One of the tricks of our trip has been trying to figure out how we take our relatively little, but abundantly jam-packed house and pack it up for our year abroad. Thankfully we have rented it furnished which has saved many hours and dollars of packing and storing. The fine people at Goodwill have graciously accepted a steady stream of "perfectly good stuff". More fine people who graced our "rain date" garage sale also relieved us of some big ticket items (I'm glad I never have to see that green chair again!). And there have been some major drop offs to Peterborough and Balliol Street where the more precious cargo -china, photo albums, my beloved stereo - will lurk for the year.
As well, we have rented space in one of the local self-storage depots which has proven to be both worthwhile and, dare I say, fun. While the space ain't cheap, it is quite close and has allowed us the freedom of carting things over in little trips between groceries and the beer store. And while our first container was a tad small - the new one, I hope, has provided us with enough space to store everything we think we will still want in a year - though I think there is still stuff in there that Goodwill or the garage sale could have had!
The fun part relates to the kids. Part of the challenge of this trip has been to get the kids excited without freaking them out too much. How do you try to purge half your sons' toys, their bed, shelves and bicycle and in the same time sell them on the joy of the Australian outback? There was a moment last week where Alex was pleading with us to pack a certain toy shelf in our backpacks - as opposed to leaving it all alone in the darkness of the storage unit. Broke my heart.
So the trips to the storage container have become a little therapeutic. We get to ride on the trolley, open the combination lock, help dad choose the best places for the toys to be stored, watch the automatic door, etc. Small things, but when you're experiencing these moments through the eyes of a fairly perceptive 5 year-old, every trolley ride counts!
Another challenge that does not need full public disclosure has been the negotiation between the Purger and the Pack Rat. Now don't get me wrong. I am right into "the great purge of 2008" and feel liberated by the lack of stuff in my life. However, there have been moments, classic male vs. female moments, where it took me awhile to come around to wanting to get rid of that old leather jacket or the 1993 MOMA Impressionist Art Exhibit Poster - purchased, mounted, and stored in the basement by yours truly for the past 15 years. These are tough decisions and depending on one's mood -they can seem to be life or death. Though I have had a few small victories, Linton has won the lion's share of these negotiations, largely due to her ability to think on her feet, hit me with five good reasons to every one of mine, and to play the practical card which seems to trump my sentimental one every time. So be it. Like so much of this process, ultimately this adventure is all about how to get our "big" lives crammed into seven little bags.
So, finally, that is where I will end today. Seven little bags. After consulting airline baggage rules for oversized and overweight baggage we have given up figuring out whether we will meet their archaic, complex, and recently more expensive restrictions - and so we're just "going for it". Having had little success figuring out the real timing and cost to shipping a package - Canada Post has been completely useless in this regard - we are going to simply pay the extra costs of bringing it all on the plane with us. After all, what I continue to say to anyone who asks is - what do we really need? Clothes, a passport, computer, money, and then....what? Our place in Melbourne is fully furnished, we have a little extra cabbage to buy the boys a thing or two for their rooms, and so, we continue to ask ourselves - what can't we live without for a year?
The answer is quite simple - nothing. Anything that has not been sold, stored, given away, or thrown out - is what will go into our seven little bags. And all we will need after that is what Australia will provide.
Then, just maybe, we will buy an eighth bag Down Under. And we will fill that bag with the memories we will all want to store - the Purger and the Pack Rat alike - for a lifetime.
As well, we have rented space in one of the local self-storage depots which has proven to be both worthwhile and, dare I say, fun. While the space ain't cheap, it is quite close and has allowed us the freedom of carting things over in little trips between groceries and the beer store. And while our first container was a tad small - the new one, I hope, has provided us with enough space to store everything we think we will still want in a year - though I think there is still stuff in there that Goodwill or the garage sale could have had!
The fun part relates to the kids. Part of the challenge of this trip has been to get the kids excited without freaking them out too much. How do you try to purge half your sons' toys, their bed, shelves and bicycle and in the same time sell them on the joy of the Australian outback? There was a moment last week where Alex was pleading with us to pack a certain toy shelf in our backpacks - as opposed to leaving it all alone in the darkness of the storage unit. Broke my heart.
So the trips to the storage container have become a little therapeutic. We get to ride on the trolley, open the combination lock, help dad choose the best places for the toys to be stored, watch the automatic door, etc. Small things, but when you're experiencing these moments through the eyes of a fairly perceptive 5 year-old, every trolley ride counts!
Another challenge that does not need full public disclosure has been the negotiation between the Purger and the Pack Rat. Now don't get me wrong. I am right into "the great purge of 2008" and feel liberated by the lack of stuff in my life. However, there have been moments, classic male vs. female moments, where it took me awhile to come around to wanting to get rid of that old leather jacket or the 1993 MOMA Impressionist Art Exhibit Poster - purchased, mounted, and stored in the basement by yours truly for the past 15 years. These are tough decisions and depending on one's mood -they can seem to be life or death. Though I have had a few small victories, Linton has won the lion's share of these negotiations, largely due to her ability to think on her feet, hit me with five good reasons to every one of mine, and to play the practical card which seems to trump my sentimental one every time. So be it. Like so much of this process, ultimately this adventure is all about how to get our "big" lives crammed into seven little bags.
So, finally, that is where I will end today. Seven little bags. After consulting airline baggage rules for oversized and overweight baggage we have given up figuring out whether we will meet their archaic, complex, and recently more expensive restrictions - and so we're just "going for it". Having had little success figuring out the real timing and cost to shipping a package - Canada Post has been completely useless in this regard - we are going to simply pay the extra costs of bringing it all on the plane with us. After all, what I continue to say to anyone who asks is - what do we really need? Clothes, a passport, computer, money, and then....what? Our place in Melbourne is fully furnished, we have a little extra cabbage to buy the boys a thing or two for their rooms, and so, we continue to ask ourselves - what can't we live without for a year?
The answer is quite simple - nothing. Anything that has not been sold, stored, given away, or thrown out - is what will go into our seven little bags. And all we will need after that is what Australia will provide.
Then, just maybe, we will buy an eighth bag Down Under. And we will fill that bag with the memories we will all want to store - the Purger and the Pack Rat alike - for a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment