How to Get Rid of Everything You Own & Prepare for Longterm Travel

Many people dream of breaking free of their lives to wander the world for a year or two, or perhaps even start over in a foreign land as an ex-pat. I’ve done both …a number of times.

In my youth, it wasn’t so hard. Life was just getting started and I didn’t have much in terms of responsibilities, commitments, or possessions. In my late 40s, it felt risky to choose the life of a homeless wanderer. Honestly, I was terrified, but I overcame my fear and doubt by consistently reminding myself why I was doing it.

 

My Why

I grew up in Santa Cruz, California on the Monterey Bay, a marine sanctuary in northern California. The area has a year-round lifestyle attracting an active, open-minded community. But when the tech boom exploded in Silicon Valley (just a 1/2 hour drive away, over the Santa Cruz mountains), ‘dot comers’ arrived en masse, bringing maddening traffic and astronomical housing prices with them.

Santa Cruz was named California’s least affordable city and #2 on the list of least affordable places to live in the entire USA.

As Silicon Valley’s fast-pace crept over the mountains to Santa Cruz, I began to yearn for the simple life I’d known in the tropics, where floral fragrances waft on balmy ocean breezes and the stars shine brightly over crystal clear waters

I want to wake every morning in awe of the natural beauty outside my front door. It breaks my heart to see the river I played in as a child now polluted and ignored. The land can’t support all these people and their cars!

For these reasons and more, I became disillusioned with Santa Cruz. Dissatisfaction is a great motivator for me because it forces me to take action.

I took extended vacations, exploring options for a new home, but there was always an expiration date to my travels, a job, or a rental property awaited my return. I was caught in a cycle of traveling only to return and save money for the next trip. This went on for years.

I wondered what would happen if I completely let go and was free to follow my intuition. The truth is, I was desperate to experience this. That was my “why.”

 

What about my stuff?

I never owned property, so my belongings provided my sense of home, where things were organized in a manner harmonious to me. But somewhere along the line, my stuff began to feel like a ball and chain, as though I were living in a finely decorated cage.

 

 

But letting go is not easy. I was attached to my stuff. Hoarders often claim they could easily walk away from it all. But in reality, they’re fantasizing.

“Don’t dream your life, but live your dream.”  ~ Mark Twain

 

I’d walk around my cabin asking   “How does a woman my age pare down to the contents of a backpack?”

I was completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of my task and at times I wished I would give up on this crazy idea. I was battling between my dream and my attachments. To resolve this, I had to dig into the root of my own happiness.

I’m not the first traveler to notice how many poorer countries are filled with radiantly joyful people. Possessions are not the root of happiness and deep down, we all know this.

After returning home from Bali, I stared begrudgingly at the 15 pairs of shoes in my closet. I’d just spent two of the most blissful months of my life with one pair of flip-flops.

There came a tipping point for me when the pain of remaining in my old life became greater than the pain of losing my possessions. And I knew that I’d be happier with failure than I would with regret, so I had to at least try.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”    ~Mark Twain

 

Going Alone

This adventure would’ve been easier with a friend to hold my hand or reflect my lifestyle choice, but I was going alone. My friends couldn’t relate and didn’t understand the life I longed for, nor what it takes to get there.

I worked hard and forced myself to learn, grow, be brave, and become a bigger person. I had to learn things that I’d always resisted and gain skills I’d previously been horrible at.

I moved forward one task at a time, not knowing if I’d actually go through with it. But as the project gained momentum, the path became clearer, and help appeared in unexpected ways.

“You will know a ‘Path With Heart’ when you have won with it.”   ~Carlos Castaneda 

 

 

The How-To’s

Stop Spending

It’s amazing how much unconscious impulse buying most of us do. When getting rid of everything, it didn’t make sense to buy more. So I stopped buying and used up what I already had. Now I only spend money intentionally.

 

Minimalism

It’s always made me nervous to own excess stuff. If it hasn’t been used in 6 months I get rid of it, and I don’t own anything I can’t pick up by myself. My bed, for example, was a firm foam ‘tri-fold’ with a memory foam topper, placed on a fold-out frame. It’s the most comfortable bed and the whole thing can be folded for storage.

I love living this way! I appreciate what I have and love the spaciousness. Everything around me is nice, useful, and has a purpose.

“Life is a bridge. Pass over it, but build no house upon it.” 

 

Where to Start

The first batch of stuff I got rid of through donations, give-aways, and yard sales. Feeling lighter and less burdened is encouraging!

Next, I got rid of my most treasured belongings. These items were too valuable (mentally and monetarily) to donate. Yet being non-essentials, they didn’t qualified for storage. I sold these items through Craigslist, eBay, and to friends and family.

