Lessons in relocating

I've been awfully quiet on my blog lately. But there's good reason, honestly. There's something I have kept distinctly quiet about of late, and that is the fact that I have moved flat. Moving flat is such a massive pain in the behind that I have tried to ignore it entirely, to the point that I couldn't bring myself to write about it or acknowledge it on my facebook status, which all in all, is quite something. Also, I didn't want to jinx it. There was a part of me that thought as soon as I wrote about it and pressed send, it would all fall through. But now I have been in the flat for a whole week, the worst that can happen is that I press send and the roof literally falls through. Which, come to think about it, would actually be a lot worse.

But to hell with it. Me and my flatmate Christine are in our new flat, which is a lot less dank and damp than the last. That was part of the reason we decided to move, though mostly it was because the old place was also home to two other flatmates, who have moved back to Prague to plan their wedding and start a life together (we'll miss them). Oh, and the fact that we lived above what very well could be a crack house (complete with police raids) and living next to our next door neighbours was like being on the set of The Royal Family, with the kids passing more than a slight resemblance to Lauren from the Catherine Tate show.

The new flat is near lots of media types as well as City boys who probably do as many drugs as our old neighbours, just more discreetly. Also, I get to forsake the stress of the tubes in the morning as it's just a quick bus journey to work, though I know in reality this means that I will spend an extra ten minutes in bed every morning before making a frantic dash for the bus (do you remember, at school, that the people who lived the closest were always the latest?).

Anyway, this is what moving has taught me:
1) Spring clean, blitz clean, part clean...getting your flat ready for the dreaded inventory check is a minefield. Professional cleaners, you'd be surprised to hear, don't always know what degree of clean is necessary for end of tenancy. If confused, ask a responsible, neat freak adult (mums are great at this kind of thing) to draw up a 'clean checklist'. They know what constitutes really clean, as opposed to 'ah sure it looks fine to me' kinda clean, and tick your way through the list with any professional cleaner you might employ. And then cross your fingers and hope you get your deposit back.

3) You can never have enough coat hangers. Also, hang up everything within five minutes of moving in. Otherwise all your nice clothes will spend their time moving from bed to floor.

2) (And this is the most important one)
Do not transport your clothes in big bags. They'll rip and leave a trail of knickers down your new street, which is never a good thing.