St. Helena, CA
Those who have been with us (suffered with us?) since the early days will remember our extreme downsizing effort. In 2008, our challenge was to liquidate a four-bedroom house, two cars, a thriving wine shop and the ridiculous amount of stuff that filled them all up. By October 2010, we had ridded ourselves of the whole kit and the caboodle too, sailing away with what fit in a 38' boat.
Now, four years hence, I've made a bit of a cottage industry out of writing about my experiences.
In an article for Gannett's NowU.com, I talk about the weighty emotional toll of getting rid of all my stuff and offer retroactive advice to myself about how it might have been easier:
8 Steps to Free Your Home (and Life) of Clutter
There's always a back story, and in my case, it comes in the form of blog posts. In the article, I mention the measuring cup that made me cry and the bird's nest that held a hidden message about my own safety at sea. Now you can read the rest of the story.
Part two of the series details the actual nuts and bolts of how we disposed of all our stuff:
Secrets to Gifting and Listing All You Stuff
I mention frantically searching for a box to ship my office chair, and here's the whole hilarious story. Then there's the time I listed all our furniture on Craigslist, not expecting people to show up the same day to pick it up. And our poorly timed first yard sale on the hottest day of the summer and the second.
Those were intense days, full of hard labor and heavy dreaming. But oh how I love a story with a happy ending.
Those who have been with us (suffered with us?) since the early days will remember our extreme downsizing effort. In 2008, our challenge was to liquidate a four-bedroom house, two cars, a thriving wine shop and the ridiculous amount of stuff that filled them all up. By October 2010, we had ridded ourselves of the whole kit and the caboodle too, sailing away with what fit in a 38' boat.
Now, four years hence, I've made a bit of a cottage industry out of writing about my experiences.
In an article for Gannett's NowU.com, I talk about the weighty emotional toll of getting rid of all my stuff and offer retroactive advice to myself about how it might have been easier:
8 Steps to Free Your Home (and Life) of Clutter
There's always a back story, and in my case, it comes in the form of blog posts. In the article, I mention the measuring cup that made me cry and the bird's nest that held a hidden message about my own safety at sea. Now you can read the rest of the story.
Part two of the series details the actual nuts and bolts of how we disposed of all our stuff:
Secrets to Gifting and Listing All You Stuff
I mention frantically searching for a box to ship my office chair, and here's the whole hilarious story. Then there's the time I listed all our furniture on Craigslist, not expecting people to show up the same day to pick it up. And our poorly timed first yard sale on the hottest day of the summer and the second.
Those were intense days, full of hard labor and heavy dreaming. But oh how I love a story with a happy ending.
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| Leaving Manteo at sunrise, October 2010. |
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