After I got rid of my most prized possessions and found that I didn’t miss them, everything became easier. I began to trust the process and feel excited because every item released brought me closer to freedom.

“The spiritual path is a path of death, a path of loss. In the willingness to lose everything, even for a moment, there is the possibility of recognizing the eternal truth of who you are.”    ~ Gangaji

 

Start Early

Letting go was a process for me. The willingness to release my possessions came in stages. From time to time, I had to stop and let my anxiety subside before proceeding. Give yourself some time.

 

Time Management

I didn’t want the stress of doing everything last minute with an international flight looming, so I had to stay focused. When I found myself teetering on wasting time, I’d pull out the to-do list and get started on a project.

I was also working full-time to save money for my travels, so socializing was not a priority.

 

Becoming Tech Savvy

I’m the least likely person to become tech-savvy. I used to say “I’d rather be hiking in the forest than sitting in front of a computer trying to figure it out.” I didn’t touch a computer until I was 35 years old when a generous friend bought one for me. And I did indeed spend years in frustration trying to figure it out, and then I kept going.

Technology has completely changed travel. When I started traveling back in the day, we had to walk from one guesthouse to the next wearing heavy packs, searching for an available room for the night. We had no cell phones, no social media, Skype, WhatsApp, or any app. It was adventurous, but also very hard and sometimes dangerous. I have more than my share of travel horror stories. But the world is connected now like never before. Everything you need is at your fingertips, so learn how to take advantage of it.

 

Go Digital

I studied cybersecurity, encrypted my computer, and set up online banking.

I went through all my paperwork, file cabinets, books, binders, and old photos. I scanned what I needed and threw it all away (liberating!).

I then organized files on my computer for this information and backed it up on two external drives: one in my sister’s attic and the other I took with me.

After a lot of research, these are the products that I currently use and recommend:

 

Luggage

I used two carry-on sized bags:

A backpack which I took on the plane carrying all my valuables, electronics, and a change of clothes. And a hard-case roller that I checked, which carried toiletries and the rest of my clothes.

This system worked great for me. If I wanted to travel lighter at times, I’d put a lock on the roller bag and leave it in a hotel storage room.

Once you’ve gathered your gear and bought the right luggage, do a test pack (reality check) with absolutely everything you plan to bring.

I absolutely LOVE my Osprey Farpoint 40 pack. It’s so comfortable, durable and even looks good. Click on the photo to check it out:

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualified purchases, but I never recommend items that I don’t love and use myself.

 

 

Storage

Past travel experiences taught me that belongings left behind are a ball and chain. For me, a storage locker made no sense. The cost of a locker would’ve paid for everything inside the locker within 2 years’ time. Plus, I wasn’t sure I’d be returning to the States, and secretly hoped I wouldn’t be.

The only viable long-term storage in my eyes is free, at the home of a stable friend or family member. I didn’t think I had that, but at the last minute, my sister offered space in her attic for 4-5 boxes. This felt like a miracle because those last boxes of necessities would’ve been really hard to get rid of.

 

Update

In 2016 flew out of San Francisco with a one-way ticket to Thailand, a country I knew well. I then went to India for yoga teacher training right in the middle of a financial crisis. After six months in India, I got a job working aboard passenger ships. I was supposed to visit Japan on the way to my first job in Alaska, but unfortunately, I missed my flight.

In summer 2017, I worked in Alaska. After departing the ship, I was ready for some sunshine and flew to Costa Rica to swing in a hammock in the jungle and make plans for the next few flights.

From Costa Rica, I flew to Oregon and worked on a ship up and down the Colombia River. After disembarking I flew to Australia and spent Christmas and 2018 New Year’s on a road trip down the east coast from far North Queensland to Northern New South Wales. I absolutely loved the country.

At the end of January 2018, I flew back to California for a couple of nights to re-pack and then flew down to Baja California to spend Spring visiting grey whales off the coast of Mexico. After that, I’d planned to spend summer in Southern France, but when I learned of a rental apartment right next to my sister’s house in Santa Cruz, I decided to take it.

That’s right, I’m back in Santa Cruz where I started. I don’t feel finished in the sense that I still want to find a more suitable long-term home, but I was worn out and I needed to re-group. I also couldn’t keep up working on ships and needed to figure out a new revenue source.

I’ve been enjoying a normal life and have ZERO regrets. I bought a car and a bike and a small DSLR camera so my blog can have better photos than my old iPhone 6. Otherwise, I’ve remained minimalist. My life is better than it was before.