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What are your options for DIY moving? I know thats still a long drive but we once helped my SIL move from Canada to FL and they fit their main furniture in a U-Haul that the guys drove home. The u_haul had a trailer that pulled their smaller car back to FL and SIL and I drove the kids in the minivan.

@ShootingStar: we did this exact move Boston ti miami)... We paid $3500 for a 1.5 bd apartment...I'll write more when I am done nursing and can type better!!!

If you are planning to put everything in storage for a while you might want to consider a POD. They basically bring it to your house and you load it and then they will store it and move it for you when you are ready.

@ShootingStar: Hmm I can ask my parents, they have done it a few times because they are basically pro movers who have moved 30 times...

We just moved from Canada to the UK. We had a shipping company come round to see what we had and quote us. He was very, very blunt about what we should take and leave. He said kids' clothes and toys (with the exception of Lego) were not worth the shipping cost. Since you pay per sq ft, a lot of cheap furniture wasn't either. We sold, gave away and donated a lot. It had to be very important to us or have been expensive for us to take it. For example, we shipped our bed, crib (sentimental), chests of drawers and sofa, but no other furniture made the cut.
Our moving costs (door to door, they packed) were $4500 CD. I would have preferred to have taken a lot more than we did, but often times it is cheaper to buy again.

I think it depends on the value of what you have to move. When we relocated, we left behind a ton of stuff, but then again, we bought IKEA with the idea that we wouldn't bring it back with us on a long distance move.

Now, if I had to move, the value of the contents of my house would be more than the cost to move it, so it would come with.

I've moved cross country three times, each time with a professional mover and only once did I rid myself of a few things. Each time I used their packing services, but not the unpacking services. You are paying for weight in the truck and distance. The controllable factor is weight. I unloaded my big box tvs (those are heavy). I also unloaded some outdoor things that it would be more expensive to store than buy new.

Also, fully furnished apartments are expensive. If you consider the cost you are paying to "rent furniture" plus the cost to store your things it will get pricey. Even if you are fully funding the move, I'd probably move the things you like, use them in your rental and then move them again when you land in your more permanent situation. Local movers are cheap, cheap, cheap.

That being said, all of my moves were funded by my employers.

@ShootingStar: I think that's a good way to approach it, we did the exact same thing. I would break it down even further, look at your pots and pans, your small kitchen appliances. Also don't forget things like your outdoor equipment, are you considering moving outdoor tables, umbrellas, lawn tractor, etc.

I made a really detailed spreadsheet and when I totaled it up I was kind of shocked at the replacement value.

We drove from NS to SK over two years ago, and then back this summer. We sold or put into storage most of our furniture but only because the place we were moving too provided the major furniture. We used a uhaul both times, but a larger one on the way back because we'd acumulated stuff we didn't want to sell again. Including gas, food, hotels, the uhaul and the installation of the ball t our suv to attach the uhaul to, the ten day trip two years ago cost about $2000. It took less time on the way back because dd could handle slightly longer days. Plus we bought a dvd player for the car so she could watch her disney movies non-stop, lol. It would definitely be cheaper for you to do uhaul, even if you're hauling everything in a bigger truck! (or the big van hailing your car, depending on how much stuff you're bringing. I think uhaul can give you an estimate of which size you need. I recommend selling stuff you won't be using when you arrive, but if you love it, it's cheaper to bring it if you're going DIY like we did.

@ShootingStar: DH's work moves us every few years so we don't have to worry about paying for movers, but I will say, if you're not terribly attached to the furniture, you may want to consider selling it anyway...Even with pro movers, things can get damaged and it can be such a hassle to file a claim with them and you might not get back the full value of what it costs to replace the item. Not saying it will definitely happen, but it's worth considering.

@lamariniere: Agree on the unpacking service...the bonus to that is they also take all the packing material, so you don't have to have a ton of boxes and packing paper to deal with.

I also moved stuff via container ship and not a thing was damaged. They packed the boxes inside a crate and that whole thing was loaded into the container. Cost wise, it was about $9000, which I think is on the low end of things, we only moved equivalent to a one bedroom apartment. On the way back, it was even less furniture, but more personal effects.