What to Do While You Wait for Your Moving Truck

Before we wrote about why when relocating hired moving trucks usually arrive later than we do at our new homes. This is a follow-up to give you some ideas on what to do while you wait for the moving truck to finally arrive. The further away you've moved, the longer you may be waiting. It can take anywhere from just an hour extra to an entire day. Make sure you know the estimate time of arrival beforehand, so you aren't completely surprised when they show up.

1. Keep Calm

If you read a lot of moving reviews by people, you'll notice a common complaint is the moving truck hasn't arrived when they expected. These people drive themselves crazy by calling the moving company one million times, fretting that their stuff is now being sold at a thrift shop and all sorts of anxiety-inducing activities. None of these things actually help, unless you are looking to raise your blood pressure.

While it is understandable to be freaked out that all of your stuff is in the hands of strangers, freaking out does not make your stuff arrive any faster. You've already expended a lot of energy starting this move, so give your blood pressure and general anxiety levels a break by keeping as calm as possible. Worrying doesn't do anything, it only makes you seem like you are doing something. Take some deep breaths, smell the flowers or whatever to try to make yourself feel better. Preferably plan ahead to have some extra time when you arrive, so that you can make good use of this valuable time.

2. Make Sure All the Utilities are On 

One of the most basic things you can do is make sure all the utilities you planned to have up are on. Sometimes in the mix of a move, utility companies will mess up dates or time to turn stuff back on, and on other occasions we may completely forget to call the utility companies. Go turn on the water, light, a/c, internet or whatever else should be up and running. If something isn't running, you now have time (if not energy) to call utility companies now.

3. Clean 

You are not supposed to pack cleaning supplies in a moving truck, so you should have your cleaning supplies with you. If you aren't lucky enough to be move into a brand new home (most of us aren't), consider giving the house a good move-in scrub. I know people who are move out are supposed to clean up after themselves, but as a neat freak I personally  like to give everything a brief scrub (especially bathrooms).

Unpack your supplies and start scrubbing away. I even like to bleach bathrooms to get rid of some of the nasty grime that can build up with inattentive residents. Make your home to the level of clean you want it to be as part of the move in process.

4. Send Out a Scout 

You will want to leave at least somebody to wait for the moving truck to arrive. If you have a partner, teenagers or whoever can drive send them out on a scouting mission. Find the local grocery stores, schools, hardware stores, pizza shops or whatever other places you will need to learn the locations of. This will also give you a chance to gain your bearings around your new location.

Make sure not to get too adventurous with your exploring. The thing about gaining your bearings is that you should plan a little time to be lost. Even though Google maps says the store is only 20 minutes away, it doesn't account for the 30 minutes you may spend correcting a couple wrong turns.

5. Unpack the Stuff in Your Personal Vehicle or That You Have with You 

Plan ahead to have items with you that you can unpack while you wait for the truck. Doing this means you can begin the long journey ahead of unpacking all of your stuff into your new home. These small items may just seem like a tiny fraction of the entire move, but it is a tiny of a fraction of things you won't have to deal with when the rest of your items arrive.

6. Plan Where Stuff is Going to Go 

Now is a good time to discuss where you actually want some of your stuff to go. While you shouldn't set your head and heart on too specific of arrangements, it is a good use of time to get a general idea of where some furniture and other items should go. You can even get out a piece of paper to sketch out different ideas for each room.

Deciding where furniture goes before the movers arrives gives you a chance to tell them exactly where to put things. This means less moving around of heavy items that you will need to do later.