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Moving across Canada - advice?

G

GregH

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 22, 2007
Messages
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Location
Kensington, PEI
xentr_thread_starter
Hey all,

We're looking to make a move from Alberta to PEI, likely in the spring of next year. Sick of the rat race that is Alberta and looking for a more relaxed lifestyle. Plan is to buy a big old home and run it as a B&B. Either an existing B&B or converting a historic home into one.
Initially we were looking at a u-haul and packing it up and driving there, but I'm having second thoughts about that. Driving that far with 3 dogs and a cat is not my idea of a good time.

We're going to sell most of our possessions. Will keep our nice dining suite, living room and bedroom furniture, but that'll be about it other than a couple of TVs and my pc. Maybe some odd household items.

Anyone here made a move across this big old country? If so, how'd you do it?

I'm considering getting one of those pack your own container things and putting all our stuff in that. If we don't drive there we'd need to figure out a way to get our vehicle and animals there safely too, so am looking for advice from people who've made a long distance move such as this. What worked well, what to avoid etc.

Thanks in advance!
 
I moved from around Toronto to Calgary in 2013. I looked at the places that you pack a container yourself and it was always more expensive than having a moving company take care of it. I had a single bedroom apartment to move and it ended up being around $1600. It went well in the aspect of getting everything I sent, and in one piece, but took two weeks longer than my expected delivery because they subcontracted the final delivery.

As for pets, the amount of horror stories of poor handling by airlines would make me weary of flying with them unless it was a case where they were allowed in the cabin with you. I couldn't really come up with a solution myself that I felt wouldn't end up with undue stress on my cat, so I decided to leave him with my parents.
 
I would have a really hard time letting any airline take my pets, they are simple cargo, they don't get special treatment. I would look into renting a large van. If it is only you and your wife, a full size van would work well and you could also rent a car trailer to take your vehicle. 3-4 days of dealing with pets in closed quarters does not sound like fun to me either, but I wouldn't trust it any other way.

As for your stuff, I'd look into the container thing, Lpfan pretty much sums up how that industry works, but at least your stuff should survive the trip intact.
 
GregH said:
Hey all,

We're looking to make a move from Alberta to PEI, likely in the spring of next year. Sick of the rat race that is Alberta and looking for a more relaxed lifestyle. Plan is to buy a big old home and run it as a B&B. Either an existing B&B or converting a historic home into one.
Initially we were looking at a u-haul and packing it up and driving there, but I'm having second thoughts about that. Driving that far with 3 dogs and a cat is not my idea of a good time.

We're going to sell most of our possessions. Will keep our nice dining suite, living room and bedroom furniture, but that'll be about it other than a couple of TVs and my pc. Maybe some odd household items.

Anyone here made a move across this big old country? If so, how'd you do it?

I'm considering getting one of those pack your own container things and putting all our stuff in that. If we don't drive there we'd need to figure out a way to get our vehicle and animals there safely too, so am looking for advice from people who've made a long distance move such as this. What worked well, what to avoid etc.

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Not to try and be a downer for your idea. But you might want to make some backup employment plans for that. I was in PEI last week (my family still lives there) and it's saturated with B&Bs and people using Homeaway and AirBNB. I also had two sets of aunts & uncles that ran motels there.

I'm not saying it's not do-able, but depending on where you're at in your life, you just might want to make sure you have some contingency. If you've got a retirement/pension already and you'd be ok with that alone, you'll be fine, but if you're looking for the B&B as primary income and setting you up for retirement, you're going to have a lot of competition.

As for the move, my relatives that moved back/forth ended up using professional movers each time. Not sure how much savings there would have been with a container. For pets, they took a week and change and did a leisurely drive across the country, with lots of stops to check out places along the way but also keep the pets from being stuffed in a car the whole day every day.
 
Lpfan4ever said:
I moved from around Toronto to Calgary in 2013. I looked at the places that you pack a container yourself and it was always more expensive than having a moving company take care of it. I had a single bedroom apartment to move and it ended up being around $1600. It went well in the aspect of getting everything I sent, and in one piece, but took two weeks longer than my expected delivery because they subcontracted the final delivery.

As for pets, the amount of horror stories of poor handling by airlines would make me weary of flying with them unless it was a case where they were allowed in the cabin with you. I couldn't really come up with a solution myself that I felt wouldn't end up with undue stress on my cat, so I decided to leave him with my parents.
Click to expand...

I bet you don't miss Toronto in the slightest?
 
xentr_thread_starter
Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

I looked into the "pack your own container" thing and the one quote I got was around $12k, which is significantly higher than I'd anticipated.
That was just from the one place though. Haven't looked too thoroughly into it.
Agreed on the pets thing too - not sure that I trust the airlines with our babies. Especially Air Canada.

Regarding making a living of it: We're actually flying out there on Wednesday to look a bit more in depth into it, including looking at financials of B&Bs currently on the market that we're interested in.
Not looking to cash in big time, but if we can cover costs and set up a bit of a retirement nest egg then that's just fine by me.
 
GregH said:
Thanks for all the advice so far guys.

I looked into the "pack your own container" thing and the one quote I got was around $12k, which is significantly higher than I'd anticipated.
That was just from the one place though. Haven't looked too thoroughly into it.
Agreed on the pets thing too - not sure that I trust the airlines with our babies. Especially Air Canada.
Click to expand...

those pack your own containers.....you gotta know how to pack them for some are tilted on 50 degree angle to load on truck. just pack it tight

you didn't say what vehicle driving ? for the stuff you have would look into haul a U-Haul trailer

this you know where your stuff is and on time .....note Montreal no stop over night keep rolling trailer for possible thieves will empty while you sleep had that happen in '94 woke up to a empty trailer in motel parking lot, back it against a wall
 
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