Moving is stressful and tough for everyone involved. The whole family goes through it and feels its impact on both daily and long term life and living conditions. It is a tough process to handle especially if you are in a military family. Military families move often and it can take its toll. There are certain challenges every military family faces in these situations. From the constant need to prepare and execute the move every couple of years to the need to adapt to new surroundings and people.
Military relocation
Relocation is tough and it is even tougher on military personnel and their families. First, you have to risk your life keeping your country safe and in addition, you have to worry about your family and satisfy their needs. As this is not enough, as military personnel you are faced with frequent relocation. Military families usually have to move every two or three years. This can take its toll on a family and it takes some getting used to. This can be a big problem as you are usually forced to take care and deal with the behind the scenes moving issues while you are deployed.
That said, military moves are full of issues and challenges that you have to take care of. In that respect, there is a whole list of advice and instructions that are prepared to help with the process. They are aimed at solving those issues and making the challenges manageable. One of the ways of handling these issues is to get assistance from Big Man’s Moving Company or some other specialized moving company. They can handle your move while you take care of other family challenges connected to the move.
The challenges
The challenge of an ordinary move applies here. Everything that can cause you sleepless nights and stress you out about the move is present in the military move. In addition, there are at least two additional challenges every military family faces that you have to tackle:
- Taking care of the family
- Dealing with kids and their needs
Taking care of the family
This is one of the challenges that take moving as a soldier to a whole new level of difficulty. A soldier has to take care of an enormous amount of things to get everyone relocated. from getting everyone’s paperwork in order to find the right schools and jobs for every family member. This requires a considerable focus on the family and issues at hand.
Taking care of the kids
Kids can take the move pretty hard. It is always going to cause additional stress and anxiety with the kids. It changes their lives and fundamentally changes their world and the microcosm they are comfortable with. You should always take special care of the kids in these situations. Make sure they are both physically and emotionally healthy. Provide support and help them deal with the situation at hand.
How to handle military moving challenges
As with every other move that is stressful and complex you can also get a handle on your military move. Your challenges do not have to be too big and you can certainly handle them. The key is to take time and prepare well in advance if possible. Good preparation will help you get a hold of things before they become problems. Efficient prep will help you move stress-free and if you do it often enough you will be able to do it DIY.
So, how to handle your military relocation? Here are a few steps you must consider and take:
- Organize your move
- Downsize
- Find professional help
- Organize packing
- Organize storage
Organize
The key to an efficient and successful move especially a military one is a good organization. Research additional advice about the organization but be sure that there are two key points about it.
Start your prep on time. It is better to plan in advance to avoid making mistakes than dealing with problems during the move. So try to foresee all possible issues before they arise and plan how to handle them.
Talk to professional movers or friends that have experience. This will help you circumvent any problems and challenges that may arise.
Downsize
Make sure to downsize and declutter to make your packing faster and easier. Don’t waste money and time on packing items you don’t need. We all tend to accumulate a lot of stuff over time. These items become a burden when moving so its a good idea to declutter before moving. Make sure to give away, donate, or sell everything you haven’t used for more than a year. This will save you money and time and it can also get you extra cash to finance your move.
Find professionals
Professional and competent movers are a necessity. Military moves can happen every 2 or 3 years so you may get a handle on it yourself. However, professional help and advice will make things easy and help you move stress-free. So, finding and hiring movers that are specialists for this is critical.
Pack
Packing is important. You want to protect your household and personal items for your move. If you are moving long-distance it is important to protect your items for the long haul. So, prepare your packing materials and read up on advice for packing online. Also, try to save money by reusing your old packing supplies or by recycling boxes. If you are uncertain or do not want to do it, hire professional packers to handle the job safely.
Store
Putting your belongings in storage may be necessary when moving. Military moves are often international so it is not practical to move everything you own. Sometimes it is not even possible. This is when storage comes into play. Luckily, self-storage solutions are ready to accept and keep your belongings even long term. Be sure to research storage solutions, storage insurance and to pack and protect your belongings well.
So, there are some special challenges every military family faces when moving but they are manageable. Be sure to prepare, find the help that you might need, and take your time. If you do it often enough you will become an expert. It does become easier with time and experience.