My first big international move was from a tiny apartment in Adam’s Morgan to Niamey, Niger. 🇳🇪 f course I was young & disorganized & had spent the night before the movers came in Rehoboth Beach. When I unpacked months later there were dirty dishes from the sink
& a bag of moldy potatoes!
Here in my quasi construction site of a home in Venice I am still sorting through our things that have been in storage for almost 2 years
LOL I’m glad that at least I’m not alone! I once heard a horror story of a military family whose cat got packed up…and popped out of a moving box (very much alive) when their things were delivered one month later 😺 so at least neither of us has ever accidentally packed a live animal?
Bloomin' magnificent. Best of luck with the new direction.
I wish I could persuade more people of the physical/spiritual burden of unnecessary possessions. A few years back I ran a small removal van, so I helped dozens of people move house on the cheap. Mostly they were low-income families, often immigrants, and seeing their relationship with their few belongings was both uplifting and heartbreaking. Most would throw away what I thought were perfectly good beds, lamps, sofas and tables, but I was entering their lives at a moment when any unnecessary paraphernalia were secondary to far more important things: was the baby comfortable, were the contracts in order, could this be over in time for them to get to work tomorrow morning? Nearly every day I was with people dealing with intense stress and anxiety, struggling and mostly succeeding to keep their lives in order – and the less emotion that was absorbed by fretting about possessions, the easier the day went, and the more optimistic they seemed to be about their future.
It's cheesy, but our possessions possess us, as much as we possess them. To let go is to be unburdened.
Thank you, Theo! I really appreciate you sharing your experience with your removal van—there can be so much profundity in those seemingly banal experiences—and I find it really interesting that people seemed to be more optimistic the less stuff they had with them. I suppose the less you have, the less there is to worry about!
I'm an insanely heavy packer, I usually bring a suitcase, duffel bag, and tote along with my purse. But I was able to do two weeks in Italy with my husband with one bag. They make really good products for people who wanna travel lightly. I was VERY skeptical lol but it worked out great.
We haven’t lived a nomadic life yet, but we’re planning to explore internationally in a couple of years, after I retire, taking 3-6 month chunks out of places to see where we might settle. Decluttering started last year; we haven’t yet been as ruthless as we will need to be. I suspect we’ll leave some goods in a storage unit: a few autographed books, a stereo system, some favorite kitchenware. My imagination is trying to make the leap between a fully furnished house and a life lived out of a couple of suitcases.
What an exciting adventure! Paring things back in a small doses over the course of a few years sounds ideal. I totally get you on the mental leap between furnished house and suitcase living—but the times I’ve had to live out of suitcases I ended up forgetting about a lot of the stuff I had in storage, which just goes to show how little we actually need.
That has occurred to me; I can see us making a pilgrimage to the storage unit after some time abroad and realizing we don’t want to keep 75% of what we stored!
The best to you in this next phase! I know the feeling and burden of dealing with possessions with meaning,over the decades, and mine are all within the United States.
I too have long prided myself on the ability to pack light & go travelling with just a cabin bag. This has included os trips to the other side of the world for weeks long holidays.
Recently I was in a regional town here in my state of South Australia to scope a new project & for the first time I found myself less than enchanted with my accomodation.
Now, I am not a fussy person & quite happily do 3 star accom in Europe etc BUT this time I really felt it was empty, soulless even & it left me a little depressed.
I’m heading back there for a few days and I have made the decision to pack a little less lightly in a bid to nourish my space - a diffuser, oils, magazines, my pillow & quilt, decent tea & one of my teacups.
I love that! I've also started sneaking in a couple creature comforts that don't take up much space...bringing decent tea is definitely a game changer. I like to ask for hot water on long flights and sip a nice earl grey or chamomile instead of the bitter airplane brew
Huge congrats! That’s a major decision. It took me a long time to leave my toxic job in Italy. Transitions are harder when your transitioning already on multiple huge fronts. Anyway, looking forward to traveling with you on your change! X
Beautiful! So excited for you! I had a similar experience. Here in Napoli our household goods arrived and they came up on an electric dolly from the window, four floors below. One of the boxes was just toilet paper and paper towels from one of our Costco runs. I was so embarrassed. I have never felt more greedy or American than opening up that box of paper towels. Like it came halfway across the world ???
Hahaha I totally get you. It feels so ridiculous, but it's genuinely difficult to edit things when you're already dealing with a massive move with so many moving parts!
