The Part of Relocating that No One Talks About

 

We’re a little over a week away from my official move to Nashville, and I have to be honest with y’all. I don’t know if I’m ready. I have to go through my closet today and box up some donations for a ‘Dress for Success’ clothing drive at work, and I have a general idea of my packing schedule, but I haven’t done too much. Between all of the flights back and forth and then working onsite when I am in town I haven’t really had much time to start packing, but that has to change this month.

We all know that moving can be stressful, and often is but no one talks about the additional stresses that come with moving between states. So I will. Now I don’t want this post to come off as whiney, I want it to serve as a resource to y’all so that you don’t make the same mistakes I did.

Finding a place – I honestly don’t know what I would have done without my apartment locators. This post isn’t sponsored at all but I have to give the Smart City team in Nashville their flowers. Courtney B and the rest of the team went above and beyond with helping me make this relocation easy! She took my list of must-haves and sent me back great suggestions, did the legwork, and took me on virtual tours. She even took me on a virtual driving tour of the neighborhood. I also appreciate how communicative she was, as well as the rest of the team! I highly recommend using Smart City if you need assistance in Nashville!

Electricity Providers – Now I have a unique situation where there’s a bit of overlap between me moving to Nashville and my lease being up here in Houston. There’s about a 3-week overlap where I’ll have both places and per my leases, I have to have electricity in both apartments. Texas allows you to choose your energy provider, which is great and the company I went with has been good to me all these years. My annual contract with them is up in July and they only offer annual and month-to-month plans, so I made sure to reach out to them to inform them of my move and let them know that I won’t be renewing. That means that my new kWh rate might be a bit higher than what I’m used to paying, but my usage should be lower. Nashville on the other hand only has one provider, and as antiquated as their onboarding process is (new service gets set up via a phone call or in-person) it was pretty fast and seamless.

Renters Insurance – Similar to my electricity contract, my renter’s insurance policy for my Houston apartment ends in July. I had no choice but to renew that one for the year, but I will cancel the policy once my lease is up here. As far as Nashville goes I just started a new policy with a different, but just as reputable provider.

Furniture – My Nashville apartment is bigger than my Houston one, so that means I’ll need more furniture. I purposely chose a 2 bedroom place so that I would have a dedicated office and guest room for when I have people over. My visitor’s calendar is quickly filling up for the fall and I need to not only decide on a layout for the office/guest room but pick out a bed that’s comfortable enough and fits in the space. I’m leaning towards a day bed so it can also double as seating in the room. Now I’m just on the hunt for a full-sized day bed.

I’m sure there will be a few other things that come up between now and mid-August and this will likely be a series so y’all be sure to check back. Oh, and wish me luck with this move. I’m gonna need all the well wishes and good vibes.