Retiring in Portland Booming Thanks to Age-Friendly Activities:

Portland offers top-notch food and drink, scenic outdoor activities and lots of chances to volunteer among many other draws to those considering retiring in Portland. This beautiful northwestern city lies near the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade Mountains. Learn more about Portland and why a growing number of retirees love calling it home! 

Portland at a Glance

The scenic northwestern city lies near the Pacific Ocean and Cascade Mountains where the Willamette and Columbus rivers meet. Despite a population of about 2.25 million, the city offers many appealing aspects.

Portland boasts a public transportation system that includes 52 miles of light-rail track and 84 stations. Bike paths run for 319 miles leading nearly 20,000 people to pedal to work. With the city creating an “urban growth boundary” in the 1970s, Portland reduced sprawl and increased its walkability. The average drive to any place in Portland takes 20 minutes or less.

Known as “The City of Roses” the temperate climate with highs in the 80s and lows in the high 30s makes the area ideal for gardening, especially roses. Additionally, the city averages 37.5 inches of rainfall annually and 155 rainy days.

Food and Drink

Portland’s restaurant and bar scenes have gotten showered with accolades by national food critics from The Food Network to Travel and Leisure to the Washington Post. Portland restaurants and its more than 70 microbreweries consistently rank among the best places to eat and drink in America and around the globe.

Additionally, national media, such as CNN and U.S. News & World Report, have recognized Portland as the world’s best city for food from street vendors. Portland has more than 600 licensed food carts, which allow residents and visitors alike to sample cuisines from around the world.

As if that’s not enough, Portland also features micro-roasters and cafes honored for their specialty blends that please every coffee lover.

The Outdoors

Few cities match the natural beauty found around Portland. The 5,100-acre Forest Park, one of the country’s largest urban forest reserves, lies near downtown. It features about 70 miles of trails with scenic views overlooking the Williamette River.

About 10 miles northwest of downtown Portland sits Sauvie Island, one of the largest river islands in the United States. Its flat topography and lengthy roads make it ideal for cycling.

Additionally, Mount Hood and the Columbia Gorge, which features more than 90 waterfalls, exist a short drive from Portland and offer a plethora of activities, such as sightseeing, hiking, wind surfing and more.

Volunteer

Retiring in Portland doesn’t mean becoming a professional couch potato. Thousands of meaningful and rewarding volunteer possibilities exist. At last count, Portland had more than 3,400 registered charities, according to the Nonprofit Association of Oregon. The Corporation for National and Community Service reported Portland ranked No. 6 among 51 of the nation’s largest cities in its volunteerism rate at 33 percent. Continue to contribute to your community — get off the couch and volunteer!

Things to Do After Retiring in Portland

The Oregon Zoo

The 64-acre Oregon Zoo annually receives up to $5 million from a nonprofit organization to help support advances in conservation and education. The zoo features animals from around the world, plus galleries, exhibits, classes and camps.

Portland’5 Center for the Arts

Every year, Portland’5 Center for the Arts brings more than a thousand music, theatre, dance and lecture performances to Portland. Its five venues make it the fifth largest performing arts center in the country.

Golfing

Portland features several private golf courses and five public courses. The only city to host four USGA national golf championships, more than 400,000 rounds of golf are played yearly on Portland’s public golf courses.

Parks and Recreation

Portland’s parks and recreation department provides retirees many recreational, educational, and wellness activities that promote healthy living. The city’s 144 parks cover 11,712 acres with nearly 8,000 acres remaining undeveloped and in their natural state. Explore all the city offers on Facebook!

You Worked Hard All Your Life, Now Enjoy Retirement!

Great food and drink, scenic outdoor activities and plenty of volunteer options make Portland a city that retirees love to call home! When you’re ready for retiring in Portland, hire the Master Movers team of professionals to move you here. Call us today to learn more!

