Pre-Trip Preparation Checklist

Pre-trip Checklist:

Preparing for a 8-10 day trip across the US to move your family to a new home can be overwhelming. However, we were able to get through it with relative ease and grace. Just follow our simple 6-step process below and it'll be a snap.

1) Pack all your belongings into a big truck being careful not to damage any friends' fingers or toes with heavy objects like pianos, riding lawn mowers or Super Love Sacs. Don't pack the pressure washer you borrowed from your friend in the moving trailer. Remember to take the last load of laundry out of the dryer to put in the moving trailer. Just trust me on the last two.

2) Have going away parties 3 nights in a row thoroughly allowing you to be an emotional wreck when it comes time to pull out of the driveway.

3) Pack only 1 suitcase of clothes for your family of 4. Only 1. This is code for 1 suitcase, 2 backpacks, 2 kid backpacks, 4 jackets, 8 pairs of shoes, 1 grocery bag of snacks, 2 acoustic guitars, 1 box of kids books and toys, 1 ramp to help the old dog get in the car, and a duffel bag of random clothes you forgot to take out of the dryer.

4) Don't get gas at Costco on a Sunday around 12:30pm.  Or hotdogs. Again, trust me on this one. But, if time isn't of the essence for you, then by all means Costco away.

5) Visit your old house one more time to mark everyone's heights on the wall, grab the Lightning McQueen potty seat from the bathroom and throw away the leftover pizza from the fridge.

6) Graffiti your favorite neighbor's front steps in chalk drawings one last time.

That's it! All that's left is for you to point your car away from everything and everyone you've known and loved for the past 10+ years and play the music so loudly in the car that your kids will hardly hear you sobbing in the front seat. If they ask, tell them it's your favorite song.