When I arrived in Melbourne after 5 years of nomadic travel it was with 2 suitcases. Somehow in 3 years, I had accumulated so much more and moving back to Perth ended up being a huge undertaking. One I thought may be useful to others moving interstate.

Why I moved is in this article about how nomadic travel killed my ability to commit. This article is the practicality of the whole thing. So if you’re looking for a story, click the link above. If you are looking to move, read on.

What to do with your current house

My parents and I had been renting a 3 story house for 1.5 years. When I decided to move back to Perth my parents decided to downsize in Melbourne and send a lot of stuff back with me, as ultimately they hoped to be back there as well.

With both of us moving out you can imagine it got hectic. Two sets of removalists across multiple stories resulted in over a month of packing and several days of “last-minute” packing.

After all that we were exhausted and the last thing we wanted to do was do an end-of-lease house clean. I ended up reaching out to Fantastic Services. I had used them at our previous house move and had been so impressed with their job.

6 hours it took for them to clean this giant house and that was worth every penny. That and having a complete bond refund.

They arrived at 8 am on the date, as promised. They brought all their own equipment so I was able to leave the house completely empty and I didn’t have to spell out anything. I just sat back enjoying my Anthony Espresso. To be honest the house looked better than when we originally moved in.

I was so impressed that I asked them for a discount code so that you can also take the pressure off moving house by having someone take care of cleaning your property. Do yourself a favor, don’t add to an already stressful situation.

Click here for $20 off your house clean!

What to do with your car

I had tossed up the costs of driving over or having a company move my car for me.

It was definitely cheaper to drive over:

Fuel – $500

Accommodation for 6 nights – $1,000

Food and other – $500

TOTAL = $2,000

The uncalculated cost was more than 36 hours driving and the wear and tear 3,000 km would do to my car and odometer meaning earlier services and tire changes. There is crossing the heat-line that is known as the Nullabor. And with the current Australian bush fires most roads to WA are closed off. A week driving in the desert? Make sure your aircon is working!

Flying:

Flights – $660

Car shipping – $1,700

Hire car Melbourne – $210

Hire car Perth – $130

TOTAL = $2,700

However, time saved, car wear-and-tear saved. And with Christmas hot on our heels, the time saved seemed like a big bonus.

I got several quotes online. Easy enough to do and they are emailed to your inbox quickly. All companies outsource and charge different amounts. So while I chose the cheapest, it was the exact same depot and service as the more expensive.

The cheapest option was to send from depot to depot. Since I had people in both cities to help me with transport I chose that option. You can pay more to have it picked up or delivered to an address.

You can also pay extra to fill your car. As I had a mountain load of things moving interstate I decided to have an empty car.

My quote was based on 14 business days. Which meant 2 weeks in Melbourne without a car and 1 week in Perth. The car arrived within 10 business days – 14 days and I didn’t need the Perth rental car in the end. But it was too late as I got a non-refundable cheap car.

Depos are only open from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm Monday to Friday. I arrived in Perth on a Sunday so the rental car came in handy for at least one day.

Tip: Take a video of your car at the depo being inspected so you know all the scratches and marks on it. That way any issues you got hard, cold evidence.  I do this with rental cars too.

How to get your things moved interstate

Moving interstate is expensive. And it turns out moving east to west is more expensive than moving west to east.

My mother and I got several quotes online, similar to Bekins Moving Solutions. They are rarely accurate because they ask for inventories. My biggest tip is to have someone come and look at your things and quote on that. You always have more than you think you will.

The price difference was astronomical. The cheapest at around $4,500. The same job coming in at more than $8,000 with other companies. All items go straight onto a shipping container to be chucked on a train and freighted over.

Start packing early. I packed my kids’ books and toys a month before and kept going. A week before all their clothes were gone. The bathroom was packed. All the crockery in the kitchen, bar a few of each that we had to wash regularly.

The last few days were still hectic despite that. Sheets, pillows, random bits and pieces around the house that you don’t even think about.

You can get plenty of boxes and tape from Bunnings if you run out and it’s a lot cheaper than getting it from the removal company.

Alternatively, if you are selling off most things, you can always stock up your car as mentioned above.

Warning: Please make sure you choose a reputable company. Our belongings arrived in two different lots. Collected 11th December, one lot arrived on 18th December, the second lot 31st December. Pieces were broken and missing so we are currently working on an insurance claim. Read reviews and ensure you choose the best possible company.

Preparing your business or work

The majority of my business is online, however, I do attend many events within Melbourne. I emailed multiple PR companies letting them know of my move and requesting to be introduced to their counterparts in the West.

I introduced myself to multiple activity-based businesses in Perth via Instagram and organized some ambassador interviews for my arrival.

I also had a job interview for a location independent role that I could do in Perth.

Consider job hunting before you move and requesting a skype interview or telephone call to set things up for when you arrive. One less thing to worry about when you hit the ground in a new city. And one of the more stressful ones.

Saying goodbye

The hard part. Everyone wants to say goodbye. I was lucky that it also coincided with my birthday so I organized a small party so I could say all my goodbyes at once. Groupon is great for things like that. I have managed to find several party bookings where for $250 you get a $700 bar tab and food.

I organized some last-minute lunch dates, even met someone which I wish I had met earlier because we clicked so well.

My grade 5 daughter got Whats app and Instagram handles from all her school friends.

My son made sure his best friend had his Roblox username.

Finally, there are those that you can never say goodbye to. I had been in a relationship for 2.5 years of my 3 years in Melbourne and that was quite possibly the hardest goodbye I have ever had. Leaving someone you love is never easy and we said multiple goodbyes, which were never enough.

Our last photo together

Leaving my parents was not so hard. They were coming to Perth for Christmas and my brother’s wedding so it wasn’t goodbye as much as just moving out of the house. My sister came with cake to say goodbye. But again I have no doubt I will see her multiple times throughout the year. And of course, I hope to come back and visit Melbourne again. The city grew on me and I left a piece of my heart in St Kilda.

Good luck! I hope your move is as smooth as I made it sound. Have I missed anything? Have you ever moved interstate? I’d love to hear about your experiences below in the comments.

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