This has been a likely prospect for some time now for both career and family reasons and will finally become a reality in the next few months. My wife and I were always of the mindset that we were never going to retire in the South Florida area for a variety of reasons and things have fallen into place and materialized over the past few months that have made this a reality sooner rather than later for us and our two daughters. Given my personal experiences over time, I am certain that God has a very profound way of managing and shaping our desires and destinies while still allowing us to make the choices along the way and this has certainly been one of those occasions.

The area we are moving to is noticeably more conservative (Polk County) than the Broward County we will be leaving so from that aspect it will also be a welcome change of pace and lifestyle, although I must say that there are at least some indications that South Florida is seeing a mild resurgence in more conservative support and sentiment in certain circles. We are planning to stay in Florida for the rest of our lives so we are looking forward to continuing the conservative fight for our individual rights regardless of where we might live here. Having lived in Central Florida for three years in the past (and my wife actually longer than that) due to having attended the university there, we are already somewhat familiar with Central Florida so it will be a welcome and familiar return.

Since we will be moving to a newly constructed home we are having built only about 200 miles away we have some flexibility, but also some concerns about using movers to move our personal items, not just for general breakage, care, and service concerns, but also capability, security, and discretion in moving items like a safe, firearms, ammunition, garage tools and equipment, and other personal effects. We would be doing our own packing and some of our things are already packed in boxes, but I am a bit concerned about moving people seeing / knowing what we have and where we are moving it to when it comes to items you can't just easily pack in unmarked boxes or the broadcasting of what you have in other boxes marked by manufacturers and just visibly evident equipment and such, let alone a medium sized safe. We are considering a wide variety of options from using full service movers to even PODS but have pretty much ruled out a "U-haul move" as while we can certainly get some substantial help down here, our help to unpack and move things where we are moving to will be much more limited aside from maybe one of my family members from down here going up there to help. While my wife, daughters, and I can handle some of our smaller items and even take some things in our personal vehicles, I am not looking to hurt myself in the process of the move for ongoing physical reasons and would prefer to have others doing the heavy lifting. My family and I would appreciate any insights and guidance those of you that have moved long distances with similar items may be able to offer from all aspects of the move including packing tips, the use of movers and related services, things to look out for or consider, and what your experiences have been. Just to be a bit more specific, we are moving a 3 bedroom home amount of furniture and items, plus garage items and the other items mentioned.

Knowing the wide variety of folks that are members here, really looking forward to any and all feedback you can offer since while we are all happy and excited about the move, it is also going to be a bit stressful in completing the relocation and settling in process.

No advice, but Sheriff Grady is head and shoulders above anything in SFL

One of my nephews operated his own moving business for 20+ years. This is what I learned from him:
Take your time and pack all of the fragile or expensive items yourself. He has had his own trucks, but now days, he rents Penske trucks from Home Depot, photographs that truck from all angles, tires included and the dash for the odometer and fuel gauge reading before and after. Before he returns the truck he refuels it as close as possible to the drop off point and attach a copy of your fuel receipt. There will be no surprise mileage, fuel damage claims if you take the time to document all that.
You can rent furniture pads, an appliance dolly and buy a couple of rolls of stretch wrap then use 4 wheel dolly to move the goods out to the truck.
For muscle for loading the truck, there might be a few strong young men where you go to church who would be willing to load the truck for you.
Load the fridge and heavy stuff in the nose of the truck and one the first level. Use common sense and pad everything.
Some movers will quote you a price then hold your goods for ransom. This eliminates that BS.
If you like, you can hire a local moving company to load your truck and anther one to unload it for you, but you need to be in control of the truck.
Hope that helps you.

The week of July 04 2019, my parents shut the house down in Columbus OH and relocated permanently to the Leesburg area of Florida.

We had lived in that house since August of 1988. I remember that Saturday because OSU was playing Michigan State.

My parents sold about everything and left all the major appliances. They took most of his tools, ammo,fishing gear, firearms and other high priced valuables in the Ford 150 and everything else went into a pod.

My dad did leave the gun safe and just bought a new one when he got to Florida.

I imagine a few guys from the local church or college. Heck give me a shout and I will help you move. I am going to be making a trip down to see my parents who live near Leesburg, along with my sister who lives near St. Pete about once a month for the next three or four months.

Welcome to Polk county. From what I just heard we are now a Second Amendment sanctuary County.
My wife and I moved here 20 years ago when there was nothing around. Depending on where you move to be prepared for a lot of traffic if you are in the four corners area or on I4.

