Moving house with less hassle – Part 1

Moving to a new home, whether to it is your piece of  real estate in Malta or if your are just moving down the road is one of the most stressful experiences in a person’s lifetime. On top of moving home, comes the added burden of moving all our possessions, packing and un-packing within a few days whilst frustrating over where to put them once they’re out of the boxes. If you’re moving into larger premises this might not pose a problem. But if you’re moving into a smaller space, then you have to re-think your way of hoarding.

Most of what we hoard is generally superfluous both to our needs and to those of our family so that the experience of moving home allows us to come to terms with the fact that our life is overwhelmingly cluttered. Clutter has to go, if only to make the moving experience less burdensome, so prepare yourself for the process of shedding some extra baggage along the way.

Packing all your worldly possessions is such a big job that packing companies have been set up to tackle it for you. This means having an army of packers flock to your house, sifting through your stuff and packing it away for you to save you the hassle. For those who prefer not to have fleets of strangers poking their way through their life, the only solution is to do the packing themselves.

The best way tackling things is to stagger tasks well ahead of moving day. Start collecting old newspapers plus large and clean empty cardboard boxes from your nearest store or supermarket.  In Malta, you can go to Bulebel, which is on the way to B’Bugia buy boxes from MultiPackaging.  Don’t choose enormous boxes which you’ll never be able to carry by yourself. Choose the ones which are large enough to be manageable, because chances are that you’ll have to carry them up or down stairs, in and out of cars, and up and over other boxes blocking passages or doorways. Larger boxes don’t mean less of a hassle, just more of a back strain. Incidentally start training yourself to lift and carry boxes in a safe way by squatting down with bent knees and standing up with a straight back. Bending backs dangerously risk getting you a slipped disc – one of the more unpleasant side-effects of house moving.

Have packing tape and felt-tip pen available and start the job by dismantling the least used cupboards or shelves around your property in Malta house – the bookcase is a good starting point. Use the time it takes to empty each shelf to sift through your reading material and whatever you feel is past its use in your life, should go into a different box marked ‘To Give Away’.

Giving away things you don’t need anymore is not always easy. In this case, you will find that most books in the house are important to you for various reasons – this was a gift; this was a prize; this was a bargain; this you found on the bus; this was your first purchase off e-bay or Amazon; this helped you learn a new skill….. Yet, you will never re-read all the novels lining your bookcase, nor all the old magazines you keep just because ‘the pictures are pretty’. It is the right time to realise somebody else will be better off utilising them, and finally you will come to terms with giving some of them away.

Move on to the next phase in Moving House with Less Hassle – Part 2 

This article was written by Marika Azzopardi, a freelance writer and journalist. A frequent contributor to national English language papers and magazines, she writes about a bevy of topics including art, people and life in general. She is also the author of children’s books and short stories, delving into adult fiction from time to time.