Two years ago we were officially on our way, traveling the world with our entire journey before us. We had sold it, quit it, packed it or gotten rid of it. We quite literally purged our small one bedroom apartment in Washington, DC, donating hundreds of household and clothing items to any cause that would take them. We neatly packed everything in cardboard boxes and tucked it away in my parent’s basement. Two years later it’s time to unpack and staring at the boxes before us I can’t help but wonder if we didn’t get rid of enough.
We sorted and packed for weeks before we carted boxes to my parents. I thought moving day would be a breeze and we’d just carry out our boxes and be out of there, on our way to traveling around the world.
Life it seems, had other ideas, and we stayed late in the afternoon sorting, packing and throwing out things that somehow we had missed. The afternoon passed so quickly I can’t remember what was saved and what was tossed. Going through our boxes now I find myself saving over and over again, didn’t we have a… or where did we put the… and ultimately not finding it. And you know what? I don’t miss it at all.
Interestingly enough, the sort of the opposite has happened. I want to ger rid of more. The stuff I cared so much about saving I’m now ready to pitch in the can. Some of it I can’t believe we saved. At the time I thought we had gotten rid of everything we could. Now, I see more.
Perhaps distance and time were all I needed to realize that this stuff doesn’t define me.
In fact, it weighs me down.
All this stuff keeps me tied to something that I’m not anymore. To a life that I no longer live. We lived with 50L backpacks for two years and you know what, I hardly missed anything material. I want to keep it that way. I don’t want to surround myself with stuff I don’t need.
Maybe it’s just that time of year- spring – that makes me want to fling open the windows and rid myself of all this stuff. Maybe it’s because we’ve just hauled it 1,000 miles to our new home, or maybe it’s that we are putting down roots again. Either way I’m looking forward to going through those boxes a second time, this time as we unpack and getting rid of even more.
Gillian says
I hear ya!! I’ve lived w/o my own stuff for 2 years and can’t imagine what is in those boxes that I absolutely have to have! We’ll start unpacking tomorrow and I know there will be a whole lot of ‘why did we keep this again?’. Good luck to both of us!! Cheers!
Jillian says
Maybe we should take pictures of all the strange and ridiculous things we’ve kept. It would certainly make for an interesting blog post!
Michael Figueiredo says
I can imagine it will be tough getting used to being “home” now. It sounds like your two year RTW trip changed you as a person so you probably will want to start fresh anyways… 🙂
Jillian says
Starting fresh always sounds good. I’m looking forward to having more stuff of consequence and less just “stuff.” It’s amazing that I can barely remember what we gave away!
Laurel says
I got rid of all my stuff that I didn’t ship when I moved to Germany and was shocked at how much it was since I think I’m a minimalist. It was less than a year ago and I barely remember what I gave away. I agree, stuff just weighs you down.
Jillian says
How did you decide what to move over to Germany? I remember going through our stuff before we left Washington and making a rule about giving away/tossing anything that would potentially be ruined by two years in a basement/ not valuable enough to keep/ that we wouldn’t want right away. Interestingly enough, I wanted my breadmaker right away… haha.
Erin says
Pete is refusing to read this post after having nightmares just reading the title…just think – in a mere month we’ll be going through the same, so you’re not alone! I know there’s stuff I will be appalled that we kept too!
Jillian says
The boxes seem to greet me with a guess what is inside me, sort of look. 🙂 Opening them up is sometimes rewarding, I was excited to find some of my personal things, like my stationary (I’m a total nut for stationary), but I opened a box and found a random pillar candle. Not sure why that was saved… it has me nervous for whatever else we might find.
adventureswithben says
I have been wanting to get rid of my stuff for the longest time, but I’m so afraid I’ll miss it. How do you deal with the separation anxiety?
Jillian says
In the end, despite my best efforts, we were rushed to pack up and get out of the house. That made separation anxiety easier. Plus it was easy to donate things that I didn’t want sitting in my parents basement, like our cheapy toaster oven – by now it would have been rusty and it was better off being used by someone else. I would say box things up and put them away somewhere. If you don’t touch/think of them for a few months then you can probably safely get rid of them.
Roy says
I can totally relate. Right now, everything I own can fit into 2 suitcases and 1 backpack. It’s so liberating.
Good luck with the second round of decluttering 🙂
Jillian says
It really is! We just bought a car a few weeks ago. Suddenly I feel so tied down. While I’m looking forward to putting down roots, it makes me nervous to make these types of commitments!
Lorna - the roamantics says
sooooo good for me to read right now jillian! already got rid of (left to francisco) a lot during our separation a couple of months ago, now i’m just starting to go through the stuff i packed into my friend’s garage in anticipation of a yard sale at the end of the month (in prep for taking off). i think i’ve successfully psyched myself up to purge, and i’m pretty minimalist, but… reading this reminds me of times where i’ve have yard sales, counted my money at the end of the day, cheered, and said “what did i sell again?” awesome that you’re going to purge before you get used to it or out of the 50L mindset!
