The emotional roller-coaster of moving home

Here at Need a Space in Faversham Kent, we see people on the relocation journey every day of the week. We may well offer self-storage space and a house removal to help people with the logistics of the move, but these are very much practical services. The one factor that will be present with any move – whether it is local, national or international – is stress. Unfortunately, it is not a myth that moving home will probably be the most stressful things you do. So why is this true if you are likely to be moving to exciting pastures new?

Fundamentally, re-locating is more than just going to a new house. It is likely that the whole area of where you live is the resource for all of your creature comforts, social networks and important institutions such as your child’s school. If you have been resident in a specific area for a long time, those bonds and structures become part of our everyday lives. They are essential and form feelings of security and comfort – but on a daily basis they go unnoticed. The very road we live in, the local convenience store, well-known traders and professionals etc., are all variables which add to a feeling of belonging, easy living and safety. It is often only when we start the process of re-locating that we begin to notice again the precious assets we have around us.

This can cause many bitter-sweet feelings as we go through the process of moving. A roller coaster of emotions which swings violently between the excitement of the dream location coming to fruition and the feelings of loss we may feel about leaving the world we know so well, behind. One minute we cannot wait to get to the new location and the next minute we are left wondering why on earth we are leaving!

The last thing you need is serious doubt on top of all the other stressful practical issues involved in moving. Will you finish your packing by completion date? Will your buyer pull out? Will you be gazumped on the house buying? Will anybody in the chain pull out? There is a time in the whole process of locating when our identities are reflected more in the place we are going to than the place we are leaving and if a crisis happens which prevents the move going ahead, you may well find yourself feeling as if you are in no-man’s land.

All these feelings tend to gather together at the worst possible times. Usually when nothing is moving forward with the move or at times when you are expecting the worst… The great news is the vast majority of couples and families we have helped move home at Need A Space are always happy they made the move, once it is all over. It may cause a whirlpool of feelings, but from our experience, it is likely to be a very happy ending…