Cheapest Move ?

[Scott Hinckley]

At 02:16 PM 4/22/2004, Cat wrote:
> >What is the cheapest way to move cross country?

Cat,

I've done it twice, once the cheap way and once the expensive. If I did it 
again I'd try for the cheap.

Cheap Method:

It is time for a change in your life, a new beginning as it were. Free 
yourself of all old baggage. Get rid of anything and everything that does 
NOT meet both of the following criteria:
A) Used as part of your daily life
B) Expensive or difficult to replace

Ship only the clothes that fit you and your new life, they are light and 
inexpensive to ship.

If you have a few memory items you just can't let go of, ship those boxes 
ground freight by the cheapest method (UPS, FEDEx, USPS, whatever), who 
cares if it takes 3 weeks for them to get there.

If you have a car you don't wat to get rid of first:
What is left will hopefully fit in the trunk of your car. (You don't want 
objects in the visible part of the car to encourage people to break in).

Now, hopefully you have allowed a good bit of time to cross the country (2 
weeks at least) as there is a lot of beautiful inexpensive scenery and 
National Parks. Go to your nearest AAA office and get their maps for your 
route. Stay off the interstates (they go through the most boring areas) and 
look for state highways marked with black dots on the AAA map, those are 
the breathtakingly scenic routes.

Stay at camp grounds or National Park campsites. For the parks you probably 
need to reserve in advance, but don't tie too much of your trip to a hard 
schedule. There will be places that captivate you and keep you an extra day 
or two. For the campgrounds or motels you can look at your maps at noon and 
decide where you will end up that night. Then call ahead to reserve, don't 
use national hotlines, call direct and ask for their lowest price.

This is an amazing country to drive across, I have driven it 3 times now, 
seen the majority of the National parks, and been in 47 of the 50 states. 
(who goes to Rhode Island anyway?)

Scott