The Burden of Possessions

Owning stuff is heavy - mentally and emotionally heavy.

As we prepare for our journey ahead, we find ourselves required by shipping container constraints and project objectives to lighten our load.

Here's why:

1. We are moving to the other side of the globe to travel up and down a country that stretches over 4,000 miles. We will be carrying our belongings with us in the back of our car and camping and renting along the way (although some stuff will be left in storage in Santiago).

2. To get to Chile, we are sending everything we own (or nearly so) across the ocean via a 20 foot shipping container. For perspective, a 20-ft shipping container can hold 48,000 bananas, 200 full size mattresses, 50-60 refrigerators, or 400 flat screen tv's (source). Okay, I know that's not helpful - I just really enjoyed finding those numbers. For real perspective, a 20-ft. can hold all the contents of a 1,200 square foot apartment.

3. We live in a 2,400 square foot home and own a Subaru Tribeca. Our car will fill up roughly two thirds of that container. Which leaves approximately 12 square feet left for all our stuff. "Our Stuff" can be defined as everything we've purchased, collected, or been gifted over the course of our lives.

To put it simply, we need to get rid of a lot of crap.

We've gone through our house several times at this point, discussing what we will take and what we will leave. But these conversations are tough. Deciding to downsize the stuff we've accumulated over the years is both freeing and a little bit terrifying. I mean, do we really want to put ourselves in a position where we have to start all over again?

I'll let you know when we figure it out. In the meantime, I'll leave you with the vague sense of unease and anxiety that we are currently feeling.