No one likes moving, I mean really likes moving, as much as I do. While still living in Australia prior to June ’07 I had moved home 17 times in seven years, including three times inter-state. And now I move countries. Go figure.

Moving onto this site was very similar to moving home. It’s a feeling of new beginnings and exciting adventures that await while also relishing in the wholesome cleansing, the throwing out all the unwanted junk and starting again.

You begin by thinking…

Why? Do you really need to? Maybe it’s because you’ve not got your own space, perhaps you’ve reached the end of your lease, your landlord increased the rent, or you desire an improved location. Is it time?

A free wordpress site was like living with my parents; it soon became apparent that I needed my own space. By expanding onto an independent address I decided to own my brand because it is only if you are willing to spend money on a project are you more likely to stick with it.

Next, you begin researching…

Who? Going alone, you & your partner or the whole family shebang?

I’ve been living alone for the longest time and have become quite accustomed to walking around naked, sleeping odd hours and eating vegemite-honey-peanut butter crackers with beer. No point trying to change that now and like-wise, there’s little need to find people to join From Whoa to Go because this was always a solo mission.

What? What kind of home do you want? A ground-floor condo, a kiss-the-stars-goodnight high rise apartment, a fifty-bedroom mansion? What can you afford? Will you rent or buy? Do you need to renovate first?

I’ve liked my free wordpress home. It was so easy. It took nothing to set up or to maintain but once I began to push my knowledge boundaries I needed something that could change and develop with me; I needed a home I could renovate. It was time to buy.

Where? What’s the neighbourhood like? Are there good amenities? Is there community support? Is it safe?

That’s the good thing about the free wordpress neighbourhood, they really do have everything I need and now that I’ve bought a home it’s like I’ve been sent a lifetime membership to the country club.

When? Timing is everything. You want to move at the right time, you’ve gotta get out before you’re kicked out, before all your friends leave town and before you’re carried out in a box.

Or before all your subscribers dump you for something more interesting… This means you’ve got to change it up once it a while, just because you’ve given the house a fresh coat of paint doesn’t mean the interior has changed. I had to consider the contents of my previous home, would the decor suit the new premises? I knew that I needed to change my writing style, change the length of my posts, change the design and topics and present more information specific to actually aspiring towards location independence and travel. That wasn’t going to happen while I was stuck under a leaking roof.

How? Now that the research is complete and you’re set on a new premises it’s time to organise the move:

• Sort your belongings according to their room: keep, donate/ recycle, sell, dump; I reviewed my original site, looked at what I liked, what I could use and I looked at what doesn’t work. Suffice to say it was a large load to the dump.

• Set aside items required just before, during and immediately after the move; I made the transit easier by packing an overnight bag of things I needed most and couldn’t live without. Top of the list, my juicy link love from sites I visit/use frequently, closely followed by my toothbrush.
  

• Begin packing, smallest & least frequently used things first, be sure not to use big boxes that will be too heavy to carry; This was like transplanting my favourite rose bush, fiddly and occasionally painful but worth it in the end. The Contact, Portfolio and CC License pages are now sitting nicely in the garden waiting for the mulch.

• Redirect your mail and notify your friends, family and associates; My subscribers are so important to me. Where possible they’ve been sent a personally addressed email to notify them of the change of address so that they didn’t feel spammed.I also updated my Facebook FanPage and other social profiles with the new address.
  

• Book the removalist, hire a U-Haul, or bribe your friends; In preparation for the move I thought ahead for the type of traffic I wanted to attract/ avoid and which was the best route to take according to the time of day. I also utilised Hootsuite‘s scheduler to ensure that the new posts were socially networked at varying times.
  

• Commence cleaning & maintenance on the original/ new properties; Since my original site had a lifetime lease and I had decided to buy my new home I had the luxury of time to prepare for the move. There’s very little that needs to be done to the original site before the move and while there’s still a lot of work to be done on the new one that’s the fun of renovating.

• Make the move; Time to go. Flick off the power, put the rubbish out, return the keys and follow your Jamaican-voiced GPS all the way over to your new address.

• Unpack and invite your buddies over to party! Now that the hard works over and done with and you’ve got posts in the pipeline, it’s time to relax a little, stretch, smile, crank up the tunes and dance. You’ve earned it. So friends, tell everyone to tell everyone: House Party at From Whoa to Go’s place! BYO Comments!!!

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