International Moving companies

[GoochMan]

I'm relocating from CA to Hawaii...a major life and career change, to be sure...but first I have to be able to make the damn move.

I've already had a bad experience with one moving company, which was of my own making--did some research but not enough. Thank God I dumped them before they got a hold of my possessions, but now I'm in a pinch.

I'm supposed to be out of my place by Thursday, but alone I sit in a boxed-up apartment with no one to move and ship my stuff...and since the moving industry considers Hawaii an 'international' move (I guess it's because of that 2800 or so miles of Pacific Ocean between Cali and the Islands), my choices are more limited than the tried-and-true method of cramming it all in a U-Haul truck and motoring across the contiguous 48.

Anyone have any experience with moving companies-good and bad-that they could share?

 

[User 1019]

I think a good portion of the folks who move to or from Hawaii sell all their stuff and buy new stuff when they get there.

 

[imjustagirl]

I think a good portion of the folks who move to or from Hawaii sell all their stuff and buy new stuff when they get there.

+1.

 

[GoochMan]

Agreed...and we've culled about 50 percent of our stuff. But the other 50 percent is stuff we really want and/or need to bring with us.
For instance, ain't no way I'm leaving behind our $3K Select Comfort King Size bed. We only have three pieces of furniture and some boxes, but it's stuff we need.

 

[JR]

Gooch, it's Monday and you have to be out of your place on Thursday. Not much time to find a mover. You probably want to find a well known national moving company but they may consider it an expedited move (given the short notice) and charge you a premium. Good luck (and I don't mean that sarcastically)

 

[TrooperBari]

I think a good portion of the folks who move to or from Hawaii sell all their stuff and buy new stuff when they get there.

YES. Sell, sell, sell. All that extra cash will come in handy when you're trying to adapt to island prices. Make sure to look around if there are garage sales by people moving out of the islands. I'm sure they'd be happy to foist their stuff on you once you're kama'aina, and for a reasonable price.

I made a similar move not too long ago. Now that you've culled 50 percent of your stuff, GM, you need to take the 50 percent of the stuff you kept and further divide into stuff that absolutely, positively has to go with you now and stuff you can either entrust friends to send or leave in storage and come back to collect. Odds are you don't need nearly as much stuff as you think.

If all else fails with your boxes, you could always mail them ahead of you (assuming you have a job in Hawaii or somewhere else to send them).