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Our Cross-Country Move: Breaking Down the Numbers

The Miles, The Money, and The Memories

Jamie Toth, The Somewhat Cyclops
Engage
14 min readDec 31, 2023

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A mosaic of four images depicts the author’s journey across the US from Springfield, Oregon, to Louisville, Kentucky.
Moving pieces. Collage by Author.

About a month ago, we finally settled into our new apartment here in Kentucky, and since the dust has settled, I thought a fun way to end 2023 is to go into the details of our cross-country move. When I was trying to figure out the logistics of our move, I always bemoaned what information I couldn’t find — so I’ll do my best to explore topics that a lot of people don’t.

A couple of months ago, I finally admitted that we had to move, and the reason for moving was partially financial and largely to be closer to our family (we certainly didn’t make the sort of money that would allow us to travel!). In ‘The Mosh Pit Ballet of a Cross-Country Move’ I went over the reasons for the move. Later, in ‘The Vicious Math of Moving’ I explored the cruel math that had us shedding some of our possessions in order to make it back east, and how we made the selections of what we donated/gave away / threw out — and what came with us.

I always lamented, as I was researching how to move across the country on a shoestring budget (or any budget) that there weren’t more articles that went into the sheer numbers of what it would take to move, so I’ve decided to let you in on the actual math of the move — and some lessons I’ll never forget. I wouldn’t call our budget an…

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Jamie Toth, The Somewhat Cyclops
Jamie Toth, The Somewhat Cyclops

Written by Jamie Toth, The Somewhat Cyclops

I write about independent movies, tarot, consumer safety, and more. Contact me: somewhatcyclops@gmail.com

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