When we moved from New Jersey we hired a moving company. We packed all our own boxes. The moving company loaded them on the truck then unloaded them into our new house. Anything of value we packed and removed from our house before the movers arrived. My father had a motor home with a trailer so we were able to tow one car and drive another. We also put anything of value in the motor home for the trip down.

The mover had a good system to keep track of what they loaded using numbed stickers. He inventoried as it went on then checked it off as they took it off. We did have stickers and a stamp made up with our new address and put them or stamped every box. We wanted to make sure our stuff did not get mixed up with the other peoples stuff on the truck he was also delivering after our stop.

When we packed my wife used thing like our bath towels and other softer clothing as packing material. It save us from having to buy a lot of packing material. We also packed non fragile things inside of things when we were able to to save space in the moving boxes.

We also gave away a lot of stuff we did not want to move. We donated stuff to our local ASPCA that had a thrift store. With that said we still moved stuff that when we unpacked it I said "Why did we move this".

I wish you the best of luck with your move and welcome to Polk County.

Movers, move expensive things all of the time. Poor people don't hire movers. That being said, I would move the firearms and ammunition and jewelry myself, they're easy to move, lightweight (except the ammo) etc.

The safe, unless you have a high end safe, it too might be best to buy a new one there and have it professionally installed. Sell the old one or leave it with the current house. If you have the movers, move the safe, just fill it with file folders and tell them you have to keep documents fire proof for your work.

My now/deceased neighbor had the contact to move NATO headquarters from Paris to Brussels when DeGaul threw it out.

He used a technique whereby he put all of the heavy things (safes, filing cabinets, appliances etc. on their own individual dollies, removing them when they arrived and were in place.

It was an unique and brilliant approach. It was not expensive for the rent on the the dollies and the labor savings was profound!

For the safe, appliances and other heavy items, could be a good idea.

My wife and I, both in our 60's, sold the farm and moved from PA to Texas. We hired a full service mover. We boxed and labeled up everything box-able, monitored and supervised the load and the unload, and were very happy with how that part went. Then we put the guns and the valuables and suitcases in the car and took a leisure three day drive without having to worry about a trailer. Nothing got broken or damaged that we could tell. They had to disassemble our hard-wood desks and some other furniture to get through the door. They bagged and labeled screws and re-assembled everything where we told them we wanted it.

What I didn't like;
1) very expensive 5k-6k,

2)It took three weeks to get our stuff because they waited until they had enough to fill a whole trailer. Our stuff was only about a half of it.

They ended up paying us over 1000 dollars back in late fees, so much per day per contract, but I guess it was worth it to them to wait until they had a full trailer.

3) Our stuff was way over handled. The trailer that delivered was not the trailer that was loaded. Nor was it the same crew. Our trailer went from PA to TN and was unloaded. It was then put on another truck that went to NC. There it went to Dallas and was unloaded again in Dallas before put on a final load to south Texas. They unloaded the one in San Antonio and then headed further south to us.

I was shocked to hear all that. I expected the worst and wondered if I would ever see my stuff again.
We were totally surprised that nothing was missing or broken. We were angry that we lived on the floor for three weeks waiting for our stuff.

All the guys were great, They moved everything in and set it exactly where we pointed. Now that I know how it works, I would do it again but not be so anxious.

I just completed a move earlier this month. No exaggeration, it was one of the most painful and stressful experiences for me in at least the past ten years. Most of it was my fault though, b/c I greatly underestimated the time, complexities, complications, and costs for my move.

If you've lived in one place for a long time, then it's natural to accummulate a lot of stuff. Moving forces you to evaluate what's worth moving w/ you. I'm not suggesting 'Kondo your life' to minimalism, but you do have to go through everything in you own and decide whether to keep/sell/donate.

'Buy ammo cheap; stack it deep,' sounds good until you have to move it. That 2.5 cents/rd you saved doesn't look like such a great deal anymore when you're forking out cash and busting your ass to move a pallet of ammo.

I spent a little over two weeks leading up to my move selling and giving away stuff. I sold a lot, and it helped defray moving expenses, but I should have spent at least two months. I would have sold a lot more stuff, and I would have been able to sell it at higher prices, b/c I wasn't in fire-sale mode. Craigslist and OfferUp worked well for me, but success and user traffic w/ them will vary widely depending on your area.

