Best Laid Plans
by Jenn Lopez
Life changing decisions were being made almost daily, in addition to our things being sold or stored. There was a backlog of emails from random people of all kinds of dispositions in my inbox wanting to buy things. There were emails about storage unit pricing, policies, insurance, and closing out our utility accounts. Even our notice for our rental was given, and somewhere in all that chaos came the decision to do carry-on luggage. Carry-on luggage only, even though we’d be going through a variety of climates. Needless to say, things were getting out of hand, and we needed a plan.
Since we were doing carry-on luggage only, we measured for the strictest airline we could think of and checked those dimensions against the train requirements. Somewhere in between, we found the dimensions we needed and ran with it. We decided on one roller suitcase and backpack for each of us. We were packing for hot summer weather (Puerto Vallarta, with feels like 40 degree celsius) and cool fall weather, and it all had to fit in the suitcase. All the electronics and toiletries were going in the backpacks for easy access for security at the airports.
The plan was to try and live out of our suitcases while still at the house to make sure we had everything we needed and that everything we thought we needed fit in the suitcase and backpack. Easy enough right?
Well, decision fatigue is real, especially when you’ve been sleeping on an air mattress for a month. Remember the selling things too soon bit?… Well yeah the beds were gone, the dining room table and chairs were gone, everything was gone. The only thing left in the house that was of significance was the couch and that was going that week. Pure freaking chaos. Before long neither of us cared to make any decisions that weren’t of vital importance. The whole time we were selling and donating things, we kept thinking, we’re almost done.
It felt like the more things we had, the more decisions we needed to make about them. Cleaning, maintenance, whether we should sell, keep or donate the thing. To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement. And to know that we were feeling that overwhelm strictly from decisions about stuff. I mean the feeling of comfort when buying something new for your home is lovely, I just didn’t realize the flip side of it was so ugly until there was so much stuff that had to go at once.
As the house emptied, you could see, and feel, the difference in the house. We were in transition and on our way out. It was exhausting and uncomfortable but freeing. We started to notice the less stuff we had, the better we felt.
On our last day, the feeling we had walking away from the house, and the car, was amazing; total freedom. We were no longer concerned about if something got damaged, or if we needed to do this or that particular chore. Months of work, research, sweat and tears had finally led to this moment. It was finally out of our hands. If something happened, it would be next year's issue.
When we headed to the airport… Holy!! The relief we felt was unbelievable. We had done it! We had packed up our lives and were heading out with our now 9 year old for 9 whole months with freaking carry-on luggage. We felt free and that felt amazing. The hard part was over. We were going on an adventure.