Wait, hold up. You got a job in another city? For how long? Three months? Six? A year?

Okay first off, congrats. That’s actually huge. Someone out there thinks you’re good enough at what you do to send you somewhere else to do it. That’s a real compliment whether you realize it yet or not.

Second, I know exactly what’s going through your head right now because I’ve been there. You’re excited. You’re nervous. You’re already thinking about packing.

And then you look around your apartment and realize you have no idea what to do with all your stuff.

Yeah. That part sucks.

My Story Starts With a Panicked Phone Call

About two years ago my buddy Mike got sent to Charlotte for work. Bank stuff. I don’t really understand it but apparently he’s good at it. Anyway he calls me up one night and he sounds stressed out of his mind.

I ask what’s wrong. Is everything okay? Is the job bad?

No, he says. The job is fine. The job is great actually.

Then what’s the problem?

Long pause. Then he says, “Dude I have a couch and I don’t know what to do with my couch.”

I laughed at him. I’m not gonna lie. I laughed right in his ear.

But then he started explaining and I stopped laughing because it actually made sense. He wasn’t really moving. He was leaving. His apartment in Boston would still be his apartment. He’d be paying rent on it the whole time he was gone. He just wouldn’t be living there.

So his couch. His bed. His kitchen table his mom bought him. All that stuff. Where does it go?

He couldn’t leave it in the apartment because he was subletting to some random guy and nobody leaves their stuff with a random guy. You just don’t do that.

He couldn’t take it with him because Charlotte apartment came with furniture already.

He couldn’t leave it with his parents because they live in Florida and also they have their own stuff.

He was genuinely stuck. Over a couch.

The Thing About Temporary Stuff

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about temporary relocation. It’s not moving. It’s not traveling. It’s this weird in-between thing where normal solutions don’t work.

If you were actually moving, you’d pack everything into a truck and go. Done.

If you were just visiting for a week, you’d pack a bag and go. Done.

But this is different. You’re going somewhere for months. That’s too long to live out of a suitcase. But it’s also not permanent so you can’t just uproot your whole life.

And your stuff is stuck in the middle.

Mike spent like two weeks stressing about this. He looked into those pods where they drop a container in your driveway. Expensive. He looked into full service movers who store your stuff. Also expensive. He asked his brother if he could use his garage. Brother said yes but then they started talking about mice and Mike got weirded out.

Finally he called me again and said he found a storage place. Small unit. Month to month. Close to his apartment. He sounded relieved.

I asked him if it was nice. He said it was fine. Clean. Good lights. Person at the front desk was normal.

I said cool problem solved. He said yeah I guess so.

Moving Day Was Actually Fine

I helped Mike move his stuff into storage. Not because I’m a good friend but because he said he’d buy me pizza and beer after and I’m easy that way.

We loaded up his car and my truck with boxes. Took like four trips. His apartment looked weird empty. Like someone else lived there.

The storage place was called our facility. I remember because it was easy to find. Right off the main road. Good lighting even at night. Gates with codes so randos can’t just walk in.

We rolled his couch in there. His bed frame. Like fifteen boxes of random kitchen stuff and books and clothes he wasn’t taking.

He stood in the middle of it when we were done. Looked around. Said “well there’s my life I guess.”

I said yep. Then we went and got pizza.

While He Was Gone

Mike went to Charlotte. Did his bank thing. Made his money. Came back eight months later because they extended him twice.

While he was gone I didn’t think about his stuff at all. Neither did he. That’s the thing about storage. Once it’s locked up you just forget about it.

He’d call me sometimes and talk about Charlotte. Good barbecue down there apparently. Nice weather. He was making friends, doing stuff, living his life. Never once mentioned his couch or his boxes or any of it.

I asked him about that when he got back. I said did you ever worry about your stuff while you were gone?

He thought about it for a second. Then he said no. Not once. I knew it was locked up and fine so I just didn’t think about it.

That’s the part people don’t realize. The mental space you get back when your stuff is handled. You don’t realize how much you were worrying about it until you stop.

Coming Home Is Weird

Mike came back in April. His subtenant had moved out a week before. Apartment was clean but empty.

We went back to our facility together. Unlocked the unit. Everything was exactly where we left it. Same stack of boxes. Same couch against the wall. Same bed frame leaning.

We loaded up the truck again. Drove back to his place. Unloaded everything. He was sleeping in his own bed that night.

Took like three hours total.

He texted me the next day. Said it felt like he’d never left. Said thanks for helping. Said he’d buy pizza again if I wanted.

I said yes obviously.

What I Learned From All This

Here’s what I figured out from watching Mike go through this whole thing.

Temporary relocation is stressful enough without making the stuff problem bigger than it needs to be. You’re going to a new place. New job. New people. New everything. That’s a lot to handle already.

You don’t need to also be worrying about where your couch is or if your boxes are getting damp or if your brother’s garage has mice.

You need one solution. One place. Lock it up and forget it.

Month to month is key because you don’t know exactly when you’ll be back. Could be three months. Could be eight. Could be a year if they keep extending you. You don’t want to be stuck in a contract.

Clean matters. Climate control matters if you’ve got stuff that matters. Electronics. Photos. Important papers. You don’t want that sitting in a hot humid metal box all summer.

Security matters. Gates and cameras and all that. Not because you think someone’s gonna break in but because you’ll sleep better knowing it’s there.

And location matters. Close to your place. Easy to get to. Not some sketchy industrial park out in nowhere.

If You’re In This Spot Right Now

Maybe that’s you reading this. Maybe you just got the news. Maybe you’re staring at your apartment right now trying to figure out how this is gonna work.

Here’s my advice based on watching Mike do it.

Don’t overcomplicate it. This is just a logistics problem. You need a room for your stuff. That’s it. Not a complicated room. Just a room. Clean, safe, dry.

Come look at what we’ve got. Our facility is right here. Easy to find. Easy to use. Month to month so you’re not locked into anything. You can grab a unit tomorrow and be packed by the weekend.

Then you can focus on the actual important part. The new job. The new city. The new adventure.

Your stuff will be here when you get back. Locked up. Waiting. Exactly how you left it.

And when you come home, you’ll be sleeping in your own bed that same night. Just like Mike did.

That’s a good feeling. I promise.