As a fellow nomad, I can so relate to the importance of traveling light. AND I have what I call a “things issue.” I want to have nothing go to waste. And I want to have the exact right, most efficient things for the job. So I end up with more than I need, trying to salvage what should move on. It’s a bit of a contradiction to a life that is otherwise quite flowy.
The packed garbage made me smile. Have done something similar.
And love that you’re digging into the writing. We’re on a similar path.
I know what you mean! A couple months out from a big move, I start thinking about what I should stop buying and when so that I can optimize...then I end up having an internal conversation like, "what if I stockpile way too much and it goes to waste? But what if I buy too little and we run out??" It never works out perfectly, lol.
Right?! Even in my 60 square feet in Ruby the van, it’s a complicated (and tbh, at times, ridiculous) system, the stocking up and storing just so. Hahaha. Good thing it’s all an ongoing learning process. ;)
During our first ten years of marriage, we made 7 international moves. The first move, we packed everything we needed into a couple of suitcases. When our two kids arrived, things were a bit more complicated, but we preferred to “live off the land” and get what we needed in country or in the region.
When we moved back home for a couple of years, we barely had time to unpack before we moved from one US coast to the other. That time we used a moving truck. From there, I spent 10 years traveling internationally at least 200 days per year. I also rolled my clothes, and if I was in the field, didn’t worry about wrinkles. In town and for meetings, I used the shower rod to hang my clothes and let the shower steam get out the wrinkles.
Our last overseas move was for three years in a former Soviet republic. We were allowed a 20’ shipping container, but filled only a small corner. The rest was project supplies. We sold or gave away almost everything when we moved home.
The best innovation ever for me as a constant traveler was the invention of iPods and Audible. I must have been customer 4! I went from three or four books in my briefcase to an iPod and charger for a three week trip. I also was an early Kindle adopter and still have mine always ready to grab for a trip, long or short. A Kindle Paperwhite is 6 oz, and I take it with me on backpack trips, filled with books and field guides. Yay to traveler technology.
I am also a big Kindle fan!! All things being equal, I really prefer paper books, but I just can't justify so much extra weight in my backpack...and I love never having to be afraid of finishing a book halfway through a trip. I've got a whole library with me 🤓
On the PCT, there is a tradition of burning pages of a book as you read them to reduce weight, which is not a thing I can do. In fact, in the heavy days before Audible and Kindle, I always wrote the date I read a book, the place I read it, and other pertinent details. For instance, in my copy of Wendell Berry’s The Hidden Wound, I wrote that I read it on a beautiful spring morning in Amsterdam at the outdoor cafe in front of a very narrow hotel with the steepest staircase I ever ascended. I suppose one could do something similar with a Kindle, but it would not have the same richness.
Oh wow, I cannot imagine burning the pages I've read. I understand the need to reduce weight, but that doesn't feel worth it! Especially on the PCT, where I imagine you're doing deep reading in really beautiful settings and might, as you say, want to take notes on the pages...just feels wrong, lol
Beautifully written, Sam! Your dad would be so proud of you -- not least, for recognizing that certain things are no longer bringing you joy and for having the courage to strike a new path. I admire you, and I'm excited to see how you blossom this year!
Sam, please take it as the greatest of compliments that I left my sister a two minute voice message with the section about having to reinvent yourself in every new place because she is the one who up and moves every couple of years in our family.
This is beautiful. I haven't kept much from place to place, decluttering mercilessly, but then, I have the luxury that my moves are so close to each other, all within the same 3 hour drive radius.
Thank you, Noha—I’m so touched that you shared this with your sister ❤️ and I am envious of your ability to declutter! You’re a better woman than I lol
😂 it’s the worst! You’d think these moves would feel like the perfect opportunity to clear things out, but it just ends up feeling like too much change all at once.
I made my last (I think?) of 5 int'l moves in 2016, back to my home country. It was a reluctant move. I shipped more stuff than ever before, easily 3 times more, literally every single thing in the place. Looking back, I think I did that because subconsciously I didn't want to let my old life go.
Yes! It’s like there’s a little voice in your head telling you that if you just surround yourself with all the same stuff, maybe things will feel the same…and they never do.
I am looking forward to your next big step!
My first big international move was from a tiny apartment in Adam’s Morgan to Niamey, Niger. 🇳🇪 f course I was young & disorganized & had spent the night before the movers came in Rehoboth Beach. When I unpacked months later there were dirty dishes from the sink
& a bag of moldy potatoes!
Here in my quasi construction site of a home in Venice I am still sorting through our things that have been in storage for almost 2 years
LOL I’m glad that at least I’m not alone! I once heard a horror story of a military family whose cat got packed up…and popped out of a moving box (very much alive) when their things were delivered one month later 😺 so at least neither of us has ever accidentally packed a live animal?
