26 Days and Counting: What It Actually Takes to Move a Large Family Across State Lines to Idaho

Ugh. This stinks.

That's what I wrote in my blog with 26 days to go before the move to Idaho. Not because I didn't want to move — I absolutely wanted to move. But because the logistics of moving a family of eight from Arizona to southern Idaho are genuinely challenging in ways that the "just start fresh in Idaho!" enthusiasm doesn't fully prepare you for.

Let me give you the real picture.

The Vehicle Problem

We had accumulated five vehicles over the previous year. Five.

The family van — our primary people-mover for a family of eight.

The Jeep Cherokee — the reliable daily driver that gave me my Orange Jeep Dad name, currently still in Flagstaff where it would stay for four more months until I could afford to retrieve it.

An old pickup truck — bought to help move things around, oversize tires, would eventually make the 750-mile drive north with my best friend at the wheel nursing a power steering line.

A Volvo that had been given to us after our house fire — it had become our oldest daughter's first car.

A Suburban that the insurance company had totaled after the fire but that I'd bought back for $400. It only needed rear light covers to be street legal. Mostly.

Five vehicles. Two adults. 750 miles. December weather.

I scored boxes from the hospital — two car loads' worth — and started the process of loading vehicles with everything that could travel by car rather than pod. The more we could store in the cars, the less we needed to fit in the pod.

The Six Daughters Factor

Organizing six daughters to pack is its own category of life experience.

I'll say this charitably: they're not all operating on the same timeline, not all equally motivated by the abstract concept of "moving day," and not all equally willing to part with things that haven't been touched in two years but feel essential to their individual identities.

We got it done. With the kind of organized chaos that large families specialize in.

What I'd Tell Someone Planning a Similar Move

If you're planning a relocation to Magic Valley with a large family, here's what I've learned from doing it and from helping others do it:

Start earlier than you think you need to. Whatever your target date, start packing four weeks before that. You will not regret having extra time. You will regret not having it.

Identify a moving method that fits your actual stuff. We used a pod service. It had advantages (load at your pace, flexible timing) and disadvantages (that ramp, that delivery delay, that Christmas night in the snow). Know what you're getting before you commit.

Figure out vehicle logistics before moving week. Five vehicles is an extreme case, but any family with more vehicles than drivers needs a plan for how everything gets north.

Build in recovery time on the Idaho end. You will arrive tired. The property will need attention immediately. Give yourself at least a week before you expect to have things functional.

And remember: every family that has made this move has a version of the chaotic story. The chaos passes. The Idaho life that comes after it doesn't.

I Help Families Navigate This

As a real estate agent in Magic Valley, I work with relocating families all the time — and part of what I offer is the practical knowledge of someone who has actually done this move. I know what the logistics look like. I know what questions to ask your moving company. I know what to expect in the first weeks on a new Idaho property.

📞 Dr. Ron Jones | 208-712-8386 — I moved a family of eight to southern Idaho. I can help your family do it too.

Photo taken by Dr. Ron Jones during the packing process, 26 days before the move to Idaho, December 2014.

Dr. Ron Jones | Rim & River Real Estate | rimandriver.com | 208-712-8386