Nextdoor is a good app/website for obtaining used moving boxes. No need to buy them when other ppl who just moved in are willing to give them away for free. It's also good for finding reasonably-priced labor on short notice (e.g., HS or college kids to do lifting).

Safes qualify as specialty items like pianos and glass cabinets that require movers who really know what they're doing. It will cost a pretty penny too. I agree w/ others to thoroughly evaluate if it's worth moving. To a slightly lesser extent, the same goes for large appliances such as: fridge, W/D, etc.

Books & paper add up quickly. If you aren't already in the habit of doing so, go through the stuff you decide keep, sell, or recycle. This is a fault for me, as when I move, I end up not having time to sort through all my books and documents, and therefore end up having to move stuff I shouldn't.

If you've lived at your house for decades, really think about starting the sorting/selling/packing process 4-6 months before moving D-Day... maybe even more depending on how much stuff you have. Some people who have lots of good stuff will hire estate sale companies to sell their stuff.

Hire a local moving crew to load the truck for you, you pack everything and label it first

Drive to your new Home and hire a local crew there to do all the unloading and carry in work

Like here men and a truck, etc

Thank you all for the replies, insights, and advice, and even the offer to help. I knew this was the right place to ask.

One of the things I was already considering was leaving the safe here for one of my family members and having a new one installed up there prior to moving our stuff over so at this point I am fairly certain that is what I will do. Given what our resident safe experts have mentioned in the past as well, I will be looking around to purchase a good quality safe with decent fire protection and an EMP lock but not going to spend ridiculous money on one either given our needs, requirements, and the diminishing returns.

Due to our fortunate circumstances and some very thoughtful and caring family members, we already sold our home and are living in a temporary property here until we can relocate so no need to worry about moving appliances and such. That's why a good amount of our stuff is still packed in boxes except what we absolutely use for daily use. We did a lot of parring down when we sold our house and there are a few items here still that we are likely going to either donate or possibly put out for bulk trash as well if nobody ends up wanting them when we move. The only downside is that our current accommodations look a bit more like a warehouse than a nicely organized home but certainly not complaining!

I am now rethinking the truck rental approach and possibly hiring the help to pack the truck here and then hiring some folks to unpack there. Again, I have people that could potentially help me here as a favor, but I don't mind paying for experienced moving helpers so that we don't have any concerns with friends and family getting injured or things getting accidentally damaged. The other consideration is getting a local mover willing to load up the boxes, furniture, and most of the other stuff in a moving truck and taking it up for us and then renting a van to move up the other items that won't fit in our personal cars. It's not even a matter of having a huge number of awkward, smaller, important, and expensive things to move, it's that we are trying to reserve our personal vehicles for a combination of electronics and the other items I mentioned that we don't want to trust to movers while keeping in mind weight limits as well as space limits for all the items involved (we have two Foresters and our older daughter's Impreza sedan). It can be quite the Tetris challenge figuring out how to get the most efficient use of the available interior space of our vehicles and we also have our little Yorkie to contend with as well. This isn't exactly like moving into an apartment when going to college where you essentially only needed help moving a bed, a desk, a bookshelf, and maybe a couch for some beer and pizza.

The other benefit we do have is that we will have the flexibility that we don't have to necessarily take all of the other miscellaneous stuff all at once since we are going to be coming back to visit family and friends from time to time, especially if I am leaving the safe here. So I may leave some things here until a future visit a couple of weeks after our initial move and getting everything else there settled. I could then rent the small moving van at that time and drive the rest of the stuff up while having my wife drive our car back up behind me.

I think putting this down in writing is helping me get a better handle on all this instead of just trying to visualize everything in your head. Hmmm...like Hannibal from the A-Team...I'm thinking a solid plan is starting to come together but keep the suggestions and comments coming.

On another note, as for the traffic in the Polk County / I-4 area, our new home site was purposely chosen (another very fortunate and timely opportunity that presented itself...thank you God!) in Southern Polk County. I will be a short drive from where I will be working while still being in a nice, quiet neighborhood and it will all be via backroads not requiring the use of I-4 or even the Polk Parkway in any way for commuting purposes. Having been born and raised in South Florida and having experienced some Orlando traffic when going to college there (and recent visits), I am no stranger to what heavy traffic looks like and have even been on and seen what I-4 can turn into as well, but all things considered the traffic up there that we will be most frequently in will be the lighter traffic of less traveled roads while still being close to everything that is important to us and that we need, and having good access to those highways as needed.

