Written by Elle

I know I’m in the minority here, but I love getting rid of stuff. I really do! Growing up, I was always so excited to fill old Abercrombie bags (yes, I unfortunately had a lot of these lying around…cringe) full of clothes for my younger cousin and savor the extra space in my dresser and closet. I loved cleaning out the pantry for my parents, and offered to de-junk the junk drawer more times than is probably sane. I will never be a hoarder, and truly believe in the art of minimalism and how it can change your life (though I am nowhere near being a true minimalist!).

Because let’s be real, I also love to shop! By no means am I “big shopper”, but I definitely get excited for a cute new scarf or a new piece of decor for my apartment.

But, when you’re moving to another country, getting rid of stuff is obviously a must! No more shopping until we have a Spanish apartment!

So we’re in the process of getting rid of I’d say well over half of all our belongings. Thankfully, when we moved a year ago from a 900 sq. ft. apartment into our 580 sq. ft. apartment we really downsized our possessions and absolutely loved how freeing it was to have less stuff in our lives. However, going from an entire apartment (no matter how small) to two suitcases each is proving to test my “I love getting rid of stuff” mantra. Thankfully I have Karrie to commiserate and help keep me focused!

Let me also tell you that B and I have options in this massive clean-out. My dad lives 15 minutes away and has offered to store whatever we need at his place. B’s parents live 2 1/2 hours away and have made the same offer. In theory, we could simply box up the things we have curated as “our stuff” over the last 6 years of marriage and have it all waiting for us when we return from our adventure. But truthfully, we didn’t necessarily want to come back to the same life after our adventures. We didn’t want where our stuff is to answer the questions that lay ahead like, “where will we live when we return to the States?” and, “when will we come back?”. We aren’t looking at this move as a temporary “trip” (oh man, that is a collective pet peeve when people say “Have fun on your little trip!”…We’re moving–not vacationing!) And we want to have the freedom to not be tied to a place by possessions. It’s a big world out there!

So, we’re ditching the stuff. Not all of it, but the replaceable, worn-out, unnecessary items that really pile up. I can safely say I’ve taken over 20 bags to goodwill at this point and have more trips coming! I’ve more than halved my clothing, and have been hard at work trying to pawn our old stuff off to friends and neighbors (strangers)…because who knows their neighbors anymore?! So sad! I’ve sold a few things and given away countless others, and I still have an apartment “full” of stuff! I guess whatever doesn’t get taken by the end of the month is going straight to goodwill.

So here’s a breakdown of what we are selling/donating/storing/keeping:

Selling:

• my car
• B’s car
• all furniture (except couches)

Donating:

• apparel
• all kitchen stuff (pots, pans, dishes, flatware, etc.)
• two TVs
• our bed
• bedroom furniture
• lamps, frames, decor
• books, dads, games
• all other misc stuff

Storing (thanks fam!):

• B’s motorcycle
• the best huge couch in the world
• a small adorable couch
• my Kitchenaid mixer
• one box of photos
• one box of other misc. memory things
• my old sea gals stuff

Keeping (bringing with us):

• -one backpack each of essentials
• -one duffel bag each of clothes
• -one small suitcase of electronics (laptop, xbox, cords, ipads)
• -one duffel of stuff
• stuff:
• -shoes
• -coats
• -scarves/accessories
• -my fave makeup/toiletries
• -cards and our cribbage board
• -a few books

Wish us luck! Time to free ourselves and live with less 🙂