Cheap! Moving Cross Country with Uhaul & Towing Car!
November 10, 2015
Yikes! How do you move furniture and your car across country on a budget? Has anyone done this? I went searching online for tips and people who had done this before but there wasn't much. A new kind of road trip across America!
Oh my gosh! The thought of driving a big truck PLUS towing our car behind it, cross-country to move, seemed a bit intimidating, even for us who have driven campers all over Europe, in the US and Mexico. But it turned out that it was much easier than expected and the best cheap way to move cross country to our new base in Los Angeles to support Mozart's budding singing and acting career.
We looked into a few options, but decided to go with UHaul as they have this market covered, so easier access to drop it off and to get the equipment we needed. They also included one month free storage unit which worked perfect for Los Angeles as apartment hunting in the LA area is so difficult, you have to have a landing place first.
The good news is the drive between Dallas and Los Angeles is long but good roads and a truckers route that is flat the whole way. We fit right in with the trucks! We had a sublet waiting in Venice, California by the beach, but in order to avoid heavy Los Angeles traffic, we decided to stop in Rosemead on the outskirts and put things in storage there so we could get rid of our truck and trailer before things got tense.
Getting off the highway to get gas, food and lodging was the only time it was tricky as we are not use to having something so high and so long. We like to stay healthy, so we stored our Paleo road trip food in the car for when we stopped.
Making turns in local traffic gave us a few exciting moments as we usually had to get into local traffic to find gas, but nothing major.
It's almost 1500 miles between our temporary home in Dallas and our sublet home in Venice Beach.
So that meant long drive days that started at dawn.
We do love road trips in the US or Europe, so it soon seemed very natural.
We traveled through four states on this one, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, eventually even going to the western end of historic Route 66 at the edge of the Pacific ocean.
14 year old Mozart just started college at SMC, so did some reading and studying along the way.
We didn't really have much stuff and usually move with just suitcases, but Dallas didn't have furnished apartments, so that meant moving, new home & big changes, so we did a minimalist haul at Ikea to make it work.
After calculating, it made the most sense to just bring it all instead of selling it this time, but we needed to use a 15 footer truck because we had to fit three of us in the front seat.
The seats were comfortable, but we were squished on the passenger side as there was no room for Mozart to put her legs. As you can surmise from the photo of her reading, her legs had no room in front of her so she had to put them in my space, which made it not too comfortable for both of us on the long drive days, but we managed. Just be forewarned if you are doing this with 3 people!
Our belongings didn't even fill up half this truck, but we needed the three seater upfront.
It was great to drive through the Saguaro Cactus in the Arizona Sonora desert again.....
...and even more fun to cross the California border as it is our home state. It is a six hour drive north to our home of origin still, but at least we are in the same state for a new base. With our strong intention we managed to find a place in two weeks, so now living near the beach in Santa Monica.
I lived in Los Angeles in the 80's. but the rest of the Soultravelers3 gang hasn't spent much time here, so it is a great new place for us to explore and write about as well. Not to mention lots of travel around North America once we settle in, so Mozart can get a deeper understanding of her own continent and country.
Yikes! How do you move furniture and your car across country on a budget? Has anyone done this? I went searching online for tips and people who had done this before but there wasn't much. A new kind of road trip across America!
Oh my gosh! The thought of driving a big truck PLUS towing our car behind it, cross-country to move, seemed a bit intimidating, even for us who have driven campers all over Europe, in the US and Mexico. But it turned out that it was much easier than expected and the best cheap way to move cross country to our new base in Los Angeles to support Mozart's budding singing and acting career.
We looked into a few options, but decided to go with UHaul as they have this market covered, so easier access to drop it off and to get the equipment we needed. They also included one month free storage unit which worked perfect for Los Angeles as apartment hunting in the LA area is so difficult, you have to have a landing place first.
The good news is the drive between Dallas and Los Angeles is long but good roads and a truckers route that is flat the whole way. We fit right in with the trucks! We had a sublet waiting in Venice, California by the beach, but in order to avoid heavy Los Angeles traffic, we decided to stop in Rosemead on the outskirts and put things in storage there so we could get rid of our truck and trailer before things got tense.
Getting off the highway to get gas, food and lodging was the only time it was tricky as we are not use to having something so high and so long. We like to stay healthy, so we stored our Paleo road trip food in the car for when we stopped.
Making turns in local traffic gave us a few exciting moments as we usually had to get into local traffic to find gas, but nothing major.
It's almost 1500 miles between our temporary home in Dallas and our sublet home in Venice Beach.
So that meant long drive days that started at dawn.
We do love road trips in the US or Europe, so it soon seemed very natural.
We traveled through four states on this one, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, eventually even going to the western end of historic Route 66 at the edge of the Pacific ocean.
14 year old Mozart just started college at SMC, so did some reading and studying along the way.
We didn't really have much stuff and usually move with just suitcases, but Dallas didn't have furnished apartments, so that meant moving, new home & big changes, so we did a minimalist haul at Ikea to make it work.
After calculating, it made the most sense to just bring it all instead of selling it this time, but we needed to use a 15 footer truck because we had to fit three of us in the front seat.
The seats were comfortable, but we were squished on the passenger side as there was no room for Mozart to put her legs. As you can surmise from the photo of her reading, her legs had no room in front of her so she had to put them in my space, which made it not too comfortable for both of us on the long drive days, but we managed. Just be forewarned if you are doing this with 3 people!
Our belongings didn't even fill up half this truck, but we needed the three seater upfront.
It was great to drive through the Saguaro Cactus in the Arizona Sonora desert again.....
...and even more fun to cross the California border as it is our home state. It is a six hour drive north to our home of origin still, but at least we are in the same state for a new base. With our strong intention we managed to find a place in two weeks, so now living near the beach in Santa Monica.
I lived in Los Angeles in the 80's. but the rest of the Soultravelers3 gang hasn't spent much time here, so it is a great new place for us to explore and write about as well. Not to mention lots of travel around North America once we settle in, so Mozart can get a deeper understanding of her own continent and country.
« previous | | next »
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
So nice to hear from you again. Good luck to Mozart and her dreams. Yak is impressed that she is now in college. He is working harder on his schoolwork now! Will be waiting to hear about all your new adventures.
Posted by: Robyn D | November 15, 2015 at 03:58 PM
Thanks so much Robyn!! It's been quite an intense time lately, so the blog is slower than usual. I've got much to say, but no spare time to get it down right now.
Glad Mozart in college early has inspired Yak!! She is working hard and getting A's so far. We like the freedom, but it is also a challenge for her to "ride two horses" ( music/acting career and college).
Posted by: Jeanne @soultravelers3 | November 23, 2015 at 11:23 PM
Love to hear about your adventures, and it's awesome that you three are now out west!
I moved to and then back home from a Pacific island years ago with just a carry on, two kids, and two checked boxes filled with kids' things, clothes, and a few small treasures that I still use (rice bowls, a gorgeous hat box, small basket). Sometimes it's best to bring your special things along, even if it means renting a U-Haul (wow, you didn't fill it all yet it's actually small...our current stuff would fill four or five of those lol...I surely need to declutter!). What a great adventure you had with the road trip from TX to CA (in spite of the crowed legs). :)
Thanks so much for posting. Happy Thanksgiving!
Posted by: Teresa | November 26, 2015 at 07:54 PM
Your blog is so informative.Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: nickhunter | August 27, 2017 at 11:29 PM