5 Ways to Know Your Cross-Country Move is Going Great.

So, If you haven’t heard by now, I moved to Denver Colorado this month to start my graduate program. My grad program seems pretty cool, and the campus is very nicely designed and has beautiful buildings but that is not the point of this blog post. Today I wanted to write a blog post that gives you a helpful framework to tell whether or not your cross-country move is going well, and things you can do to improve it.

Now what is important to remember is that I am not an expert in moving, leasing practices, or cross-country travel. However, I have in fact been forced to deal with all these various components extensively over the last several months. I feel that if social media keyboard warriors can weekly bounce between expertise in international policy, global infectious disease control, and U.S. electoral procedure, then I can lend myself a slight air of expertise in cross-country moving. In this blog post, I will specifically mention five things that are going SO SUPER well in this move, and you can feel free to emulate them if you want.

Roaches

A really cool thing that happened when my roommates and I took possession of the apartment (which I do not recommend this process by the way) is that we all moved in at different times. So the roommate that was there and took possession on day one was here at the apartment all by herself and me and the other roommate didn’t join her until two and three weeks later.

When we (but really only she) took possession of the apartment there was an active pest infestation all throughout the apartment. This is a really fun and cool way to start out your lease because sending your body into fight or flight mode while you are at work in the middle of your day and 1,000 miles away from the source of your panic really warms you up inside!!

A really special thing about this pest infestation is that further exploration by my roommate led to the discovery that the bugs were not only living in the kitchen but that their little nest was in the kitchen island. For obvious health and safety reasons living in this apartment unit was simply not going to happen, so the following day the property moved us into a different unit that was in a different building AND was on the ground floor (HALLELUJAH ground floor move-in).

Now, this unit switch seems super simple and like something that would fix all our problems. Additionally, the unit we were moved into had updated appliances, bigger closets, a larger common area, an attached large garage, and an added bonus of no bugs in the kitchen! So initially, the move was something that me and my roommates were ecstatic over. However, it quickly created a new and comically annoying problem.

No Lease

That problem quickly became the problem of the lease. So, for anyone who maybe doesn’t know, a lease is an incredibly detailed legal agreement that basically says the tenant is responsible for and pays for everything and the owner or property manager is responsible for and pays for nothing. But most importantly, a lease is incredibly location (or address) specific, so technically moving the apartment unit creates a problem because each unit needs its own lease because the address changes. So when we moved units, we had to sign a new lease. That was July 19th. It is almost September 1st, we still need to sign a new lease. Don’t ask me how I’m doing, I’m very deeply stressed.

Obviously, my roommates and I have frequently asked for a lease but the complex is kind of bad at their job, which is managing the complex. (No this property wasn’t my first pick, it wasn’t even my second pick, not even my THIRD pick. When I did all my apartment touring I felt that this apartment complex really only had one positive quality. But I am working on relinquishing control because my therapist used to say that I needed to. So I tried to be a cool CHILL person, and now here we are. See if I relinquish control ever again).

One reason that the office has consistently given us why we don’t have a lease is because of inconsistent staffing. Basically, the manager of the property is the one who has to “draw up” the new lease and “cancel” the old one. This said manager however seems to not be a fan of what some might call “working hours”, and by that, I mean working in the office when the office is supposed to be open. The staff in general, however, are united in the fact that they do not enjoy answering the phone, or their emails. I personally appreciate this united stand they’re taking against digital communication. Way to stick it to the man!

Leasing Consultant Quitting

You’re probably asking yourself, Bianca what was the one thing that you liked about this property? Well, It was the leasing agent in the office. He was the only person I talked to who remembered me from calling in my appointment, and ironically the only person who gave consistent information when my roommates and I would call separately to ask questions. This specific agent was one of the main reasons why I was willing to lease in this complex because most of the other units did not give me much confidence in their management capabilities and competence.

So, what's the problem?? HE QUIT. That's the problem. Apparently so did the maintenance guy, and like two other office staff. So the office closed for about a week and a half, which was a whole two weeks we couldn’t get our lease at a time. I kind of wish that I COULD QUIT LIVING HERE. But I can’t so I’m being very brave (I complain about this at least four times a day).

Unexpected Paving

Now this one is really almost nitpicking honestly. But I would say that if you want to guarantee a fun and smooth first week of living in your new place see if you can arrange for the complex AND both the roads that lead into your complex to be under construction in the same three-week period. This is crucial because what it does is it will send you and your neighbors into a frenzy of confusion around where to park. Your neighbors will park in your driveway, you won’t be able to find parking by your apartment, and will spend 15 minutes executing a 35-point turn parallel parking situation that would make your driving alma mater disown you.

This square block construction project will also help to just skyrocket your geolocation confidence because every time you leave your apartment and drive anywhere, your GPS will take you a different route. This is an important trick because when you go to school for orientation you will confidently tell a room full of people that you simply have NO idea where you live when they ask.

A Green Pool

Now this is truly a little hack, but if possible you guys see if your pool when you move in (cross-country and in a heat advisory) is green. This is a very underrated technique, but what it ensures is that you get to be hot and sticky while unpacking all your stuff and completely incapable of hopping in the pool to cool off. I mean SURE you could hop in the shower to cool off or turn up the air conditioning. But you have to pay for electricity and your water usage while frolicking in the pool is free.

I really do recommend this one little thing to guarantee a relaxing cross-country move.

A Moment of Honesty

I want to say, that small (if legally binding) kinks aside, I am really excited to be in Colorado. I drove to orientation twice this week, and while the traffic was horrifying, the entire time I was driving with the mountains in clear view. At one point in time during said orientation, my supervisor sent us upstairs and we did some prep work for the term in small groups, on the rooftop, looking at mountains. My old campus didn’t have mountains. In fact, whenever students did go on roofs, they got fined and the whole campus got a godly stewardship of resources email. So obviously, I am very excited for a different academic and social focus in this school.

I am so excited for an academic change of pace, and this opportunity to continue my education.

I will probably write a blog post about why I am studying forensic psychology and what I hope to do with it soon!