How To Declutter and Become a Minimalist For Full-Time Travel? This is How We Did It!

It took for me to put in my 30 day notice at my luxury apartment before I felt confident enough to start getting rid of things. I was excited before I submitted my notice, but when the reality kicked in that I was moving out I got butterflies in my stomach and my head felt numb. My excitement turned into nervousness as I walked back to my apartment with the understanding that I had to voluntarily get rid of all the opulent treasures I collected and took pride in.

I grew overwhelmed and didn’t know where to begin decluttering because I never felt the need to get rid of anything in the first place. I simply no longer wanted to feel the weight that comes with trying to control and hold on to stuff.

The Process

I had a fully furnished 2 bedroom apartment and I never considered myself to be someone with a lot of things however, it felt like I was a low-key hoarder that was good at hiding stuff when I started pulling everything out of closets and off the shelves. Knowing that the moving-out countdown had begun, I divided the month into priorities.

1. I set up my mailbox and forwarded my mail from the apartment.

2. I renewed my ID and bank cards, and set up e-statements and notified the banks that I would be traveling.

3. We planned events to spend time with the few friends and family we had in the area

4. Spent 2 weeks getting rid of everything

5. Then one week before our move-out day we bought one-way tickets to Thailand

Dejunking - Genius Sorting Hacks!

What an emotional rollercoaster! The only way I could get through this purging phase was if I made it meaningful enough to where it was fun. I grabbed 3 Rubbermaid tubs and labeled them, Sell, Donate, and Keep. (Actual footage of me cleaning out my closet)

After I made the mistake of having already pulled apart my home and had stuff open and all over the place, I started going through things in one room at a time. I would go into each room and pick a closet or drawer to work through first. The plan was to close the closet, and my eyes to think about what was inside. The rule was that if I didn’t remember what was in there…It had to go! In order for this to work, I had to write down whatever I could recall that was inside on a piece of paper and stick to my commitment of getting rid of it. That’s when I realized that if I couldn’t remember what was in there then I didn’t need it.

Sell

This was the fun and most motivating part of getting rid of things. I sold anything that I didn’t want to pay for to be stored because I wanted the smallest storage possible If I was going to end up paying for one. I made a list of items to sell and set a goal price to reach and spent a week selling items at resell shops and on Facebook. I’m glad that I did it this way because responding to inquiries and meeting up with people required a lot of my time.

Donate

What may be junk to you is someone else’s treasure.

The following week I donated items leftover that I didn’t sell. This part allowed me to imagine someone else scoring a deal at the goodwill and using my things more than I would. Donating to the goodwill and charities made it the easiest to let go of things.

Keep

I figured since my kid and I would be traveling and have 2-4 suitcases to fill with stuff, everything we kept better be worth keeping if I was going to haul it all over the world or put it in storage. During this process which was the hardest I focused on only keeping one of what was essential and in good quality! I had a lot of clothes and I would ask myself weird questions like, “How does this clothing make me feel?” “ Would I want to be buried in this?”. I oly kept the clothing that was light weight and I gave the rest away to friends.

What about my car? I was too busy that month to think about what to do with my car. The night that I locked the apartment door for the last time, I called an Uber and left my car key under the floormat and left for the airport. later a friend picked it up and stored it in her garage.

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