April, 2024 – Stripping Down to the Necessities


Storing, Shipping, or Selling.

Those are the “buckets”, so to say, that everything of mine is falling into.

Some things are obvious – I’m storing my car, since I can’t ship or pack it… and I don’t quite want to sell it just yet. Some things are less obvious – Climbing Shoes, for example… am I going to get to climb during my trip, or can I safely ship them? Not sure… still working on that.

Most fall pretty easily into one of the buckets, though, so thankfully it’s just become a process of making it all happen. Cleaning up the apartment, physically putting things into the storage unit, and then actually posting and selling the things that I don’t plan on keeping.

It’s… freeing, though a bit melancholy as well. I’m able to step back and look at what I really need, and then get rid of that which I don’t really need. I’m being exceptionally strict about what I put into storage – This is an opportunity for me to make a clean cut in life, an extreme version of when I moved to Oregon, and I don’t want to anchor myself to the past too heavily through this transition. Major sentimental value items are coming with me… but the vast majority of unnecessary extras as getting sold off.

In parallel with this, I’m locking in exactly what I’ll bring with me on my adventure. I did a trial run of what I’d pack, back when I went to Oklahoma, so this side is fairly simply… it just requires a bit of finesse on the final bits, along with locking down what sort of checked bag I’ll be bringing, and what exactly I’ll be putting into it.

Snacks, contact lens solution, my first aid kit… It’ll be a light and small checked bag, to be sure.

And that’s the key here, right? Strip everything down to the necessities. Don’t bring more than I need… but don’t forget to bring the things that are critical. It’s not easy, especially doing this in both the material world (what pants do I bring?) and in the emotional world (what memories do I carry into this next phase?).

Neither has an easy answer… but thankfully I’m navigating it well so far. I have friends and family helping me out, along with airlines and trains and busses and boats helping keep me honest with what I’m carrying along.

At least what I’m carrying physically. The emotional side is a different battle entirely.