Bloomin' magnificent. Best of luck with the new direction.
I wish I could persuade more people of the physical/spiritual burden of unnecessary possessions. A few years back I ran a small removal van, so I helped dozens of people move house on the cheap. Mostly they were low-income families, often immigrants, and seeing their relationship with their few belongings was both uplifting and heartbreaking. Most would throw away what I thought were perfectly good beds, lamps, sofas and tables, but I was entering their lives at a moment when any unnecessary paraphernalia were secondary to far more important things: was the baby comfortable, were the contracts in order, could this be over in time for them to get to work tomorrow morning? Nearly every day I was with people dealing with intense stress and anxiety, struggling and mostly succeeding to keep their lives in order – and the less emotion that was absorbed by fretting about possessions, the easier the day went, and the more optimistic they seemed to be about their future.
It's cheesy, but our possessions possess us, as much as we possess them. To let go is to be unburdened.
Thank you, Theo! I really appreciate you sharing your experience with your removal van—there can be so much profundity in those seemingly banal experiences—and I find it really interesting that people seemed to be more optimistic the less stuff they had with them. I suppose the less you have, the less there is to worry about!
Exactly. I didn't love the work at the time, but looking back, much of it was a privilege.
Check out Peak Design!
I'm an insanely heavy packer, I usually bring a suitcase, duffel bag, and tote along with my purse. But I was able to do two weeks in Italy with my husband with one bag. They make really good products for people who wanna travel lightly. I was VERY skeptical lol but it worked out great.
Good luck with everything!
Ooh, looks right up my alley! Thanks for sharing this, Melissa!
This also felt like food for thought for small and big transitions in life. Such a good read.
☺️ thank you so much for reading, Janet!
We haven’t lived a nomadic life yet, but we’re planning to explore internationally in a couple of years, after I retire, taking 3-6 month chunks out of places to see where we might settle. Decluttering started last year; we haven’t yet been as ruthless as we will need to be. I suspect we’ll leave some goods in a storage unit: a few autographed books, a stereo system, some favorite kitchenware. My imagination is trying to make the leap between a fully furnished house and a life lived out of a couple of suitcases.
What an exciting adventure! Paring things back in a small doses over the course of a few years sounds ideal. I totally get you on the mental leap between furnished house and suitcase living—but the times I’ve had to live out of suitcases I ended up forgetting about a lot of the stuff I had in storage, which just goes to show how little we actually need.
That has occurred to me; I can see us making a pilgrimage to the storage unit after some time abroad and realizing we don’t want to keep 75% of what we stored!
I loved your article, Sam, and am looking forward to more stories about your life in Jordan.
:) thank you, Clarice! I’m super excited to dig in deeper and share more
The best to you in this next phase! I know the feeling and burden of dealing with possessions with meaning,over the decades, and mine are all within the United States.
☺️ thank you, Vicki! I hope you're doing well!
I too have long prided myself on the ability to pack light & go travelling with just a cabin bag. This has included os trips to the other side of the world for weeks long holidays.
Recently I was in a regional town here in my state of South Australia to scope a new project & for the first time I found myself less than enchanted with my accomodation.
Now, I am not a fussy person & quite happily do 3 star accom in Europe etc BUT this time I really felt it was empty, soulless even & it left me a little depressed.
I’m heading back there for a few days and I have made the decision to pack a little less lightly in a bid to nourish my space - a diffuser, oils, magazines, my pillow & quilt, decent tea & one of my teacups.
Sometimes a little more is required after all 🧡
I love that! I've also started sneaking in a couple creature comforts that don't take up much space...bringing decent tea is definitely a game changer. I like to ask for hot water on long flights and sip a nice earl grey or chamomile instead of the bitter airplane brew
Huge congrats! That’s a major decision. It took me a long time to leave my toxic job in Italy. Transitions are harder when your transitioning already on multiple huge fronts. Anyway, looking forward to traveling with you on your change! X
Thank you so much, Lolly!! I can't wait to share more :)
Beautiful! So excited for you! I had a similar experience. Here in Napoli our household goods arrived and they came up on an electric dolly from the window, four floors below. One of the boxes was just toilet paper and paper towels from one of our Costco runs. I was so embarrassed. I have never felt more greedy or American than opening up that box of paper towels. Like it came halfway across the world ???
Maybe it’s time I do a deep clean too…
Hahaha I totally get you. It feels so ridiculous, but it's genuinely difficult to edit things when you're already dealing with a massive move with so many moving parts!