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Tips for Moving While Sick:

You’ve planned, made 100 lists, and hired a reliable Campbell moving company. Moving day should be a breeze! But then something you can’t plan for happens: You wake up sick on moving day.  While rescheduling the move would be the ideal option, that’s not possible in most cases. Instead, here are a few tips to help you make it through moving day when you’re not feeling your best.  

Call for BackupEven if you thought you had everything covered, being sick changes the moving game. It’s time to call for reinforcements. Try to find a neighbor or family member who can oversee the moving operation on your behalf. Even if you still plan to be present, you’ll need some help so you don’t have to overdo it.

Let the Campbell Movers Do the Heavy Lifting
You were smart enough to hire a trusted Campbell moving company, so let them do their jobs. Many people try to help the movers, or feel bad just sitting there while others do the work. Even if that is your personality, on this day when you’re feeling under the weather, just let the movers move while you conserve your energy for getting better.

Find a Place to Rest
If possible, head to a neighbor’s home to rest for a bit. If that isn’t an option, perhaps you can find a few minutes of refuge in a room that has already been emptied. You can also retreat to your car for a few minutes of much-needed quiet and solitude.

The Organizing Can Wait
Once you make it through the move itself, stop. The work of getting your new home organized can wait. Throw some sheets on your bed, climb in, and get the rest you need.

Planning a move? Contact AMS Bekins today. Since 1949, we’ve provided quality moving services and exceptional customer care. Our accreditation from the Better Business Bureau and ProMover status with the American Moving & Storage Association are testaments to our commitment to quality and to the kind of service you can expect when you partner with us for your relocation.

Give us a call or fill out our online contact form to get a free, no-obligation moving estimate. Just be sure to cover your mouth when you cough—we don’t our hardworking Campbell movers to catch your cold!

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GROWING UP IN A MILITARY FAMILY:

Growing up in a military family was challenging, especially as a 10-year-old girl. My father enlisted in the US army when he turned 18 and spent the following 15 years in the armed forces. As a child moving in-and-out of homes, schools, and friend groups, I remember feeling confused and unstable.

When my father was first stationed in Okinawa at the time I was born, he was on an assignment in the Philippines when the time came for my mother to have me. Somehow, my mother traveled to the military base hospital on her own.

Every few years, we moved from place to place and lived on Army bases in Virigina, Florida, and Georgia all throughout my childhood years. We eventually moved back to my parents’ hometown in Honolulu, Hawaii.

When I look back at all of our homes, I remember all of the rooms looking very similar. Our furniture was always provided for us at each Army base, which was to minimize my family’s moving expenses.

When it came to making friends at school and building relationships with my peers, it was extremely challenging. My family only stayed in a single location for a few years, so by the time I did make new friends, it was time for me to move to the next assignment.

Throughout my childhood, I lived on base. I attended school on base, played sports teams on base, went to the movie theatre on base, and went shopping with my parents to the commissary (military code for supermarket) on base. Rarely did my family venture to other towns outside of base.

When I look back at my childhood, I can’t say that my youth was horrible. The military provided an excellent experience for my family, and although I never lived a traditional childhood and built life-long friendships, the military was an interesting experience for a young girl, and I’m proud to have grown up in a military family.

This story was inspired by: https://www.quora.com/Childhood-What-is-it-like-to-grow-up-as-a-military-brat

If you’re growing up or grew up in a military family, please check out the resources for military children in our previous blog, “PCS and the Impact on Military Families.”

The Best Time to Make a Household Move:

Moving anytime of year is difficult, but if you have a flexible schedule and are not on a specific timeline, there are several factors to consider when deciding when to move. Keep in mind that these factors could also be part of a negotiation deal with your employer if you are being relocated or if starting a new position.

The Ideal Time

If you could choose any time of the year to move, I'd suggest spring or late fall - times when it'll be easier to find and hire movers and when rental companies are not charging the highest rates.

Also, weekend rates tend to be highest, both for truck rental agencies and moving companies. The times to avoid are weekends, the first of each month and summer when moving is at its peak. Of course, most of us have other considerations, such as kids, spouses, jobs, school and a myriad of other reasons why picking our move date is difficult. Here are some considerations that most people face.

