Finishing up the aftermath of moving again reminded me of the virtual moving idea. You find someone leaving wherever you’re going to who, in turn, is moving to wherever you’re leaving. (Possibly of a chain of such people, but it gets complicated fast.) The two parties pick a date and swap apartments, contents included. My TV is your TV, your TV is mine. Maybe a little cash changes hands to balance out gross inequality. But it saves both parties a lot of time, labor, and expense.

The idea originated when I realized it would cost more to ship my belongings across the country than they were worth. Selling everything, moving a wad of cash, then buying equivalent stuff worked out well, but there’s a lot of friction because you end up selling low and buying high. If you could just get matched up with someone going the other way, you could agree on much more equitable prices and not even bother with craigslist.