Two years ago I packed up almost everything I owned and moved to China. One month ago I returned to America with three boxes of items purchased overseas and my clothes. So, how did I get rid of everything I owned to travel? — Its easier than you’d think.
- Getting Rid of Everything
Pack what you need for vacation – Once you have exactly what you need in your vacation suitcase consider this, do you really need anything else?
Pack your sentimental items – Don’t throw away items that have memories of importance for you. Pack these up and store them in a friend’s basement.
Realize it can all be replaced – Dishes, towels, furniture, clothes, books, all of these items can be replaced. Keep items that you really love, but everything is can be sold or given away. If you can get your belongings down to a small enough size it will be easier to find somewhere to store it for free.
Realize you can’t take anything with you at the end – Things are literally just things, and they decay and are forgotten. If they are chaining you down and keeping you from enjoy life, exploring the world and feeling free then they are not worth it.
If you think about these couple of things while addressing the question of whether or not you can get overseas to travel on a longer-term basis, perhaps it will make the decision to Abandon the Cube that much easier to make.
If it means that much, you can always pack it tight enough and ship it somewhere safe and secure with friends or family too. IT won’t cost more than 40 US to ship a giant box at the slowest rate possible – of course you always run the risk of never getting it then – but life is full of risks and you’ll find that you will have forgotten what was in the box you shipped to start with. Then you can ask yourself, did you really need that stuff anyway?
Being a minimalist is much harder than it sounds. In life we become dependent on the trinkets and stuff around us. It makes us feel safe an secure. Also they helps us make our life consistent from day to day. Which can easily turn mundane. So before one can get rid of all of his or her possessions, one has to change their mental state to be open and comfortable with uncertanty the next day can bring and the idea that all the luxries might not be available so you’ll just have to toughen it out.
it really is just that simple!
A very enjoyable and liberating part of changing your life and moving to another country is definitely getting rid of all those material possessions! Since we upped sticks and traveled around Asia before settling in Sydney last year we’ve made some family and friends very happy by giving away flat screen TVs, playstations and vast quantities of DVDs that were just tying us down to one place. It’s so good to feel free from all that stuff. Traveling light and living cheaply.
Definitely a great article that should help inspire a few people thinking they can’t leave home because of all the items they’ve collected over the years!
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