School Calendar

If you have children at home, it is best to work around the school calendar. Summer is an ideal time, as children have completed another grade and have said their goodbyes to school friends. Planning to move directly following the end of school, however, does not give your child time to adapt to the idea of moving, to say goodbye to neighborhood friends and their home. When setting the date, allow a few weeks at the new destination for children to unpack and meet new neighborhood friends.

They will be better prepared for the school year if they have time to make their new house their home. Too much change can be detrimental to performance and emotional well-being.

What works best for your children, also works best for you. As part of the settling in process, take a few days for you and your child to check out the new school, meet some teachers and find appropriate transportation.

Both you and your child will be better prepared, leading to a smoother transition.

Holidays and Special Occasions

When possible, avoid moving before major holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah or Rammadon, since part of such holidays is being with family and friends. Birthdays, anniversaries and other family events can also be difficult. Give yourself enough time in your new place before the holiday season begins to allow for you to meet new people and feel a sense of community. Better yet, save your move for immediate following a holiday. Holidays provide a perfect opportunity for goodbyes and final get-togethers.

Seasonal Considerations

Most people would agree that summer is the best time to move. Children are out of school, the weather is almost guaranteed to be perfect, and friends are available to help. If this is your ideal time to move, make sure you check moving company schedules and rates before confirming your move date. Most companies have peak times and will charge higher rates accordingly. Also, if you are planning to move at peak times, you will need to be better organized to ensure that a moving company or a moving truck is available for the date and times you require.

Keep in mind that the level of service often changes between the summer months, when students replace full-time experienced movers and off-season.

As much as summer could cost you more, winter, as common sense indicates, is also not an ideal time to move. Travel is difficult, both for you and your family, along with the moving company. Items kept overnight in a truck under freezing conditions may result in damaged goods. If you are moving from one climate to another, water damage may occur when the mode of transport that is moving your household items travels from a cold environment to a warmer climate. Freezing and thawing cause the most damage if items are not properly sealed.

A favorite antique rocker we own cracked when it was moved from warm California to snowy, cold Toronto. Such severe and quick climate changes are hard on wood and even some plastics.

If you have a lot of valued antiques, you may wish to pay the higher costs and move when the weather is more conducive. For more information on packing up your stuff, go to Packing Supplies: What Do I Need?

Smart allocation of money can ease the burden of college costs:

As more and more people stress the importance of attending college after graduating high school, potential and current students across the country have seen a constant increase in the expenses related toward earning a college degree.

From the spikes in tuition to textbooks, on-campus or off-campus housing, food, travel, and other living expenses – the price can seem daunting, and sometimes unmanageable. According to a study done by The College Board last year, the average total cost per year for a full-time undergraduate student at a four-year public, in-state school was $24,610.

For students choosing to take the route of a private, four-year school while living on campus, the cost was more than doubled, averaging $49,320.

“Hopefully it doesn’t continue to rise, but people should plan like it’s going to,” said Kathryn Randolph, the contributing editor for financial aid for the company Fastweb. “People should start saving for college as soon as possible, even if you’re currently a senior in high school. The more you save, the less you end up having to borrow.”

Companies like Fastweb use expert teams of researchers to find potential scholarship matches for future and current college students, aiming to take some of the stress out of searching for scholarship money and financial aid by organizing information for people who sign up on their website.

According to Randolph, Fastweb is just one of many tools that help students find resources to pay their way through school, but there are also many other valuable resources available to students if they look in the right places.

“Another place to look for scholarships is through your high school, and the best resource for students in high school is their guidance counselor,” Randolph said. “They will have a listing of scholarship opportunities that are local. Another thing students should do is fill out the FAFSA, which helps them qualify for financial aid. Essentially, the more research students and their families do, the better equipped they are going to be to pay for college, and the more they will understand how much it actually costs instead of going up blindly and ending up with large student loan numbers.”

