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A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 8

I did it! I got to the final entry of my super detailed multi-part post about the steps we took to move across the country with a baby and two cats. As I mentioned in my first post (steps 1 through 5), this process put the seeds of a blog in my mind, given that I looked around everywhere and couldn’t find anyone talking about moving in the amount of detail that I was interested in seeing. So… for anyone out there who might be trying to plan a cross country move with a baby and pets… here you go!

Academic LifeJillMay 11, 2019moving, job search, how to Comments

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 7

This next step involves taking care of the “little” details. For the most part they aren’t terribly difficult to do and they have the potential to make a big difference in your trek.

Academic LifeJillMay 3, 2019moving, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 6

We needed to get from Columbus, OH to Portland, OR by mid-September for my official start date. We closed on our condo in late August and our apartment move in date was at the beginning of September, giving us about a week to make the trek. There were a number of routes we could have taken in order to get from OH to OR. What helped us decide were family and friends living in a few cities along our potential routes.

Academic LifeJillApril 26, 2019moving, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 5

Once we knew where we’d be living, how we’d be moving, and what stuff we’d be moving, we needed to figure out how to pack everything. We could have done this in a more economical way; however, we were too exhausted to go hunting for free boxes. Using the list of everything we owned from step 8 (which also included potential box sizes), I estimated the number and sizes of the boxes we’d need, and sent Mike to buy them (with the funds coming from our $7000 moving budget from my university).

Academic LifeJillApril 20, 2019moving, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 4

Welcome back to the never ending multi-part blog post about moving across the country with a baby and 2 cats! By my count I’ve got at least 5 more posts in me on this topic… so get ready for a wild ride! In all seriousness, I’m writing this so that on the off chance there’s another me out there who is googling how to move across the country with a baby and two cats, that she will find these posts and see that’s it’s possible! For everyone else, you can skip on over these posts!

Academic LifeJillMarch 30, 2019moving, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 3

With housing squared away, one of our next steps was to figure out how we would move (ourselves and our stuff) from Ohio to Oregon. Mike and I had conversations about our various moving options, weighing the pros and cons of each.

Academic LifeJillMarch 23, 2019moving, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 2

It’s helpful to know exactly where you’re going to be moving to (i.e., your physical address) so that when you plan your move you can determine how much stuff is going to fit in your new place, the exact directions you’ll need to get there, if a moving truck can easily get to your place, etc.

Academic LifeJillMarch 16, 2019moving, budget, job search, how toComment

A Step by Step Guide To Moving Across the Country with a Baby + 2 Cats: Part 1

In early March of 2016 I flew from Ohio to Oregon for my one and only campus visit. The rest of March and most of April passed by before I received a job offer. In all honesty, I assumed that I hadn’t gotten the position and that we’d be sticking around the Midwest for a little bit longer. At ~8 months pregnant, that seemed like a good idea. I could take a leisurely approach to finishing my dissertation, enjoying our new baby, and recovering. But of course, the minute you “settle” for one thing, life says, “just kidding!” In late April I got the job offer... a month before Ellie was due.

Academic LifeJillMarch 9, 2019moving, budget, job search, how toComment

8 Tips For Going on the Academic Job Market While Pregnant

If you haven’t had a chance to read (or skim!) my experiences on the academic job market while pregnant, you can find that post here. I did about 6 first round interviews when I was between 2 and 6 months pregnant. I then went on 1 campus interview when I was 7 months pregnant. I’ve put together a summary of my main takeaways from these experiences for those of you who are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant and also navigating the academic job market.

Academic LifeJillDecember 9, 2018job search, pregnancy, top postComment

Pregnancy + the Academic Job Search

Oh. My. Gosh. People love to give advice about the academic job market in general. Add in the fact that you’re also pregnant and the desire to impart wisdom goes through the roof! And of course if you don’t follow their advice there are dire consequences (i.e., you won’t get the job). That being said, I got a whole lot of advice, and to the best of my memory, only one of those people had been pregnant while searching.

Academic LifeJillDecember 8, 2018job search, pregnancy, reflection, top postComment