Arriving in Boston Before September 1st, Volume II: How to Handle Your Stuff

Boston is a great city, and a great place to live. One of the things that makes it so amazing is the constantly evolving energy from people who move to Boston because it's such a great place to live. The downside to this wondrous bank of new friends is that moving to Boston can be a nightmare. While one blog post can't totally alleviate the difficulties, we have tried to provide some useful tips to help ease the process. Welcome to Arriving in Boston Before September 1st, Volume II: How to Handle Your Stuff.

Part of relocating to a new environment involves bringing your stuff with you, like a demented turtle with a shell full of furniture. But with leases that start right before school, this can sometimes be much harder than if we were all actually turtles. Here are some tips from those of us with experience to make your experience slightly less crazy.

Where To Stay While You Wait for Your Lease to Start?

$$$    Hotel. Boston is full of interesting hotels; some of them may even be haunted!

$$      Hotwire.com. This site can help you save some money on a hotel room for a few days.

$$      Sites like airbnb or Craigslist can save some green and provide valuable introduction to the locals.*
$        Hostelling International Boston is a good way to reserve a bed- you can cancel with no penalty up to
          24 hours in advance. 

Free!  Stay with friends or family in the area. 

*We aren't endorsing these methods; use at your own risk and be sure to read the terms!

Where To Put Stuff?

This is especially applicable if you have to move your worldly belongings to Boston before 9/1, but can't move into your apartment until 9/1 (the perennial problem with the Boston student experience):

If you can find another prospective BU student, it might be possible to organize a Pod share. Since Pods can be dropped at your convenience where you are headed, this would eliminate the need for storage.

Many storage units in and around Allston and Brighton offer a first-month-for-$1 deal. If you can move your things in and out within a month, you are only responsible for the assorted move-in fees (like the processing fee) and buying a lock. This can be a cheap option for temporary storage. A word of advice based on our personal experience: if you go this route, get a bigger storage room than you need. You won't pay any more for the first month, and it's so much better than finding out, at midnight on a Sunday after a 6-hour drive in a wildly huge moving van (for example), that your stuff won't fit.

If it's possible, signing a lease for August 15th instead of September 1st can alleviate a great deal of stress. Not only will you miss the September 1 move-in craziness, but you may not need to store stuff at all.

Allston Christmas

There are no words to describe Allston Christmas. So instead, here is a picture!

Photo Credit Here!

Allston Christmas is the wondrous/terrifying time in Allston where everybody moves out of, and in to, their apartments all at once. This is a real thing, with its own Urban Dictionary entry. People might walk away with your sidewalk-bound stuff, thinking that you've forgotten it. People might intentionally leave all of their stuff on the sidewalk for others to take. It's a glorious nightmare.

The best way to use Allston Christmas to your advantage? Don't bring any stuff to Boston with you. We say in all seriousness that you can most likely furnish an entire apartment for free by September 1st. Anything you cannot collect on the street can most likely be delivered to you (and we recommend this for mattresses!).

How can Allston Christmas destroy your day? If you start your move into Allston by midday or later, you might be stuck in traffic for hours days.

Where to NOT drive your moving truck:

Storrow Drive, inbound. The bridges are too low, and moving trucks will get stuck underneath them. No, yours won't make it. Yes, someone will try it and get stuck, and subsequently block up traffic all day. In general in Boston, it is an excellent idea to keep your eyes peeled for signs that say "no trucks" or "truck detour" or "last exit for trucks" or "don't you dare drive your truck under this insanely low bridge."

What to remember:

You are moving to Boston to be a part of an incredible community, located in a fantastic city. You will have culture, concerts, amazing food, and in all likelihood, a ton of great like-minded friends at your doorstep. Embrace the process! Nicholas Sparks said that "Nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy," so just keep in mind that this process will be, in the end, very, very worthwhile.