This is what my living room looks like right now...
Most of this stuff, plus the 4 garbage bags you can't see to the left, are going away. This is AFTER an enormous garage sale two weekends ago. That means there's progress, right?
It is amazing to me how much STUFF a family of five can accumulate.
Since we've started paring down for the trip, I have been hyper-aware of the pervasive marketing of crap by every store, every commercial, every sign...I mean, yeah, I'm normally a pretty aware person. But wow. We are supposed to buy new tablecloths for the Fourth of July, did you know? And special drink holders. And wouldn't it be nice if we had a new this or that this year, this season, this week...it's all making me feel a bit claustrophobic when I go into a store.
We plan to get rid of most of our stuff, and put the rest in a small storage unit. I take my parents as a cautionary tale: they have had an entire household in a storage unit for very nearly 20 years now, making monthly payments on it ever since. I am sure we can find better things to do with our money in Thailand than spend it on keeping stuff here in the states that we're not using.
So, GOOD-BYE, STUFF! I will not miss you when you're gone, although sometimes I think I will. I am happily divorcing you. We can visit cordially, but I'm not taking you home with me again.
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Location:Bellingham, WA
My brother and SIL lived in Bolivia for 3 years. For a while after they returned she could only shop at Trader Joe's because regular grocery stores were completely over whelming. It sounds like you feeling something similar and you haven't even left the country, yet. I think that bodes well for your new life of adventure. :D
ReplyDeleteWas it just your trip that made you want to divest yourself of stuff or has that been a work in progress toward a spiritual goal of freedome and happiness? How did it all work out? Were you able to travel unencumbered?
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