Two suitcases and two backpacks
We accumulated a whole lot of stuff in 29 years of marriage. Over that time we’ve lived in 5 houses plus a lake house. We had 2 children. Plus, I was always a bit of a shopaholic. Target and Amazon got a lot of our paychecks. So once the decision was made to travel full time, we had some work to do!
When we sold the Shawnee house and moved to Brookside, we thought we got rid of a lot. But we still managed to fill up 2400sq ft plus a basement. When we moved into the apartment, we weren’t sure where the future would take us, or if we’d ever own a home again. So we got a storage unit, actually 2, for everything that wouldn’t fit in our 1400 sq ft apartment.
Moving into the apartment. Still WAY too much stuff!
We had the big garage size storage unit a few blocks away. That had all of our garage items and outdoor items, extra furniture, old books, etc. And then we had a small storage unit in our apartment for our Christmas stuff, luggage, etc. In around the March 2024 timeframe, we knew we didn’t ever want to own a house again so we started the process to downsize the storage unit. LOTS of trips to the thrift store and some awesome help from Eric’s family, and by July we were done. By that time, we’d decided on our new slow travel journey so it was time to tackle the apartment and the storage unit there. Some items were easy: pillows, extra dishes, tchotchkes went straight to the thrift store. We sold some things like golf clubs, desks, etc. We earmarked some items for the kids, mostly furniture. I was so thankful my cousin Amanda could take my Grandma’s hutch and that it would stay in the family. And thankfully family were happy to take a lot.
The harder parts were the sentimental items. We had boxes of photo albums, birthday cards, kids drawings, yearbooks, stuff from my childhood and Erics (here’s looking at you huge tub of baseball cards). We had 3-4 tubs from my mom and dad, when we’d downsized them. My decision on what to do with our memorabilia was to take pictures of everything we’d want to remember. Logic really started setting in….when was the last time I’d looked at the shoes from my wedding 29 years ago? When would I ever look at them again? Did I want to leave these for the kids to deal with in 20-30 years? The simple answer was no. That made it easier to part with. I took photos of all the pictures. The kids probably were so tired of me texting: “Do you want this?” If the answer was no…like the baby blankets or stuffed animals…I took a picture of it. Now, every time I scroll through my photo reel, I can see the pictures. They aren’t hidden away in a tub in the basement any more. Actually…way more accessible now!
Our staging area for donations.
We made great progress through September, then came the hard part. We were down to stuff we needed to actually live. Dishes, blankets, sheets, beds, couches, cars. When to get rid of those? Again, we were so grateful to Eric’s parents who gave us so much support through this process…including multiple trips to KC with their pickup! They agreed to come to KC our final weekend and get a Uhaul to take our final furniture…our beds and our couch. We decided to get an Airbnb in KC that final week, so by our last Sunday in KC, we were truly down to just 2 suitcases and 2 backpacks. We were leaving on Saturday.
Parting is such sweet sorrow….
All we own is now in here!
On Friday November, 8 2024, we officially checked out of our apartment, we sold our beloved Jeep, and we were done. Homeless, debt free, “stuff” free, and ready for our adventure to begin!