In the next few weeks, many people will be moving around, back to school. Moving is always tough, but during a pandemic, it is especially tricky. I just went through a move myself and spent some time researching the best ways to keep myself safe and wanted to pass along what I learned so everyone else who needs to move can do it in the best way possible.
Coronavirus lifespan
In March of 2020, researchers published a paper testing the new coronavirus’s lifespan, SARS-CoV-2 compared to the coronavirus behind the SARS outbreak in 2003, SARS-CoV-1
Their findings indicate that new coronavirus will live for a few hours to days, depending on the surface:
Copper: 4 hours
Cardboard: 24 hours
Stainless Steel: 3 days
Plastic: 3 days
Preparing for the move
Based on these findings, I felt the most moving with cardboard boxes. Usually, I get boxes from lab or the grocery store, but with rising cases, I felt uncomfortable being out in a crowded store so I purchased a few from Home Depot with free delivery. I also bought a sofa protector and mattress moving bags for my mattress and box spring, so my furniture wouldn’t touch any other surfaces. After I bought them, I let them sit in the car for a few days before I used them to be extra careful.
Since my new apartment was on the 3rd floor and I have a terrible back (thanks scoliosis!) I didn’t feel comfortable moving my boxes and furniture up myself, so I hired professional movers.
I made sure to have everything packed before they got here and for both our sakes, I tried to move boxes so they wouldn’t need to walk around the apartment too much. I used different color construction paper to color code where the box was going in the new apartment (yellow-kitchen, green-bedroom, orange- bathroom, and blue-living room/miscellaneous). In the future, I am going to print out QR codes and tape them on each box and post pictures to Google Drive of what is in each box.
Move day
When the movers first got here, they asked if I would prefer if they wore a mask, and I said yes. My apartment is small (barely 600 sq ft), but they stayed more than 6 feet away from me the entire time which I appreciated. I also opened up all the windows to improve air flow because my apartment is old and doesn’t have the best ventilation.
After the movers left the new apartment, I used a bleach-based disinfectant to clean all surfaces. After removing the plastic sofa and bed protectors, I sprayed the fabric with disinfectant. However, I didn’t want to bleach my couch, so I only let the spray sit for a few seconds before wiping the disinfectant and switching to a spray detergent. I wasn’t able to find a lot of reliable information about the coronavirus’s lifespan on various fabrics so, to play it safe, I didn’t use my couch for a few days and washed all my bedding thoroughly.
My bed though I felt more comfortable using, especially since I had a mattress protector that I took off and placed in my car while the movers moved the actual mattress. Similarly, I waited a few days with the boxes to open and unpack nonessential items. Depending on care instructions, I either disinfected or washed each item as I unpacked. Disinfecting made the move take so much longer than I thought it would!
Overall I would say of all my moves this was probably my most expensive and time-consuming move. All things considered, I think my movers made me feel comfortable the entire time and also took safety precautions, which I appreciated. In hindsight, instead of assuming they would follow guidelines, I should have checked with the company before booking.
Tips for buying furniture
Buying furniture is one of the more frustrating parts of graduate school. In both programs that I’ve been a part of, we received our first stipend payment after the first month. Meaning many of us needed to pay rent, buy furniture, and get groceries off our slim savings or wait until we received our first paycheck.
Under normal circumstances, my advice for new graduate students would be to look at the free and for sale groups associated with the school or on craigslist. Usually, undergrads or other graduate and professional students are also moving out so you can get full furniture at a massive discount. If you feel comfortable, ask current graduate students if any groups on campus that facilitate buy and sell pages.
While purchasing second hand always has some risks, right now, it’s essential to take more precautions. I needed a few things for my new apartment and using the facebook marketplace was the cheapest way I could get what I needed. I stressed that I needed a contactless pickup, and disinfected before loading in my car and once again after bringing it back home. I also paid with Venmo, so I didn’t need to interact with the seller at all.
I know not everyone will feel comfortable buying things like this, so my other suggestion would be to look at sales. Many retailers are struggling right now and have “massive” summer blowout sales or various discounts. Another great time to buy furniture, in the United States, is during labor day sales.
Another thing to keep in mind is shipping costs. Ikea has a flat rate $50 shipping cost. For example, if you need kitchen supplies and furniture, bundling together at Ikea might be cheaper than buying kitchen supplies and furniture separately. This is another good question to ask current graduate students. Each area has its small businesses that often have household goods at lower prices than national chains.
Honestly, buying furniture was the hardest part of becoming an adult for me because I felt the hole burning in my pocket with each purchase. But especially now that classes and labs have shifted to majority virtual, I need to have things that boost productivity and keep me focused. I finally (after three years) have caved and convinced myself that buying myself a real desk (instead of using the dining table) is necessary.
Final Notes
This move was the most stressful and expensive move I’ve ever made. I hope I never move again for the rest of my time in grad school. I will say the move went smoother than my anxiety thought it would. However, it did hit my self-esteem a lot. Even though we are going back into the lab now, I took the week off. I had planned on going in towards the end of the week but moving took so much mental and physical energy that I felt drained. I struggle with being gentle with myself, so I felt like I missed expectations for myself. In reality, I realize that I accomplished a lot and that I am way too hard on myself. The move occupied so many parts of my brain, but now that it's done I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. After I finished unpacking I enjoyed sipping a refreshing coconut mojito out on the balcony.