In the winter of 2003. I decided to make a major move from Long Island,New York to Southeast coast of Florida. It wasn't a difficult decision, since that was one of the worst winters in many years. The record snowfall fell in feet that season along with the near record low temperatures. My pocketbook was also feeling it ,since my heat was dependent on oil, and the oil tank was going to be re-filled for the fourth time.

Another deciding factor was the escalating real estate prices. My home had doubled in value, but it took a long 12 years to realize. Even though it took that long for the market to rebound, I, along with many others, started to list their properties in hopes of selling and making a good profit.

It was sold in few weeks time,on a rainy Memorial Day weekend open house,as a matter of fact. Many prospective buyers came and a handful made good offers. I accepted one offer for the full price and started to pack up.

In New York, as in some other states, real estate transactions are handled by lawyers. It generally take three months to close. That year was a test for all connected with real estate. Closings were taking a little longer due to more sales. I didn't mind since it gave me more time to find a job. I already had family living in the area that I wanted to move to. I visited there every year, like so many “snowbirds”, and had dreamt of finally moving to my paradise.

Since the school year would be starting in August, a month sooner than New York, I had decided to move ahead of the closing.I had a proxy sign for the closing .

As I was a certified teacher in New York ,I was given a temporary teaching certificate in Florida. The county I was moving to was one of the fastest growing county so it wasn't hard to find a job. The only con I could see was the pay cut. I would learn later on,that things don't always seem as they appear.

I called around and found a national truck rental store that had the size truck I would need. My brother and I picked up the truck and brought it back to load up that day. We woke up before dawn and loaded overnight bags, my 21 year old cat ,her litter box and provisions in an cooler.

The diesel truck would have to be driven on commercial roads only so that meant we would lose some time since the Expressway was out of the way.

After driving into New Jersey and seeing the sunrise, we knew the hardest part of the trip was behind us;or so we thought.

Overheating

Into the 6^th hour and entering Virgina,we discovered the the truck's air conditioning had stopped pumping out cold air. It was now in the low 90's in July ,so that cab heated up quickly. keeping the old girl ( my cat ) comfortable was a challenge. I poured water into a washcloth and wiped her head often to keep her cool. We stopped often at fast food restaurants to cool off and continued calling the rental place which didn't answer the phone.

My worst fear

Finally I got someone at the headquarters and explained the situation. They found a repair shop in the nearby town and authorized us to go there. My brother dropped me and my elderly cat at a motel while he drove into this strange town alone. It was now late afternoon and we were losing precious time. To make matters worse, the skies opened up and the torrential rains and thunder came crashing down for over an hour. I was scared for my brother ,who was out in a strange town ,in a large truck,driving in this storm.

“Oh,what have I done?” I thought, watching the heavily flood roads.

I was having major regrets about this whole move by this time. I put others in jeopardy and should have given more thought about this whole venture. waiting in that motel room,with my geriatric baby,scared that he was in an accident and I had no idea where he was. Two and a half tense hours passed and finally spotted the truck driving into the parking lot of the motel.

My brother had found the shop and they repaired the air conditioning! I didn't care about that,just that he was safe.I was never so glad to see him! After having dinner in the nearby restaurant, we went to our rooms and and left early the following day.

On our way

The rest of the trip took about 16 hours and I was so proud of my brother. He had never driven a stick shift diesel truck before and he drove like a pro! i even joked with him that he could start a new business venture-- driving long distance moving trucks! That went over like a lead balloon!

Driving on Interstate 95 in South Florida is like driving on the Long Island Expressway; it's crowded, other drivers are cutting in and out of lanes and driving way too fast.

We arrived around 8 pm to our other brothers house. Having 4 hours sleep in two days was a big challenge and also were incredibly hungry that we ate the whole pizza they had waiting for us.

Both of us were totally wiped out by the time we ended this trip. He wound up taking a plane back the next day and I stayed with my other brother for a few months.

Life was going to change forever at that point. To be continued.....

There were  many lessons that on that trip.

Some suggestions I would recommend are:

• Make sure you have a working truck before driving long distance

• better yet,rent a self storage unit and let someone else move your stuff

• sell off most of your things

• put your stuff in storage

• don't put others in jeopardy for your plans

• fly down to your destination first and set up everything

• drive down with pets in your own vehicle that has air conditioning

In conclusion, moving long distance can be done with a lot of thought and foresight. Now that self storage units are available, I have utilized them twice since that awful move.

People move all the time and it doesn't have to be a nightmare.

My next two moves were a lot easier since I learned some valuable lessons on this trip.