When working out the payment plans for your college education, it is important to fill out the FAFSA and find out how much money you are able to receive through financial aid. Any money is helpful when it comes to paying for college, and financial aid allows you to work out payments in the future so you are able to get the education you need.

Fastweb produced a list of money saving tricks for students in college outside of scholarships and financial aid, with some important ones that included: buying or renting used textbooks, limiting the amount of times you eat out, using public transportation instead of a car, and never taking out a loan for anything but education.

Paid internship programs or part-time jobs to earn extra cash, particularly during the summer months when school isn’t in session are two additional ways to support the expense of higher education. One company that offers an extensive and hands-on internship program is the international moving company TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®, with opportunities offered at their corporate headquarters in Lansing, Mich.

Students who intern with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® are given the chance to work in a variety of business fields that can translate anywhere in the professional world, including the marketing, finance, human resources, information technology, and sales departments.

“In addition to daily department responsibilities, our interns also take part in various educational sessions we host at our corporate office,” said TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Employee Development Coordinator Rocco Cironi. “Our hope is that not only do our interns learn more in the areas they work in, but they also have a better understanding of other departments throughout our corporate office. Our goal is for them to go back to school with a better understanding of the culture and pace of a corporation.”

The interns at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® are given a variety of tasks to complete within their respective departments, and through other departments as well. This includes everything from volunteer work to video projects, helping set up events, and assisting in  daily responsibilities at both Home Office and the Lansing, Mich., franchise. Near the end of their internships, they complete a final presentation highlighting their summer and what they’ll take away from the experience.

This internship is designed to be extremely beneficial to everyone who participates, and TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® strives to provide as many resources as possible for the interns to use in the present and future.

“The interns have access to a vast amount of resources while here during the summer,” Cironi said. “Our interns meet with each member of the executive team to get to know them better and ask them questions about their experiences. They also meet with our directors through our ‘Lunch and Learn’ program. We want them to learn both professional skills and personal development skills while they are here, as this will help them become more well-rounded individuals and prepare them for life after graduation.”

As Randolph pointed out, there are a multitude of ways to go about handling the expenses of college education, but the most important thing to remember is be smart about your spending. Don’t take on more than you can handle, and be smart about where your money is being allocated, as this will ease the burden of life after graduation.

“One thing we like to say a lot at Fastweb is that when you are in college, you should live like a college student so you don’t have to live like a college student when you graduate,” Randolph said. “This is the time in your life when you should be buying used textbooks, looking on Craigstlist for furniture, living with a roommate, and doing anything you can to cut down on your daily, monthly, and yearly living expenses.”

What is a Portable Storage Container:

Portable containers for moving and storage

Maybe you’ve noticed portable storage containers in driveways across town. While these large boxes aren’t a new concept, they’re quickly gaining popularity due to their unique benefits. Moving and storage containers come from many companies in a variety of sizes, but what makes them different from other methods of moving? How do they work? Should you use one for your next move?

What is a portable storage container?

Portable storage containers are sturdy boxes that get dropped off at a home for loading, and then get moved with belongings locked inside. Their ground-level design makes them easy to load, and their compact size is ideal for areas with limited parking. Most companies offer door-to-door service (while a few will allow you to tow them or load at a service center), so you don’t have to drive moving equipment across the country if you don’t want to. Many companies offer these containers, so the details of the containers and service may vary depending on which company you’re looking at.

What are they made of?

Some companies offer wooden boxes topped with vinyl tarps, while others use ones made of metal. Compare portable storage options here.

How do they work?

Typically, portable storage containers work like this:

• The equipment is brought to your home
• You load items inside, tying them down to secure them
• You put a lock on the outside of the container
• It’s picked up and delivered to your new home for unloading

While comparing options, make sure to ask how much time is available for loading and unloading and how long they anticipate transit to take.

What fits inside a container?

