Okay.
I have news.
It appears that the larger forces of the universe are shifting favorably in my direction.
My friend Rebekah, who recently moved to San Francisco, has a friend-of-a-friend who lives in Oakland who is leaving the country in the middle of May for four weeks and needs someone to house/dogsit while she's away. She just called me this evening.
She sounds overjoyed to have me. She's going to let me stay at her house AND watch her dog AND she's going to pay me and ohmygod.
I'm doing it. Everyone, I'm moving to San Francisco.
Here's the tentative plan: I have Honors Convocation/graduation on May 10th and 11th (which is a Saturday and Sunday, respectively). Since my lease ends May 1st, I will have to be moved out of Schuylkill House (my current home in Maryland) by then. My parents are going to hold onto my books until I find a permanent apartment, so they'll take them to PA with them. I will stay in DC, probably with my grandparents or any other willing DC resident (I'd prefer someone actually in the city - it'll be easy to get to work and whatnot, and I'll also be able to see people before I go). I will go to my graduation ceremonies the weekend of the 10th. Then, on the 12th, I'll drive back to Allentown, say my final goodbyes to my family and friends who are still in Allentown (there are, like, two of them) and then... hit the road.
I'm going to do it in a sort of roundabout fashion, I think. I want to make my way up to Minnesota and Wisconsin to see my grandmother/mom's side of the family, since I haven't seen them in over five years. Then I want to go sort of diagonally so I can see Colorado and maybe part of Arizona before going back up to San Francisco. But this is all, y'know, tentative. This is me staring at a map of the US on my computer screen and thinking about all the things I want to see.
Anyway, this is where all of you come in. I need to hear from the following people:
1.) IF YOU LIVE IN THE BAY AREA - I need advice. I need to know good places to look for housing. I need people who are familiar with the area. If you're in the area and you don't mind being my Bay Area go-to people, comment. Make sure to let me know the general area where you live. (Oakland? San Jose? In the city itself?)
2.) IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE ELSE BETWEEN ALLENTOWN, PA AND SAN FRANCISCO, CA. I don't want to stay at hotels on the way to California, partially because they cost money and partially because I hate hate hate being alone in hotel rooms. So if you live anywhere between the two coasts and you wouldn't mind giving me your couch/shower for a night (even if you don't think you fall along the previously aforementioned route - that route might change), please comment with where you live (just the city/state is fine). You can also email me at carmen dot machado at gmail dot com if you don't want to leave a comment.
3.) IF YOU LIVE IN WASHINGTON, DC and you wouldn't mind letting me and my stuff crash at your place between May 1st and May 11th, please let me know.
4.) IF YOU WANT TO SEE ME BEFORE I LEAVE. That is, it's a given that I'm going to see all of my DC people before I go, but if you've scattered to the wind for some reason and you want to say goodbye, please please please let me know.
5.) IF YOU HAVE MOVED CROSS COUNTRY BEFORE and you have advice (i.e. how do you move roughly 1,000 books in the cheapest way possible?), please comment.
6.) IF YOU HAVE GENERAL ADVICE OR FEEDBACK, comment away. :)
In terms of my stuff, this is what I'm doing: I'm selling all of my furniture except my bed frame, which can be disassembled and fit into a relatively small space. The rule is this: if it doesn't fit in my car, I cannot take it. Period. The exception to this rule is my books. I'm going to leave them with my parents and they are going to mail them to me when I find an apartment.
I've been going through my possessions and throwing out things and sending things to Goodwill. I am not allowed to take what doesn't fit into Beatrice. Not allowed.
(And no, I can't pull a trailer - Beatrice is too small to haul anything.)
I'm going out west.
Ohmygosh.
It's happening. It's happening it's happening it's happening.
- Location:schuylkill house - my room
- Mood:
tired - Music:the ditty bops - fish to fry
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Comments
Things to consider with the books: they will be very expensive if you pay to ship them. It might be worth trying to ship by train or mail them to yourself book rate. But more likely, and yes, this is a pain in the behind, the best thing to do is to sell them off, or trade so that you reduce volume. So take some of the books you don't expect to read again, and trade five or six of them for the book you've been wanting for months. Do that for 300-500 books and it'll help. Since you know this may be a short term thing, storage might make some sense too.
If you're going to drive cross country, it is ideal to have a partner and do about 4 hours at a time, max. Some people will try to drive 6-8 hours and switch (in the hopes of managing a 12+ hour day). That tends to get dangerous, increase headaches and make the whole thing more unpleasant. If you have to bribe a friend with a plane ticket back, do so.
We want to see you before you leave - does your visiting here count as that or is it possible to sneak two visits in (with us coming down to see you one of those)? We can possibly do this on the 12th when you're around the area?
I'd like to help you pack - I have this uncanny knack for fitting a large amount of things into very small spaces. You could get more in Bea that way. I could come down so I could do that.
You can have as many visits as you'd like! And if you want to help me pack - that would actually be fantastic, as I'm an awful packer. You'd be more than welcome to come and stay and help. :)
This is so exciting!
My advice on moving cross country is paraphrased from my brother (who moved 1,200 miles in a two-door Subaru sportscar) and my foster sister (who moved 2,300 miles in a sedan with a cat and two rabbits): Take only what fits in your car and use a POD service for books/bikes/furniture/anything you can't fit in the car but can't trash/donate/abandon anyway.
