We have recently been down the journey to relocate. From a quiet life on the outskirts of Warkworth and rural living to a move to town living 818 km away and on another island- the sunny South Island town of Blenheim. Mainstream thought tells me that this is one of life’s most stress inducing experiences. Just Google “moving” and see how it is perceived to be one of life’s greatest stress inducing events. So as I reflect on the experience, which is now firmly wedged into the thought processes of my mind, I wonder what evidence there is of this stress from our big move?
Of course we had to find a house and have a buyer for our property, but it seems that was the easy part. During that period nothing had to change. We were just in a holding pattern, a state of waiting, not unlike beginning a holiday and the wait time at the airport. In the end, the stress came up the scale, and yes- even for a practiced relaxer like myself, stress was at a maximum in the days after we had sold but before we have arrived. If I had to identify the moment when I first realised that stress was winning it would have been in the growing arguments between all of us on what can be moved, thrown away, given away or recycled before the movers came.
Buying and selling at the same time means two sets of deals where things could go wrong. Two sets of worry from two sets of solicitors about any issues that might arise which could derail the whole process. Constantly thinking that we mustn’t get too attached to the place we wanted to buy in case it all falls through. But then again, we didn’t want to buy just any old place, we wanted to love the place we bought. After all, it’s not often we make that size of purchase. We saw our new house for 15 minutes as part of a whirlwind 3 day tour of 16 properties over the whole of our new town. It is funny to think that even on the day we took possession, we had no idea where the laundry was. We had only seen the house once in person. I’ve spent longer deliberating over bedsheets or kitchen dishes.
When the agreements went unconditional the tension then began to spread like wildfire through our family. The list went from- sell house and buy house- to nine pages of lists of tasks that needed to be done before, up to and including moving day and the two weeks after that. We are still in the final throws of this big life challenge but with conviction I can say that we are winning over chaos, tape, and boxes.
For the most part, we rallied together as a family and set out on a great adventure to our new abode. Today the sun is shining, the sky crisp and bright and we have done exactly as we set out to do. We have a house we love, a location as close to town as we have ever been and the lifestyle we were focussed on when we set the plan in motion 10 months ago. Yes, it has been stressful in small peaks but overall, this move has been pretty smooth sailing. If you are moving, just remember to give yourself enough time to sort your affairs and keep in mind that time continues to pass making your experience a memory before long.
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