What do they say? A good move is one where most of your things are not broken by the time you arrive to your destination. Based on this logic, I would say that our move from New York, NY to VA Beach, VA was a success. While “successful”, we did hit a couple of bumps.
Bump 1: Truck rental issues
I reserved a 12′ truck from Budget about a month before our move. We arrived to the Budget rental location in the Bronx, but it did not have the truck that I reserved. Instead, we had an “option” of a cargo van (too small) or a 16′ truck (way too big for me to drive). Nonchalantly, the Budget representative was like driving a 16′ truck is no different than driving a 12′ truck . . . you just have to make wider turns. I was already nervous AF about drinking a 12′ truck, so I was extremely nervous about the possibility of driving an even larger truck, especially in NYC. Long story short, Budget found another truck at another location. #phew! While it worked out in the end, this experience was super stressful because the movers were reserved from 10 am to 12 pm, and there was no way that I could reschedule the appointment at that point. I figured that a two-hour buffer between picking up the truck and the arrival of the movers would have been plenty of time . . . I guess I was wrong. I think that I will write a letter to Budget about this experience. The Bronx attendant and folks in the regional office made it like it was MY problem that the location did not have a truck that I reserved weeks in advance.
Bump 2: The sketchy hotel
Rather than combining the stress of managing the logistics of a moving day followed by driving a 12′ truck for 8-10 hrs on the same day, I decided that we would have a sleepover somewhere in Delaware on Saturday and continue the road trip on Sunday. When traveling, I typically reserve one place (with a generous cancelation policy) a few weeks in advance, which gives me some time over the course of a few weeks to find a more suitable place if necessary. This time, I did not do this. Hey, there was a lot going on. When we arrived to our hotel in Dover, the hubby and I were a bit shocked by the condition of the place. I’ll take that back. While the place was super dated, the clientele was looking a bit spooky.
Ok, I’ve stayed in several seedy places during my international and domestic adventures (or rather, misadventures), and I’m normally a roll-with-the-punches kind of guy when it comes to these things. What was the difference this time? This time, all of our earthly possessions were sitting in a moving truck in the parking lot, and some of the folks staying in the “hotel” looked like they would steal from a baby to score some drugs.
Better safe than sorry. 😉
I told the hubby that we are getting the hell out of Dodge FIRST thing in the morning. By “first thing”, we left the hotel at 4:25 am.
BUMP 2.5: Waffle House
After leaving the “hotel” at 4:30 am, I saw that there was a Waffle House about 15 minutes down the route. The cool thing about the Waffle House: it’s open 24/7. . . or so I thought. Of course, this Waffle House was closed.
That said, about two hours down US 13, we found a wonderful diner near the VA-DE border.
What’s next?
While I’m glad that we made it safely, I still wonder if we made the right choice. I guess this nervousness will go away (hopefully) once we get settled (eg finding jobs, buying a car, and figuring out how we fit in). Although I am from Va. Beach, I have not lived here since 1998 so things are a bit different.
Question(s) for the Day?
-Any crazy/interesting moving experiences?
-If you moved to a new city, how did you settle into your new surroundings?
-Any fun plans for the weekend?
Social Media Plug:
Run There, Drink That 
I’m happy to hear you made it to VA! Moving is tough! I’ve moved from WV to TN to NC and fortunately I don’t have any interesting moving stories to tell. Good luck getting settled in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks as always. 🙂 So far settling is going well . . . now I just need to find a new job.
LikeLike
You’ve done it! Well done!
When we moved from my husband’s flat in London to our house here, we moved in with just my stuff from the storage of my flat, which left us with a small amount of stuff in a big house. We managed, and I was staying at his flat for a bit while I worked out my notice at work, so I’d take the laundry up and down on the coach. When we sold his flat and moved that stuff, the main move (a while later as they decided to re-do the lifts and it would have cost thousands more to move stuff without the lifts), we hired a moving and packing service and they packed EVERYTHING including our coach tickets home that we’d left on the kitchen surface, so we had to run to an Internet cafe to reprint them before travelling up to Birmingham. Fortunately delivery was the next day!
LikeLike
That would have been a huge PHEW. I guess that moving company was VERY comprehensive with its packing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
So glad you made it safely. We have had some scary seedy hotel stays ourselves when driving from NY to Mississippi and back.
We have moved many times, and rarely had a good experience with truck rentals from any company (they NEVER have what you reserve when you get there, FYI.)
When I was younger, we moved from Arizona to New York with all of our belongings, 5 kids, and my Mom in the back of a Ryder truck (my dad driving) with the door rigged open with screens so we could get air. (Yes, that’s highly dangerous and illegal.) At one point, the rigged system came loose and, having no way to contact or signal my dad to stop, (it was the 1970s – no cell phones) we all had to hold the door so it would not close, leaving us without air, or open, sending all our stuff (and maybe us) flying onto the highway for about an hour or so until he pulled over for a driving break. Good times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That rigged, open door scenario sounds very scary. I guess back then, we weren’t super cautious about safety. Then again, sometimes, I think we are too over the top with some safety measures nowadays.
Several folks, both in real life and in the virtual world, have mentioned that these companies never have the correct trucks . . . .no matter how far in advance you reserve them. 😦
LikeLike
When my dad and I went to Scranton to pick up the rental truck to move Jason down to this area they didn’t have the size I ordered and we had to use a smaller truck. Luckily all his stuff fit (thanks in part to his brother taking the couch and recliner; had we wanted to take those then we would’ve been in trouble fitting everything) but I agree so annoying for them to not have what you reserve!
I thoroughly read hotel reviews for the exact reasons you mentioned… don’t want any slum, creepy places!
Bummer on the Waffle House being closed (I just ate at one for the first time in March!) but glad you found a good diner!
Good luck settling in!
LikeLiked by 1 person
It seems like not having trucks that you reserve is a common thing for the rental companies, which is very unfortunate and annoying.
Fortunately, we did hit up a couple of local Waffle House restaurants during the week.
LikeLike