Packing an Entire Home Solo: A Long-Distance Move from Vancouver Island to Saskatoon

Long-distance moves can test the limits of any relocation expert. Regardless of the starting and end point, once you get out onto the open roads, this kind of move can test the cunning and flexibility of all involved. But some voyages are even more arduous and challenging than others and this is what Two Small Men mover Landon Woodrow discovered when tasked with a residential move that took him from Duncan, just north of Victoria, all the way to Saskatoon.

“I was doing a load-out on the island, out in Duncan, just north of Victoria,” he says. “It was one of those jobs where you don’t really know what you’re walking into until you’re standing there.”

The logistics weren't insane. At least they shouldn't have been. It should have been as simple as a long drive across the country with a truck full of one family's possessions. When it came time to load up the truck, however, the wheels started to fall off (figuratively, of course).

“I had help out there,” Landon says carefully. “They were physically there, but for the load itself, for actually loading the truck, it was basically just me.”

Just making it out of Victoria was starting to seem like a headache for this mover based in Saskatoon.

“This was shortly after the acquisition of a competitor,” Landon explains, referencing the additional labour support available at the time. “So I technically had labour, but the responsibility of organizing, packing everything, and loading still fell on me.”

With little help in site, Landon relied on experience alone.

“You just have to break it down,” he says. “This is what I need. This is what I’m going to focus on.”

His systematic approach began to work out.

“I’d bring an item down, like a dresser,” he explains. “I’d get it packed into the truck properly. Then I’d run back up, bring down a few stacks of boxes, get those packed in, and just repeat that process.”

It may not have been fast or impressive, but it was getting the job done.

“I just kept doing that until the truck was packed from the floor all the way to the roof,” Landon says.

Packing and unloading an entire house should be a job for several workers. Taking it on solo over several days is not just tedious, but exhausting.

“There’s no room for shortcuts when you’re that far from home,” Landon explains. “If something goes wrong, you’re the one dealing with it.”

All the items in the kitchen slowed the job down and the packing ended up taking a full day.

“Packing the kitchen took an entire day,” he says. “That’s usually how you know it’s a big move. Kitchens always take longer than people expect. You’re not just loading it for a short drive across town. You’re loading it for highways, ferry crossings, and days on the road.”

Then it was time to load the truck. That would take another whole day.

“Loading up the truck took the entire day as well,” he says. “Once it was done, it was done right.”

By the time Landon got to the destination, it felt like he had completed his own personal Odyssey.

“I made it back to Saskatoon with everything in mint condition,” Landon says. “That’s always the goal.”

For all the planning and preparation that goes into these moves, when you find yourself alone on a job, all bets are off.

“Have I been in that position again?” Landon reflects. “At times, yeah. But now I usually have help available, which makes it a lot easier, especially when you’re so far from home.”

But this one Duncan move really takes the cake.

“It’s one of those jobs you don’t forget,” he says. “Not because something went wrong, but because everything worked the way it needed to.”

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