The Short List
The only things we put into storage were family heirlooms and mementos – nothing worth significant value, but things we find irreplaceable. Since we are planning to be on the road for 5+ years, we assumed styles will change along with our tastes, so we didn’t keep any clothes, furniture or decorative items.
As discussed in other blog posts, we either sold, donated or otherwise disposed of everything in our 4,000 sqft. house.
Progress is a Process
- All pictures that were not already electronic were scanned into the cloud and originals disposed of.
- Things too big for storage, we took digital pictures of so we didn’t have to keep the actual item to remember it. We have access to the pictures wherever we are.
- Sometimes it took multiple sorting sessions to part with items. We’d go through a box, make a cursory sort of the contents, then come back the next day and finalize where items would be disposed to. This allowed emotions to settle and gave us time to become comfortable with the decision.
- Just because its not important to you, doesn’t mean its not important to someone else. Respect each other’s feelings enough to give yourselves space to process things that may seem goofy or undeniably unnecessary to others (I have a DinoRoar that has moved with me since the 1990s). As long as the keep pile is significantly less than other piles, let yourselves keep some of the goofy stuff too.
- Don’t make snap decisions when you are tired, hurried or angry. You will regret something and there may be no take-backs.
- Don’t get hung up on one item. If something is taking you too long to decide today, put it aside and work on something else until you are ready to deal with the hangup.
- For valuables you won’t be keeping with you, friends or family may be a better solution than storage – check your insurance coverage and storage provider terms of service.
Logistics
We used PODS for our storage – they delivered it to our driveway, we filled it up and then they came and got it. We’ll call them when we finally land somewhere and they will deliver it to us wherever we are. In the meantime, its kept in a climate controlled warehouse somewhere in the US.