As a fellow nomad, I can so relate to the importance of traveling light. AND I have what I call a “things issue.” I want to have nothing go to waste. And I want to have the exact right, most efficient things for the job. So I end up with more than I need, trying to salvage what should move on. It’s a bit of a contradiction to a life that is otherwise quite flowy.
The packed garbage made me smile. Have done something similar.
And love that you’re digging into the writing. We’re on a similar path.
I know what you mean! A couple months out from a big move, I start thinking about what I should stop buying and when so that I can optimize...then I end up having an internal conversation like, "what if I stockpile way too much and it goes to waste? But what if I buy too little and we run out??" It never works out perfectly, lol.
Right?! Even in my 60 square feet in Ruby the van, it’s a complicated (and tbh, at times, ridiculous) system, the stocking up and storing just so. Hahaha. Good thing it’s all an ongoing learning process. ;)
During our first ten years of marriage, we made 7 international moves. The first move, we packed everything we needed into a couple of suitcases. When our two kids arrived, things were a bit more complicated, but we preferred to “live off the land” and get what we needed in country or in the region.
When we moved back home for a couple of years, we barely had time to unpack before we moved from one US coast to the other. That time we used a moving truck. From there, I spent 10 years traveling internationally at least 200 days per year. I also rolled my clothes, and if I was in the field, didn’t worry about wrinkles. In town and for meetings, I used the shower rod to hang my clothes and let the shower steam get out the wrinkles.
Our last overseas move was for three years in a former Soviet republic. We were allowed a 20’ shipping container, but filled only a small corner. The rest was project supplies. We sold or gave away almost everything when we moved home.
The best innovation ever for me as a constant traveler was the invention of iPods and Audible. I must have been customer 4! I went from three or four books in my briefcase to an iPod and charger for a three week trip. I also was an early Kindle adopter and still have mine always ready to grab for a trip, long or short. A Kindle Paperwhite is 6 oz, and I take it with me on backpack trips, filled with books and field guides. Yay to traveler technology.
I am also a big Kindle fan!! All things being equal, I really prefer paper books, but I just can't justify so much extra weight in my backpack...and I love never having to be afraid of finishing a book halfway through a trip. I've got a whole library with me 🤓
On the PCT, there is a tradition of burning pages of a book as you read them to reduce weight, which is not a thing I can do. In fact, in the heavy days before Audible and Kindle, I always wrote the date I read a book, the place I read it, and other pertinent details. For instance, in my copy of Wendell Berry’s The Hidden Wound, I wrote that I read it on a beautiful spring morning in Amsterdam at the outdoor cafe in front of a very narrow hotel with the steepest staircase I ever ascended. I suppose one could do something similar with a Kindle, but it would not have the same richness.
Oh wow, I cannot imagine burning the pages I've read. I understand the need to reduce weight, but that doesn't feel worth it! Especially on the PCT, where I imagine you're doing deep reading in really beautiful settings and might, as you say, want to take notes on the pages...just feels wrong, lol
Kindle for the save.
Love this.
🤗❤️
Beautifully written, Sam! Your dad would be so proud of you -- not least, for recognizing that certain things are no longer bringing you joy and for having the courage to strike a new path. I admire you, and I'm excited to see how you blossom this year!
Thank you so much, Victoria 💞 your support means the world to me
Sam, please take it as the greatest of compliments that I left my sister a two minute voice message with the section about having to reinvent yourself in every new place because she is the one who up and moves every couple of years in our family.
This is beautiful. I haven't kept much from place to place, decluttering mercilessly, but then, I have the luxury that my moves are so close to each other, all within the same 3 hour drive radius.
Thank you, Noha—I’m so touched that you shared this with your sister ❤️ and I am envious of your ability to declutter! You’re a better woman than I lol
hahaaaa I'm not. I suspect that if my whole life changed every two years I would keep ALL the things.
😂 it’s the worst! You’d think these moves would feel like the perfect opportunity to clear things out, but it just ends up feeling like too much change all at once.
Absolutely. Every physical item takes on an emotional weight, becoming a talisman of sorts. It's symbolic.
I made my last (I think?) of 5 int'l moves in 2016, back to my home country. It was a reluctant move. I shipped more stuff than ever before, easily 3 times more, literally every single thing in the place. Looking back, I think I did that because subconsciously I didn't want to let my old life go.
Yes! It’s like there’s a little voice in your head telling you that if you just surround yourself with all the same stuff, maybe things will feel the same…and they never do.