As many of you know I decided a short while ago that I’d be taking a long trip away from the UK. It’s time to get away and try some new stuff or ‘Stop making excuses and get the f**k out there!‘, meet some new people and test out this traveling-working lifestyle.
In light of all this I’ve moved out of my flat. I’d been there over a year and it was my first home away from family – it was strange leaving that’s for sure.
It’s an odd time for me. Mixed emotions. Ambivalent if you will… There’s a lot happening at work at the moment – restructuring the team, expanding and generally growing with my business. At the same time I’m planning my move, selling all my possessions and generally packing away my life.
For anyone that’s yet to do it, trying to cram everything you own into a single bag is not a great feeling at first. Certainly when you realise it doesn’t all fit – as much as you’d like to believe it might; it doesn’t *unhappy face*.
Clearing Stuff Out
When preparing for a move out, if you’re in a situation like mine where you don’t have a family home to leave all your things (damn you parents) you’ll really need to de-clutter and decide; what’s important? And what isn’t?
You must be ruthless. If you use an item less than once a month, you probably don’t “need” it. Here’s a list of all the things I noted down I had to get rid of, and, what happened to them…
Lots of Clothes & Shoes – Charity
Xbox – Given To a Friend
Books – Charity
Sofa – Sold
Check of Draws – Sold
TV – Given To a Friend
Vacuum – Sold
Kettle – Sold
Cutlery – Sold
Plates & Pots – Sold
Bin – Sold
Table & Chairs – Charity
Bed & Mattresse – Sold
Microwave – Sold
Toaster – Sold
DVDs – Charity
This is not the full list. I’ve been through so much stuff in the last month that I can honestly say I don’t remember it all – probably should’ve tracked it a little better? Haha, woops.
Something else to remember is that this doesn’t contain any of my actual personal items. Sure, the DVDs were mine, but do they really matter in the long term? No…
So What Is Actually Important?
I guess to everyone different things are important. When it came down to deciding for me, it was pretty easy. I ended up asking myself the same questions over and over…
“When was the last time I wore this?”
“When was the last time I used this?”
If you’re asking yourself either of these when looking at an item, trust me, get rid of it.
Other questions I found myself repeating were…
“Do I really want this?”
“Do I really need this?”
This time, it’s not always as easy to answer. You really have to dig deep and be honest with yourself, then respect your own honesty. On so many different occasions I nearly convinced myself I needed to keep that particular item – be it face cream, shoes, tools and even an old laptop.
However, that face cream had been in my bathroom for a year, the shoes I wore less than once a month, and the old laptop I hadn’t used since I got my new one over a year ago. What was I thinking…?
The items I truly care about and really could not bare to part with were the items representing irreplaceable memories. For example, I have a box which contains random items I’ve collected throughout my life. Be it picture key rings, photos, teddys, books, letters and so much more.
Those things are irreplaceable. They’ve been kept, but not packed.
Storage
After speaking with a few friends and several kindly offering to store my things I decided it was a better idea to go with a storage company. It’s not that I don’t trust my friends, or that I didn’t want them to have my stuff. I simply figured it was a smarter move to have it stored safely with insurance.
I searched around and in the end actually used one of the larger companies, big yellow storage. It’s pretty reasonable, I have a 3ft x 3ft storage unit with a combination lock that only I and one friend have the code to.
This is all for a pretty reasonable £77.98 for 4 months, then a further £6.70 for any additional weeks. Awesome.
Where Am I Now?
Lucky for me I have a long term friend, whom is also my business partner. I have known the family for many, many years and they were more than happy to take me in for a couple of weeks before I jet off to the USA!
As a favour for letting me stay, I’ve given them my TV. Give and you will receive.
I’m feeling excited, nervous, scared, happy, anxious, courageous. I feel butterflies.
I feel ready.
What’s important to you? Is it what you originally thought? I want to know.
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