General feedback? Yay you! I'm moving to Los Angeles at the end of the summer, so I may visit YOU in the Bay Area on the way down if you're settled by then. Good luck, drive safe, don't get arrested along the way, keep posting updates!
2. My grandparents are in Allentown ;).
3. I'm in Ohio and would love to see you if you wander by. Sadly I can't offer accommodations because I have no authority in my domicile.
4. Best of luck!
I guess I would say... Try to make the most of your daylight? Start as early as you can. I always try to stop to refuel whenever my tank is half-empty, since you never know when your next opportunity will be... One time I passed up a refill at the halfway point and had to keep going until I was down to a sliver!! And of course, take a rest whenever you need it and don't push yourself. How much you can drive in a day is up to you... After I took care of my sleep apnea, I was able to do 8-12 hours a day without getting tired, but maybe it was because I'd done it so much already? Highway signs marking rest stops, gas, and food are very clear, so try to take advantage of them! Better to take too many stops than too few, right?
But yeah, try to avoid driving when it's dark, especially here in New Mexico... I forgot to warn my friend when she was coming over, and she got in an accident, and I still feel bad about it... When planning your route, try to pick out the biggest cities and aim to stop there for the night. If you want to estimate how long a particular stretch will take, I think maybe an average of 50mph is a good guess? You'll usually be going faster, like 60-80mph, but using a conservative number will help account for pit stops and the like. So if you're aiming for 6 hours of driving a day, 300 miles should do it, more or less?
I actually like staying at hotels! You'll probably have to stay at one sooner or later... I've grown fond of Days Inn since I feel they are the best value for the money. There may be cheaper alternatives, however... I think Motel 6 or Super 8? Something with a number in the name is probably going to be cheap. With Days Inn, I've had good experiences finding cable TV and free wireless Internet almost every time, so if you have a laptop you can at least get online to keep in touch with people. Needless to say, sleeping in your car is not a great idea, and if something is giving you a bad vibe, trust your gut!
Anyway... I know we don't know each other too well (I'm not even sure how we got each other's LJs!), but if you would really like a place to stay, I've got a guest room here in Albuquerque, New Mexico (West side, near Rio Rancho). I want to be able to lend a hand to people if I can! If you don't mind staying with my smelly yappy dog, you're welcome to drop by.
Uhm... I can tell you my favorite fast food places to eat at along the way? Man, I love San Francisco... I wish I could go visit! And oh, if you drop by Rohnert Park, about 3 hours away from SF, I know this excellent Thai restaurant there! I miss California...
Unless of course this lands between April 1 and 6, in which case I will be in New York City and this is all moot.
And we could, you know, go to MOA because it's in the city I'm going to be living in!
P.S. Dan and I want to head out to California after we're done with school - maybe we could end up nearby each other!
and *hugs* for good luck, good showers and good friends
Thanks so much for the advice. I will definitely be calling on you again.
I'm glad I got to meet you before you move to the other coast :P :).
Anyway, that is exciting! Good luck weeding through your belongings! It'll be a pain, but so worth it for the freeing feeling you'll have when you pull away with all of your belongings in your car!
But I may be making a cross-country road trip later this summer, so perhaps we can catch up on the other coast . . . .
Happy trails!
...Although we don't really know each other, if you would like to crash on our couch during your homeless-in-DC time, you are welcome to do that. We have two cats. The couch is a queen sized futon. It is in our living room, so you know, no real privacy. But you're welcome. figment at gmail if you want more details.
Good luck.
It was like throwing a million bricks out of my heart -- for it wasn't only the books that I wanted to throw away but everything unpleasant and miserable out of my past: the memory of my father, the poverty and uncertainty of my mother's life, the stupidities of color-prejudice, black in a white world, the fear of not finding a job, the bewilderment of no one to talk to about things that trouble you, the feeling of always being controlled by others. All those things I wanted to throw away. To be free of. To escape from. I wanted to be a man on my own, control my own life, and go my own way. I was twenty one. So I threw the books into the sea. (Hughes, 1986, c 1940, p. 99)
Camping is way cheap if you can manage to fit a tent, etc along with everything else into your car.
2 - I have friends in the bay area I would be glad to connect you with and who can probably give good advice on the move.
2. That would be awesome. :)
Keep this map in mind. BART is awesome. Me? I'm out at the end of "the blue line" (noboday calls it that but me) in Dublin. It's about 30 minutes to work in Oakland.
As far as the drive goes... I did all the driving & managed 9-11 hours a day. We'd sleep late & hit the road after the AM commuters. We'd stop for dinner when traffic got rough in the evening & then we'd plan how much further to go for the day. But I like driving at night & I hate traffic.
Books? Be brutal. Give gifts, make donations... keep only the ones that you *must* have. Media mail is cheaper but not cheap enough & there are bookstores a'plenty out here. Your collection will bounce back to its former glory in no time.
I can't wait to see how this unfolds. *hugs*
2) unless you are a true road-warrior, stop and see things along the way
3) Craigslist is the best way to find an apartment on the west coast, period unless you want to go with a service. But that will cost you money.
4) if you end up taking the nothern route (I-90 or 94, rather than I-80) and end up in Seattle, leave a note on my LJ. Hopefully, by then I will have a spare bedroom.
5) you can ship books via the USPS at the media mail rate pretty cheaply, altho you may want to wait to do that until you find a permanant place to live.
6) this wireless iMac is cool, but it's hard to read the screen from so far away on the couch. Sorry for all of the misspellings.