LIFE | On Moving

I'm just going to steer away from the beauty side of things for today, as I feel like writing a few thoughts down in a little life update. There almost wasn't going to be a post today - usually I am super organised (I'm talking spreadsheets with blog posts ready to go and schedules etc, you get the drill) but over the past couple of weeks things have been a bit unsettling as I packed up all of my stuff (there's a lot...) and moved it all the way from the South Island to the North, to my venture in Auckland. So here are some musings on moving.

Moving isn't easy, and I completely feel for families who can pack up their whole homes and shift, or those that can take two suitcases and escape the country to live overseas. I've been planning a move to Auckland since last year, I knew it was going to happen, it was just making it happen. I've moved away from home before, and spent three years in Wellington to do my first degree, but that didn't feel like a permanent thing; this move, however, feels a lot more significant and exciting. 

ON FLAT HUNTING

I know Auckland relatively well, I sort of knew the area I wanted to live in (somewhere close to the city centre), so it made the flat hunting a bit easier to narrow down. Flat hunting in Auckland is a slight mine field, rooms are expensive and overall pretty average - finding a gem was hard. I had a few things in mind that I wanted; good lighting for blog photos (priorities, right?), as well as a nice enough bathroom, and not a huge flat with heaps of flatmates. After a couple of weeks of hunting and looking at places and seeing some real duds, I finally found a place and it's pretty spot on with what I wanted. If you are planning on moving to Auckland I suggest doing your research on your suburbs (how far it is from things etc etc), check TradeMe constantly, and don't be disheartened if you really like a place but they have 10 people interested - it's a competitive market.

ON PACKING

So the flat finding was only part of the deal, the next step was the packing, and organising to get my things from A to B. Packing made me realise two things; I am a collector of many things (some may call it hoarding), and I have far too many books. I didn't actually mind the packing business, I got super ruthless and donated, trashed and gave away a lot of things. I suggest you do this, it's cathartic, and it also makes you feel good that you can donate some of your things to people who might actually get more use from it than you did. I ended up with about 40 boxes of stuff in various sizes and shapes. Seeing it all packed up definitely made it all feel more real!

ON GETTING A MOVER

Driving up was an option, but it would have been a long one, plus it is the middle of winter so the roads wouldn't have been kind to drive on. A moving company was the only way to go. It's quite a bit of money, but for a big city move like mine it was worth it, with a lot less hassle. One thing I didn't realise was how long it would actually take from the point of pick up to the delivery. Everything arrived at my flat today, which would have marked three weeks since it was picked up. Granted, it did arrive in Auckland early last week, but they had no available delivery times, which was extremely frustrating knowing my things were in the city but I couldn't get them for another week. This is all things I wish I had known before I moved - factor in a good amount of time people!

And with that, here I am in the big city, starting off a new, hopefully exciting chapter! The blog and social media have definitely been put on the back burner lately, but once I'm settled everything will be back to normal and running a lot smoother - that I can guarantee. I also want to shake up my content a bit, but I might be getting ahead of myself here... watch this space.

Any of my Auckland readers, I'd love to know your favourite spots in the city, and places (food, shops etc) that I definitely need to check out. I can't wait to do more exploring!

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