Jillian says
Good luck at the yard sale! It’s very liberating to purge your stuff, especially after something emotional. It’s interesting how much emotion we have with inanimate objects. Like you said, I can’t remember for the life of me most of what we donated or gave away.
robin says
We recently shipped all our stuff when we moved over here to Tarifa and some of it is still in the boxes so I have no idea why we own it…
Jillian says
I know what you mean. It’s almost like the boxes contain remnants of another life. Put a time limit on those boxes. Open them in X months or toss them!
Mom McKnight says
Purging the items you really don’t need is so liberating. It was for me each time we moved … and that happened quite frequently in our eaarly years along with our move 4 years ago. Going through and purging again resently has made me aware of the emotional items we have kept but really don”t need or use. Good luck with your clearing out!
ayngelina says
I sold all my stuff but I did keep 3 rubbermaid bins of things that my friend is holding for me. In the summer I’m going for a visit and I wonder how I’ll feel when I look at all of these things I thought I would want.
Jillian says
Let us know what’s in those Rubbermaids. I have a feeling you’ll be surprised. We certainly are!
Mellissa says
I’m dealing with this issue now as well (and have been for the past several months). Leaving Japan after 6 years, I had acquired a good bit of stuff. Most of it was easy to throw away/ donate- we were PAYING to ship our boxes so we had to REALLY want to keep it! But we also had to consider practical things- we didn’t have jobs or too much in savings, so things like our down comforter needed to be kept. Then coming home I was faced with so many boxes of my things- EVERYTHING (my dad had boxed up my stuff when he moved). A lot was easy to trash, but sentimental things (like from childhood) are proving tough. So now we’ve developed a junk room- and we’ve only been back less than a year! I’m not sure how to deal with this stuff- I’d like to trash it, but wonder if I’d regret that when I had nothing to show my future children of my own childhood… or would they even care?? I come from a family of pack-rats and although living in a minimalist society like Japan helped my ‘addiction’, coming back to the US is bringing it all back. Oh dear…
Jillian says
Is it harder to get rid of the Japanese stuff than the stuff from your childhood? I find myself unwilling to give up a bracelet I bought for $1 in Sudan. It’s broken, although it can probably be fixed, and it now turns my wrist green, but I absolutely adore it. Whenever I wear it, looking at it takes me right back to Khartoum. Sentimental junk I guess.
How does Kaz deal with having a junk room? I’m having a hard time adjusting back to this life of plenty here in the U.S.
inka says
I am a nomad at heart and you won’t belive the stuff I don’t own: a toaster, a tv, a car, a stereo to mention just a few and that is without traveling. My 2 homes look like a hotle room, I can’t bear clutter and I have to live as if I can get up and go at any monet withiut the need of storing anything. es, you really don’t need much, I understand your feelings perfectly.
Jillian says
I love that you avoid purchasing things that keep you tied down. I know as we continue to settle down we’re going to have that same struggle. Hopefully we can be as successful as you!
Bluegreen Kirk says
Seems like everytime I move I end up with more stuff and the next time have to repeat. Most of the stuff gets packed up and never looked at until its time to move again. Your right those things just seem to weight us down but for some reason we keep doing it to ourselves again and again.
Jillian says
It’s hard to break those repetitive cycles isn’t it? Sometimes I have to stop and ask myself why I’m doing something. Maybe there was a reason when the action started, but now, often months later, I’m not even sure why I’ve continued. Taking a look at our own behavior is hard though, I find I’m much more comfortable pointing it out in others! 🙂
Grace says
Someone once said that the most important things in life we already carry within us. It feels so good to do some “spring cleaning”. I find that the process of clearing up space in your life makes room for better things to come.
Jillian says
I totally agree. I feel that somehow making physical space gives me emotional space and declutters my mind. A weird psychological connection!
Alonna says
Right there with you guys. It’s a long and painful ongoing process for us. Unfortunately we have a lot more stuff since we kept our house and didn’t go through the same pre-travel purge session. Be thankful that you narrowed down your stuff as much as you did before leaving!
FYI, you might like this website & her book “The Joy of Less” : http://www.missminimalist.com
Jillian says
I have a feeling that we’ll accumulate as time goes on, but I’m going to try really hard not to! Thanks for the website and book recommendation, I’ll be sure to check it out!
Rebecca says
I’m being transferred overseas with my job and the thing I am looking forward to the most (other than the excitement of living in a totally different culture!) is cleaning out everything. My boyfriend is hopeless and wants to keep everything and put it in storage, but I look at things and say “when was the last time we used that?” I may have to throw a few things out secretly… shhhh…
Jillian says
I like to say it’s better in someone elses home than mine. If I haven’t used it or worn it in the last year I generally try to get rid of it! Convince your boyfriend!!