You may be concerned about items fitting inside because the containers seem smaller than a rental truck. However, these containers are designed to hold household goods, so typical items (even bigger ones) will easily fit.  If you look at loading the container like a live game of Tetris®, packing becomes simple — just place furniture upright along walls and stack things strategically to make them fit. You might be surprised at how much you can fit in a container! For example, take a look at how large items like sofas and king mattresses will easily go inside U-Pack containers, called ReloCubes®.

How many will I need?

Container size and the number of rooms in your home will determine how many you’ll need. A 16’ unit might be able to hold the contents of 3-4 rooms, while a ReloCube (6’ x 7’ x 8’) can hold one room. You can use multiple containers if needed, just ask how each company handles that. Some companies, like U-Pack, will allow you to reserve several containers, but only pay for the ones you use. Other companies charge for every container that gets delivered initially, regardless of whether or not they’re used. Be sure to go over those details when comparing options to avoid any unexpected charges.  

How much do they cost?

Portable storage container rates depend on the specifics of the move (origin, destination, household size and move date) and will vary from company to company.  To compare options, take a look at price comparisons to see how quotes vary. Check prices for your move by getting quotes online or over the phone. Comparing prices and service specifics can help determine if portable containers are the best option.

Have questions about portable storage containers?

If you still have questions about moving with portable storage units or want to know more about moving with U-Pack, we’re here to help! Give us a call at 800-413-4799 or leave a comment below. 

Best 3 Farmington Piano Moving Companies:

Farmington, a city located in the county of Dakota, Minnesota, United States of America. It has a total area of about 38.69 km2 which is dived by 38.05 km2 of land and 0.65 km2 is covered in water. The city is also very accessible and the Minnesota highway 50 and 3 pass through it. The city has a population of about 21,086 as highlighted in the 2010 census; the total household are 7,066 and has a total of 5,426 families residing there. The population density in the city is 1,435 people per square mile with 7,412 houses available with a density of 504.6 per square mile. It has a larger male population with 50.1% while the female population is at 49.9%. With a high number of people moving there every year, Farmington is a very popular destination for both men and women.

Holleman Hauling and Moving

Address:

138th St W Rosemount,

MN, 55068

Contact: +1 612-363-3366

Description:

One of the best piano moving companies that serve the Farmington locality is the Holleman Hauling and Moving Company. The company also provides back yard trash collection services and whole house or commercial moving solutions. With a large number of experienced and overly qualified personnel the company is able to move any type of piano be it the short upright piano, Tall upright pianos or the large grand pianos. To ensure no harm comes to the pianos the company wraps them in high quality furniture pad blankets and then straps them tight to ensure there is no room for movement which would therefore damage the delicate piano. The company is able to move the piano at reasonable prices.

Uptown moving and storage

Address: 

3040 4th Ave S, Minneapolis,

MN 55408,

Phone: +1 612-827-3826

Description:

The Uptown moving and storage company is a family owned business that was begun in 1901 and has been providing excellent piano moving solutions ever since. The company’s prides itself in ensuring they have a management that provides high service levels, experience and aim at satisfying their customers with every move they make. The company which is highly rated among the best in Minnesota has enough resources and professional movers to ensure moving, be it long distance or local, is not as stressful and hard as most people believe or hear about. What makes the company among the most suitable is their ability to provide personalised attention when moving at cost effective prices.

Shirtless Movers

Address:

519 7th St,

Farmington, MN

55024

Contact: +1 844-301-MOVE

Description:

Shirtless movers are another highly rated piano moving company that operates in the city of Farmington. The company which includes a free truck at every job is highly recommended as it delivers its promise within the stipulated time with no extra charges or any hidden fees other than the one stipulated at the time of negotiation. With a large number of highly trained personnel that can even remove their shirts depending on the preferences of the client, Shirtless movers ensure the clients pianos get to their destination in time and without any damages. The company is also recommended to new customers as it cuts off 25% from the first hour to new clients. To ensure no damage the professionals blanket wrap the piano before adding an extra plastic wrap layer. The company covers a wide geographical area as it moves long distance through three states namely Minnesota, phoenix and Arizona at reasonable and affordable charges.