Yup, We’re Moving

So, those of y’all who follow me and/or Nate on various social media sites or interact with us in person a lot have probably noticed we go to Portland, Oregon a lot. Like, a lot lot.

Some of y’all have already heard this, but I know a lot haven’t, so: we’ve decided to go there on a more long-term basis. With all our stuff. As in, we’re moving up there.

We are psyched. I’m also nervous, as I’ve never moved out of state before and never moved all my crap more than about half an hour from my parents’ place before (even when I lived in England, I had a bedroom that was my bedroom at their place, and it was the same bedroom I’d had since I was three).

This is also affording me the opportunity to go through all my stuff, sort the stuff from the crap, and get rid of the crap. I have a lot of crap in with my lot of stuff (seriously, I found my 1998 tax return in a box I went through last week. WTF, self?). It’s pretty liberating, though. I feel sort of like I’m curating my life. Some things I’m archiving, others I’m tossing/shredding/selling/donating. Anything that doesn’t pass the “is this worth schlepping up to Portland?” test gets put in the “out” pile.

I’m tracking my progress off and on here — before-and-after photos are really motivating! :) The hard part is remembering to take them.

FAQ

When are you moving?
April. This means that basically the first quarter of 2013 is, for me, The Quarter Of Preparing to Move. It’s pretty intense so far.

Do you have a place yet?
No. No, we do not, because it’s way too early to look for a rental. Everything available now has a move-in date of early February, pretty much. We’ll start looking for real in February some time but probably won’t have a place lined up until Marchish. I’m confident — we’ve been keeping an eye on the rental market up there for quite a while, so we have a good feel for what’s reasonable, and have a few apartment complexes spotted that are good candidates if we can’t find a house to rent.

Why Portland???
Because Portland is awesome. It’s laid back and chill, and we know folks up there, and it’s definitely our cup of tea.

Do you have jobs lined up?
I try not to talk about dayjob stuff on the blog, but let’s just say this is covered.

Are you culling your books?
No.

Comment Topic

Anybody who’s moved out-of-state with a shitload of heavy stuff (as in 40+ boxes of books and a bunch of bookcases, just to start with), please offer your dos and don’ts! We’re doing research and Nate has experience, but more info is always welcome.