When we recently moved, folks in India thought you keep on moving from one place to another. But I feel it is pretty common in the US. Our friends in VA once told that before they bought house and settled in the house, they changed apts 4-5 times (in VA only over few years of course) so that one spouse has less commute. Reasons for the move from one place to another varies for everybody, but it is mainly being the job location in the US.
So how many times have you changed apt/house in the US? What is longest period that you have stayed at one place?
This is MY 5th resident in the US, not counting the temporary apt that we lived in for a month in San Jose when we moved to bay area.
The longest that we have stayed at one place is approx 3 yrs.
I guess Amit and I lived like Nomads for the first year when I came to USA…In Mar 2004 I landed in Boston….Amit had been living in that apartment for past 3 years…..There was bhamro in my leg the minut I came in Amits job got outsourced and we had to move to Indianapolis,Indianna…..Then I moved to New Jersey forn a while for job So we were weekend couple……being on Flight every Friday was no fun after the second time…Then Amit moved to Cinncinati,Ohio for a project on one weekend and I moved to Boston another weekend for a project and finally in 2005 we both moved to Bay Area….and have been in same apartment for more than 2 years now…..After so much moving we have become pro in packing , moving……but the good part of these moves was that in the first year itself I saw more than 60% of USA…….have experienced real USA from East Coast-Mid-West to West Coast….people who have lived all the while in USA may not really find great cultural difference between India and USA as Sunnyvale, Santa CLara are Gandhi Nagar and hardly one gets oppurtunity to interact with Americans….Indian groceries,restaurants,temples,concerts are all over the place……
people who have lived all the while in Bay Area may …typo
Hmm.. move was the lunch topic yesterday at work too. Only one move for me after coming to USA.
1) 95 -> Apt in Tennessee
2) 96-97 -> Dorm room in Tennessee
3) 97-99 -> Apt in Sunnyvale, Bay Area
4) 99 – 2004 -> Apt in Santa Clara, Bay Area
5) 2004 – ?? –> House in Milpitas
So about 5 moves in almost 12 years. not bad?
After this move, even I thought we had become pro in packing. Almost all the packing was done in a week’s time. And the next day after the move I was soooo tired that couldn’t get off the bed.
After India trip or (any overseas big trip) or even the move, all the boxes and stuff lying around in the apt/house makes me pretty uncomfortable.
And I feel like no more packing-unpacking. But no one knows what’s coming up ahead in life..
How about writing an article pro packers :), your packing experiences or rather tips for effective packing would be helpful to others.
Tip for Moving: “Throw away anything which you have not used in the past 2 years”. 🙂
I guess for some of us it may mean disposing of “good manners”, “courteous behavior”, and “shant swabhav”. 🙂 (Hey its almost Friday !!! 😉 )
For above comment on Throwing things — Ones again look who is talking 😉
I pretty much lived out of suitcases for my initial one & half year in US. I unpacked my two bag completely after 7 month for first time. Arrived at Dublin, OH and then moved to Boston, NY, back to Boston and finally
99 – 2004 -> Apt in Santa Clara, Bay Area
2004 – ?? –> House in Milpitas
9 times in 8 years. 🙂
Longest period: 22 months
Before the packing starts giving away, donating or throwing away things that you won’t use anymore, makes packing easier.
so far, one move for me in six years of USA.
5 moves in 7 yrs for me.
2000-01 > Balboa Park
2001-02 > San Francisco (pine st)
2003 – 3 months > SF post st
2003-04 > santa clara
04-present > milpitas
6 Moves in 16 months for us.
1> 08/2005 – 02/2006 – Apt in Cupertino
2> 02/2006 – 06/2006 – Apt in San Jose
3> 06/2006 – 10/2006 – Apt in Hawthorne, LA
4> 10/2006 – 01/2007 – Apt in Nashville, Tennessee
5> 01/2007 – 02/2007 – in Hotel with all the luggage in UHaul Storage.
6> 03/2007 – Apt in San Jose
in our 5th move we had to stay in a hotel for almost a month due to delay in H1 transfer and the prev apt was already rented out which we couldn’t extend.