5 Tips For A Better DITY Move

Is a DITY move is on your to do list this PCS season? To help you make a plan, AHRN.com asked blogger and milspouse Malori Mayor to share the lessons she learned on her recent DITY move!

While doing a DITY move, or PPM, can be advantageous for some people, there are a few tips that can make this choice an even better one.  There are a few things that my husband and I did well on our recent DITY move, and some things that we could have done better.  In reflecting on our journey, I found five ways to improve a DITY move.

1) BUY WALKIE-TALKIES.

Most likely, one of you will be driving the moving truck and the other will be driving a car.  Even if you have a reliable cell phone network, there are places in the country where service cuts out completely  (Driving across west Texas is one example!).  You want to make sure you can always contact each other, especially for emergencies or being low on gas.

2) MAKE SURE YOUR MOVING TRUCK COMES WITH A DOLLY – AND IF IT DOESN’T, RENT ONE!

That $15 extra to rent a dolly will be money well-spent.  Even if you’re moving items from or to a second-floor apartment, being able to wheel your belongings from the truck to the stairs is an immense help and makes the task easier and quicker.

3) PLAN BUFFER TIME INTO YOUR PACKING AND PCSING SCHEDULE.

Our packing day schedule was severely delayed due to confusion from the moving truck company.  We had planned on packing the truck in the morning and early afternoon, but our timeline was pushed to the right because of a delay in obtaining our reserved truck.  Fortunately, we didn’t have to leave at the crack of dawn the next day, so that buffer time saved us.  We arrived at our destination right on schedule!

4) CLEARLY LABEL YOUR BOXES USING A PERMANENT MARKER OR COLOR-CODED TAPE…OR BOTH!

You might just want to hurriedly throw your items into boxes and get that annoying task out of the way.  After all, it’s your stuff and you’ll remember where everything is….right?  Wrong – after packing seemingly countless boxes, they will all appear to be the same.  Taking those extra few seconds to clearly label your boxes will save you hours when you unpack.

5) MAKE SURE TO HAVE FUN!  

PCSing doesn’t have to be all hard work and no play.  Make sure that you and your spouse make time for relaxation.  The evening before we left, we had dinner with friends at our favorite hibachi restaurant.  On the way from Texas to Arizona, we ate at a historical restaurant in Las Cruces, New Mexico that was supposedly haunted.  We also stretched our legs and walked around the town square during the Cinco de Mayo festival.