Storage tips before embarking on your Aussie road trip

Congratulations! You’ve decided to embark on a road trip of a lifetime. You’ve chosen the place, the vehicle/caravan, the accommodation, booked your tours and even planned your itinerary, it’s now time for a much needed glass of chardonnay and a little bit of you time to anticipate all the sights and activities you plan to experience. But, suddenly, you’re hit with a realisation – what do you with your valuables while you’re away?

There are four things you can do with your valuables, you can keep, dispose, donate or sell them.

Keep

If you decide to keep your belongings, there are several things you can do to ensure they are safe and secure, you can:

• Ask your friend or family to regularly check your place while you’re away – this is a cost saving option, but if your trip extends for 6-12 months you may return to an irritated friend or family member.
  
  
• Store your items at your friend’s or family’s garage – depending on how many items you have this may work for you, particularly if your friend or family don’t mind the extra baggage.
  
  
• Rent out the place, fully furnished – this a great option if you want to make money while you’re away, but you’ll still need to find a place to store your prized valuable, also if you trip is cut short, you may not have access to your belongings until the rent is finished.  

• Store your belonging at a self-storage facility – perhaps the safest and most secure route is to store your items in a self-storage facility like Smartbox. Unlike traditional rental storage units, we deliver your storage box/container to your address saving you time and money. We’ll then store it at our secure facility where it’ll be monitored 24/7. Finally, when you return from your trip, we can redeliver your Smartbox to your home so there’s no need to hire a truck or ute to pick up your belongings. You can use Smartbox to store your furniture, appliances, office equipment and outdoor/garden equipment.

Donate or Sell

Before you toss anything, make sure check its quality and functionality. You may be able to donate or sell them. Your local Vinnies will be happy to receive items that are of reasonable quality and still functions, their “rule of thumb is if you’d give to a friend, then it’s ok to give to Vinnies”¹. You can donate clothing, accessories, homewares, toys, books, and even furniture and electronics, just make sure you call beforehand to ensure they’re happy to accept them. Of course, if you want to make some money to help fund your trip, you can sell your items. You can list your items on Gumtree, eBay, Trading Post and for luxury items, use Modsie. 

Dispose

If you decide to dispose your items, you have 3 options:

• Hire a Skip Bin – ideal if you have plenty of items you want to dispose of, just make sure you shop around to help decrease the cost.
• Drive to your nearest tip – if you have access to your own personal vehicle, you can take your items to the nearest tip. However, this may be time-consuming and will involve a lot of elbow grease, so phase yourself.
• Request your local council to pick up your items – your local council can also assist you dispose of unwanted items particularly bulky household items such as large furniture, rugs, whitegoods and e-waste. Booking is essential, so make sure you contact your local council early.  

After what seems like years or months, you can finally enjoy that much awaited and much deserved getaway. We wish you happy and safe travels!

To speak to someone from our team, call us on 1300 880 800.