From a 3 bedroom townhouse to a 5’x5′ storage unit
You can catch up on my first post about what went into my decision to “AmeriExit” [here]
Seventy-five days.
That’s how long I had between returning April 15 to leaving for Tokyo on June 29th. The challenge: reducing my life and the contents of my 3-bedroom townhouse into a 5′ × 5′ (5.8 m³) storage unit, medium suitcase, a backpack, and a carry-on duffel.
The car. The furniture. The dresses, blazers, dress pants, and blouses I hadn’t worn in years. Almost everything had to go.
Managing Logistics
Storage, finances, mailing addresses, legal documents, insurance coverage and all the details tied to Murphy moving in with Kai came with deadlines and dependencies.
Naturally I made an 84 task tracker ☺️- tasks, dependencies, color coding and Gantt charts to track all the moving parts.
One by one, as tasks were completed, the task statuses turned to a satisfying green marking closure.
The Great Liquidation
I toyed with keeping a safety net. What if I store the car? What if I keep my some furniture—the custom dining table, the bedroom set, the leather couch, that super comfortable Casper mattress. If I came home, I could pick up where I left off.
Then I did the math.
Renting a larger storage unit would cost about another $1,000 a year. Paying rent on furniture I wasn’t using didn’t make much sense. After a couple of years, would I even want those same pieces? The furniture went. The mattress went too.
The car was an easier decision. It depreciates, needs insurance, and Minnesota winters aren’t kind to vehicles sitting unused. CarMax gave me an online quote, bought it with no hassle, and even paid for my Uber home.
What ended up in storage? Photo albums and keepsakes, of course. One IKEA bag of summer clothes and another of winter clothes. Some bedding. And a surprising amount of kitchen / dining stuff. My Japanese and German knives. Good cookware. European wine glasses. The “buy it for life” items that would be expensive to replace but took very little space.
Kai took a few things he could use: my leather couch, the spare bedroom furniture, and my Herman Miller office chair. (It’s still a loan, Kai. I expect that chair back)
Everything else? Sold on Facebook Marketplace, donated or tossed.
One suitcase, one backpack and a duffel
Everything I was taking needed to fit into a medium sized suitcase, a 40L backpack and carryon duffel.
Clothes are easy to replace. Twenty pounds (9 kg) of scuba gear and underwater camera equipment are not. Neither is a year’s supply of medication, my laptop, adapters and cables, industrial-strength insect repellent, or, because mornings matter, my travel coffee press.
And of course, my knitting supplies. 🙃 Yes, I know how this sounds…
In the end, my new life fit into 88 pounds (40 kilos) of luggage and a duffel bag. I’ve probably forgotten some essentials and packed things I’ll never use but I’m ready for what comes next.
Knitting supplies for the tropics—what’s your version of that unexpected essential you pack for travel?
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Love,
Mimi & Jingles
your 84 point tracker is a document not unlike the one my husband Don uses to track our travels. there are so many moving parts— well done on keeping it organized! And your storage unit sounds like ours (a little bigger at 5×10 but mostly filled with just momentos and hard to replace stuff.). Did it feel good to “detox”? It did for me! looking forward to your next post! and if you want to hear about where we are, let me know and I’ll add you to the mailing list.
Your writing is so enjoyable! Thank you for the updates. Can’t wait for the next one. 🙂
Again congratulations
So courageous
It is amazing what you accomplished in 75 days! It was interesting, intriguing, and entertaining to read this post! I look forward to future posts!
💕Marie
Mimi, I remember sitting around talking with you about travel at Red Wing, about how you could cruise on merchant ships…
while I never got to do that… I did build my lake house up north. Love following a long on your adventures, takes me back to my travel in the military. Enjoy, and I look forward to reading.
Proud that you call it Mimi mn. You are ambassador of courage and wit!
I adore your 84-task tracker! And would have expected no less from you. I hope you’re enjoying your home!
From one PM to another …. of course a tracker!
Mimi
Such an adventurous decision but it sounds like the right one. I wasn’t surprised but the spreadsheet and Gantt chart. That’s so Mimi!
Thanks for sharing your journey and experiences with us. I can’t wait to travel along.
Have fun!
Bette Ann
I’m drinking my morning coffee and laughed out loud when I read you brought a coffee press. Love that prioritization! And I zoomed in and studied that spreadsheet! Might need to duplicate for kid going to college!
Which bag was the knitting supplies?
Jeanne, my six skeins of yarn and extra needles ended up in my checked suitcase but I had a drawstring bag of a pair of socks that I’m knitting that I took on the plane – nothing better than knitting and watching a movie on a long flight!