As I mentioned I am in the middle of moving house and it’s been… well; interesting – as well as heard work and it’s not over yet.

There are some major differences between moving here in LA and back home in the UK; partly I guess to the fast moving market.  I haven’t bought, only renting and you have to move fast to secure anything.  There’s no consideration of “well I have to give a month’s notice on my current place so we’ll move in a month from now” nope, say that and you’ve lost the place as someone else will be move in ready.  That means you have to organise a lot very quickly including (if you need them) a removal firm to shift you furniture.

In the UK you generally have to book removal firms, weeks or even months in advance if you want a specific day; here it seems you don’t need to plan that far ahead.

Take my move this weekend; When we found the place (less than a month ago) it took a week to get approved which left us 2 weeks until we would be taking possession.  Then due to some work commitments we decided to move in after only one week. My Fiancé booked the movers and I kinda assumed all was good, come Saturday morning when they were ‘late’ I checked the details and realised they had been booked for a week later.  So I was sat in a house of boxes with food all packed and nothing to eat or sleep on.  I called the company to see if they could come the next day and they said YES!  I was happily surprised.  I could not imagine that happening in the UK.

That’s a positive thing the slightly negative thing with movers here is you pay by the hour (and that can include their travel time to you and beck to their depot at the end).  So time really is of the essence and you have to carefully manage them so they don’t spend time wrapping something you could care less about and you try to help where possible to speed things up.  Ultimately though you don’t know exactly the cost until the end; cash is preferred so you have to be prepared ( had to stop and get extra cash en route just in case).  In the UK they inspect and give you a fairly fixed price.  A few caveats are included but essentially you know in advance what you are paying and often will pay before the day.

So I am effectively moved, I still have some things to take over as I didn’t want to pay the team to move much that I could easily carry in the car.  I also have to clean and make sure all is as I found it.  It’s been a hard week, my fiancé has been away for the actual move as she had a trip booked months ago so doing it my own has taken extra effort. The new house is feeling very full and slightly small.  I am sure once things come out of boxes and into cupboards and furniture finds its place it will seem more roomy but right now it feels closed in.  The front room is useable and the bedroom and bathroom were ready to use at the end of the first day so that is a good start.

A change in furniture will be needed to accommodate the amount of kitchen things we have but that is all part of learning to live in a new space and I am confident it will be perfectly fine… eventually.

I ache all over and have bruises which I don’t know how I got; it’s all in the name of progress and making a place called home and it will be worth it.