People tend to think of senior citizens as being pretty sedentary. And that’s understandable because many of them have mobility or health issues that keep them indoors and many others feel like they spent their whole life rushing here and there and now they’re just going to stay home and relax. But the fact is that when it comes to picking up and moving house, seniors are as mobile as just about any other group.
Reasons Senior Citizens are Likely to Move
There are any number of reasons why older folks move. Some want to retire to a place that’s as far away from where they spent their working life as possible. Others need to leave the multi-story home they spent decades in because navigating the stairs has become more than a chore, it’s now downright dangerous. Others want a place that’s smaller and easier to maintain and still others move to assisted living centres where they can retain their independence but have others do the cooking and cleaning for them.
How Moving Services for Senior Citizens can Make the Process Easier
The older you get the more difficult and dangerous tasks like moving become. Even in your salad days moving was rarely less than exhausting and emotionally draining. When you’re in your 50s, 60s, and 70s you can magnify any negative effects 10-fold. As such it’s important that you take a reasoned, patient approach to moving that embraces the following tips and principles:
- Communicate– Whether you’re moving yourself (and you probably shouldn’t be) or you’re getting help from your adult children or you’ve hired a moving company to do the bulk of the work a successful, stress-free move starts and ends with communication. If there are certain things you don’t want to part with a state so clearly so that the kids don’t add them to the box going to charity. If you want something handled a particular way or if you want to pack it yourself say so. Don’t assume people can read your mind. Good communication is crucial.
- Start packing ASAP– This should be near the top of any senior moving checklist. As soon as you have a moving date you should start accumulating moving materials (boxes, tape, bubble wrap etc). As soon as there have been some definite decisions made regarding what’s going and what is not packing should begin. Even if it’s a few weeks before the move. Pack up all non-essentials that are going with you early and get that aspect of the process out of the way.
- Arrange your travel options early as well– When it comes to moving as a senior the more things you can get out of the way before crunch time the better. Where is the new house? If you are unable to drive how are you going to get there on moving day? Do you have an adult child who can drive you? Do you need a special service to pick you up? Is the new home hundreds or thousands of miles away? If so are you flying? Who is taking you to the airport and picking you up on the other end? Make sure all these questions and any others related to your personal transportation on moving day are settled early in the process.
- Make sure all healthcare related issues are addressed– If you’re moving a substantial distance you’re going to need a new healthcare team on the other end. Making sure this is taken care of well before moving is essential. Once you’ve settled on a new primary care physician you’ll need to make sure your medical records are transferred in a timely fashion. Also, if you are moving a long way you’ll need to find out what impact that is going to have on your insurance. This is particularly important if you are covered by an HMO or PPO. Arriving in your new location without having all your healthcare ducks in a row is just not an option.
- Important documents– Different people have different document sets that are important to them. Whatever legal documents you’re going to need to take with you make sure you’ve arranged for their safe passage prior to moving day. In addition, if you need to draft a living will before moving or need to draft powers of attorney make sure these are taken care of well in advance of moving day.
- Stay out of the way of the mover– The right thing to do is to hire a professional to handle the actual move. The next right thing to do is to stay out of their way and let them do their job. When moving seniors will sometimes try and direct things or pick up boxes and try to help out. But the best approach for everyone’s sake is to step aside and let the movers do the moving. It will allow the whole process to move forward smoothly and efficiently. If there are things you wanted packed or handled a specific way those instructions should have been proffered long before moving day as we mentioned earlier. Your job will be to get yourself safely to the new location because you know what? There will be plenty to do once all the boxes have been delivered to the new home.
- Enjoy the process – Just because you’ve seen a few more sunrises than some other folks doesn’t mean you need to lose your spark or that moving has to be a drag. Enjoy the process. Stay engaged and make sure you’ve got all the bases covered so you can hit the ground running (or at least walking at a good clip) in your new location. Moving as a senior is hard enough. Approaching it in a lackadaisical way is only going to make it harder.
We hope you found these moving tips for seniors helpful. Keep in mind that there are many senior moving services in Vancouver with lots of experience who are reasonably priced. For more information talk to the pros at Mule Moving.
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