And yes, have heard great things about Sheriff Grady and the area in general as far as the conservative nature of things go. It is quite apparent from the vibe you get when up in that area that things are fundamentally different in the community at large, especially with what you see and how the interactions with people generally are there as well.

Again, we are very much looking forward to it and to the next chapter of our lives!

We spend months ahead of time collecting and carefully packing boxes ourselves.

All my gun stuff was labeled "Dog Supplies", since we only have cats and no dogs, we both knew what that stuff was.

We did 2 smaller, manageable trips in Budget Rental trucks ourselves.

‘200 miles & you already own a house on the other end’?

I would start doing some trips, packed with your own truck & trailer or rent a Uhaul. Of course scope out friends, family or hired hands with the heavy stuff.

Leave the safe and get a new one when you get there. Wish I had done that.

Move the guns and ammo yourself. Rent a truck or van and drive it, if you have to.

South Polk County is nice, you will enjoy living there. Good luck with your move.

We’ve gone through several long distance moves during our lifetime, all but the last was for work.

Moving sucks. Other than a death it is at the top of the stress pile.

My employer paid for most of our moves. We paid for the last one.

My hard earned moving suggestions:

1. Make sure the contract states the delivery date, add penalties for lateness. If possible mandate that your load stays on that truck and you get the same driver on both ends. This is usually the truck owner. F it is long disctance they will probably use local crews.


2. If you can demand that you are the only load on the truck.

3. Have the movers to pack the fragile stuff, move it and unpack it. That way they are on the hook if anything is broken.

4. Take lots of pictures, stay with the packers/movers on both ends of the move. Pay attention and stay on top of the inventory stickers.

5. Grease the skids. Fill a cooler on both ends of the move with cold drinks and snacks for the crew. Provide meals if possible. This will go a long way for an easier move.

Best wishes on your move. I’m grateful that we are done moving. In the unlikely event that we do move again we will be selling everything, not moving it.

Don’t know how connected you are with your local church. If you are long time members in the town you are leaving, you might get a volunteer group together to help you pack a rental truck. Might cost soda and pizza for the help. The youth group there might provide the muscle.

On the new end, if you have found a new church, they might do the same. It would be a good way to meet some of the members in an informal setting, building new friendships.

I would still be discreet in packing, for the obvious reasons.

If you do rent a truck, be specific of what you want. I tried renting a larger box truck to move my mother a few years back. Knew what I wanted, they said “fine”. I then flew from PA to FLA and took a taxi from the airport to the truck rental place. Signed papers to pick up the truck and drive it to Mom’s place. They pulled up with a smaller truck and TRAILER. “That’s not what I rented!” “That’s what we got”. I wasn’t exactly pleased. Drove truck from Fla. to Cincinnati to PA. It worked, but wasn’t quite the plan. Was able to drop the trailer at a rental place in Cincinnati.

I used a moving company to move from communist Washington to lovely Arizona.
Guns and jewelry were packed in the cars. Anything with significant value and sentimental value was packed in the cars.
Everything else I had already boxed up.
Electronics were labeled “self help books”. The box that has over $10k in dress shoes was labeled "old sheets and blankets (rags)”.

I had no issues to speak of.

I moved myself over 1700 miles from Texas to here, it was difficult but this is what I worked with:

-went from 2200 square feet to 1700 square feet so I had to get rid of stuff
-rented Penske 26' truck with trailer towing CUV
-flew friend in to help pack, bribed one of my Soldiers with alcohol to help
-I packed the majority of the home prior to their arrival, they helped with the big stuff
-had to leave some stuff behind
-left El Paso at 11pm on Wednesday and arrived in Orlando at 8pm on Friday, I drove the entire way even though the friend was with me, no way he was going to drive a 26' truck towing a vehicle
-did not stay at a hotel, slept in the truck at rest stops and ate while I drove
-hired a local mover here to unload as friend caught flight from Orlando back home the morning after we arrived
-it was Sunday and I believe he charged $80/hour to unload, it was him and his brother in law, they brought their hand trucks, might be less if it wasn't Sunday
-ended up throwing out a lot of stuff or giving it away to Goodwill, I did not prep as well as I should have

I'm sure we can round up enough members in central FL to help unload.

I think UHaul offers a service that provides local crews to load/unload.

Edit: found it. Link

Best wishes to you.