all to remind you.

Write those reasons down and reflect to help remind you why you are where you are today. Those reasons will help shift a negative mindset.

Questions to ask yourself to help shift your mindset about moving:

How much time did you have the opportunity to live there?
Did you make the most of it?
If you knew that you’d eventually have to move, would you have done anything differently?
Is there any reason why you can’t go back?
Did you accomplish any personal goals while living there?
If you never had lived there (let’s say it was somewhere else), would it have made a difference?

Not all questions may relate to your situation but will help trigger reminders of all the good things that came as a result of your time living there.

9 – Have The Family Moment and Say Thank You

Of all the tips for moving, this one is for closure.

After a final walk-through of the house you’re leaving, have a family moment. Find a special spot that means the most to the family, huddle and say thank you.

Be thankful, share special memories, and say goodbye to the house that was your home.

On our final walk-through of our home in England, my husband completely surprised me with this action. He simply asked us to huddle in our foyer, arms around each other in a circle, and just talked, recalling humorous times, emotional ones, and the best years we could have ever asked for. It’s a moment that will move you to tears, but good ones.

On moving day once the house is empty, have a family huddle to say goodbye

10 – Packing Tip For International Movers

Stow items to claim a VAT refund in your carry-on luggage. It’s likely the very last thing on your mind, but if you splurged on moving tips 3 or 5 (upgraded the Polaroid), those receipts might be fresh and worth trying to collect a refund on.

Nothing will irritate you more (or perhaps not bother you at all because you’re so drained from moving) if you forget to pack any items in the carry-on luggage that you intend to collect a refund.

While it could be a risk if you forget to put them in your carry-on and attempt to claim the refund, answer “yes” that you have the item with you. Then if they ask to see the item on the spot, clarify that they are in separate luggage. It’s worth a shot since every office operates a bit differently, but do what is right for your own situation.

If you’re moving back to the UK from America, the Heathrow VAT refund office past security in the United Terminal asked if we had the VAT items with us, but did not require showing all of the items. We only mentioned a Peter Rabbit stuffy. Hindsight, if we had known…but then again, integrity is always best.

Final Tips For Moving

As a recap, if you need tips on how to move when you’re not ready to, be sure to eat whatever you want, make time for self care, buy local gifts to take with you, get the home photo, have the moving away party, stay calm and breathe, give yourself grace, remember the why, have the family moment to say goodbye, and remember to pack those VAT items in your carry-on!

Do all of those things and moving will be far less stressful and undesirable than when you started.

What are your best moving tips and tricks?

Looking for moving tips?

—————————————————————-