We’re planning to start our thru-hike at the end of March.
We’ve recently sold our house and so are planning to put everything we own into storage.
Has anyone done this, and if so did you use a regular storage unit or a climate-controlled one? Any problems with using regular storage? I’m mostly concerned about our furniture, clothes and photos, and am wondering if climate-control if necessary or not…
Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks.
Danielle 
Danielle
That may depend on where you live and whether the storage unit is multi-storied or not. A really hot damp climate (i.e. Louisiana) might require A/C - while other places won’t. We didn’t want to pay the extra, so we just used regular storage facilities, but we were in the middle of a multi-storied building that wasn’t all that hot, even in summer. (We live in MD.) Our stuff was stored there for 2 1/2 years. The only damage was from the fact that we moved stuff in and out in between hikes, and some of the wood was scratched. A single story building might get more direct sun, and thus be hotter. Try not to be on the ground floor - we have had problems with flooding in another location. Get the insurance they offer. It’s cheap enough.
Ginny
Ginny,
Thanks. We live up in New Hampshire, and the only places I’ve seen are the one-story ones… There is a new place in town that seems tight and clean, but I guess you never know about flooding, like you said. Good to know though that you didn’t have any problems with regular storage!
Thanks.
Danielle
Danielle
If you already have renter’s insurance, that should cover you for storage. At least mine does.
I live in Kansas City, which is pretty hot and humid in the summer. I just use regular storage, not climate controlled. I’ve never had anything get damaged. The storage place where I had my stuff in 2004 recommended I put all my boxes on wooden pallets. They told me that cardboard boxes sitting on concrete floors could get damp. I took their advice. But I put my stereo speakers right on the concrete floor, and when I moved out of storage, there was a bit of mold on the bottom of the speakers. So I believe the pallets help!
I also put all my clothing in plastic storage containers – the kind that’s always on sale at Target or WalMart.
Finally, be sure that you have a box with seasonally correct clothing at the FRONT of your storage unit. I forgot to do this in 2004. Put all my stuff in storage in June, and when I returned home in November, all my winter clothing was in the back of the storage unit. Ugh.
I would suggest having a box with clothing, your telephone, your phone books, and whatever else you think you might need to live until you find a new place after your hike. Label this box clearly and place it at the front of the storage unit.
yogi
yogi
I’m STILL in storage, two years later. Plan for that possibility.
Pallets and a pre-frontal box are a great idea.
I went totally climate control. I love my books.
Prune hard. I look at some stuff I saved and I wonder “WHAT was I thinking…?”
LiteShoe