Posted December 9, 2016 – Narrated by Carmen
In this season of gratitude and giving, we’re thankful for this barebones existence.
In good-to-middlin’ health, no walls to paint, no deadlines to meet or personal responsibilities beyond caring for each other and a psychopathic chihuahua…
and our truck and trailer incurring no serious damage over the last 5,252 miles, we feel most grateful.
If “old age ain’t for sissies” I speculate, the vagabond life may be good training for future convalescents.
Quick adaptors keep a loose grip, go with the flow, don’t fret the details. Every two weeks we’re in a new place with different weather, terrain, dialect, marketplace and laundry.
Our only constants are Beauty, The Beast, our medications, Jim’s shirt and our rituals.
Every time Jim unhitches the rig and steps into Beauty he says, “You know, this place looks a lot like the one in … (fill in prior location).” I respond, “And that Tommy Bahama shirt looks a lot like the one you wore in … (fill in prior location).”
“Living the Dream.” Loaded phrase.
Visions of Tahiti dance in my head. For someone else, the perfect earth-life might include a yacht, or living near the grandchildren, or healing people in underserved areas.
But, who doesn’t fantasize about doing exactly what you want, when and where you want to do it?
These days, average people can live fluid lives in ways and in circumstances only the wealthy and powerful could manage a few decades ago.
Without porters, servants and guides, Jim and I can dine and sleep and take hot showers in spectacular locations where the nearest services are hundreds of miles away.
Our old magic show touring skills keep us frosty.
We can pack, hitch and move in under an hour – that’s handy for sudden weather changes, or to move short distances for a better swimming hole or view.
The key is to travel light.
We loved our conventional life in a house in a community where we claimed identity with a place.
Someday, we may go back to that lifestyle, but – as recent converts to the simple life – we’ve sworn off heavy baggage. We’re out of the woods and into The Clearing.
Going light was almost a deal-breaker for our living in Beauty plans.
For a year or so, we struggled with three basic philosophies:
- Keep one of our properties and sell the other. Put our stuff in storage.
- Sell both of our properties, buy a condo, rent it out. Put our stuff in storage.
- Just sell everything and go. No storage.
The price of storage initiated the leap to the third choice.
Jim would rather walk a mile than pay for parking, so renting space for stuff we may never unpack had low appeal.
However, thinking about storage was a perfect excuse to not have to deal with our stuff.
With Star Trek phasers not ready for market, we discussed all possible solutions to make our stuff evaporate before our eyes – and serious planning sessions about what to do gives one the sensation of actually making progress!
Ah, those were the days – active procrastination over beer and nachos.
We pursued this strategy with gusto … until that fateful weekend when we finally crossed the threshold to the dreaded garage and (ugh!) opened boxes and peeked inside.
Surprise! It was actually, kind of fun – like visiting an old aunt. Sweet and time-consuming.
And, how wonderful to discover that our stuff wasn’t worth keeping!
It was like arriving to school on test day to see the school had burnt down.
Our energy increased.
No guilt. No waste. It’s just junk! Haul it off!!!
But sometimes, queasiness and tears brought The Clearing to a halt. We put those things aside to deal with later … usually photos, wedding gown, baby toys.
Eventually, scanning solved most of the agony – and now we revisit images of these items more often as we prefer to view them on-screen.
The Clearing began to teach us how we’d already let precious things go when we had no choice in the matter – parents, friends, family, pets. So, it’s okay. Dying isn’t the only way to part with stuff – and you don’t have to do it alone.
Just take photos of the girl scout award sash and let Jim put it someplace where you’ll never see it again.
Make a digital copy of the old reel-to-reel of Grandfather playing the harmonica on the porch in Alabama in the 60’s and allow the service to dispose. Scan Jim’s love letters and shred them – no, let Jim shred them.
Once we began to see the results – namely, that cataloging our stuff in a digital archive meant we weren’t erasing our lives – we were preserving it.
Once that sank in, we happily released our material goods almost completely and never looked back … until today, because that’s what this blog is about, and the question people ask most, “How’d you do it?”
Those two strenuous and challenging years, letting nearly every worldly possession go from staple gun to two-on-one was certainly not a period we’d want to relive, but today we’re proud of our method and management of the project.
Here’s how we did it.
Scanning, first. Photos, photos, photos and documents, newspaper clippings, writing projects, diaries, school projects, images and paraphernalia going back fifty years.
Jim digitized all our music CDs into our Macintosh program, iTunes, then donated the CDs. We kept most of our DVD movies for the road, but got rid of the large boxes.
Then, dealing with clutter: Craft items, paint and art supplies, beads, fabric, floral supplies, wire cutters, glue guns, holiday decor, board games, cards, scissors, scissors, scissors, ribbon, ribbon makers, curling ribbon, fabric ribbon, Christmas ribbon, ribbon-ribbon
Books were next. (more than 1000)
- Milton, Merton, Faulkner, Capote, Donne, Dickens, Don Quixote,
- Koontz, Dahl, J.K. Rowling, Shelly, Chardin, Dostoyevsky,
- The Life And Times of Calamity Jane, Blake, Mother Theresa, Hugo, King,
- Ursula Le Guin, Wendell Barry, The Love Lizard Of Melancholy Cove, Clancy,
- Clancy, Buber, Clancy, Clancy, Irving, Chekov, Shakespeare, Clancy,
- The Elements of Style, The Secret Of The Hidden Staircase, Markings, Simone Weil,
- Where The Sidewalk Ends, Hildegard, A Walk In The Woods, To Kill A Mockingbird,
- Clancy, Irving, Clancy …
OMG. The Thursday yard sales. Cookie cutters, candy molds, cake pans, cookie pans, and pans for pans, double boilers, bread makers, juicers, mixers, mandolins, grinders, graters, corers, processors, pourers.
On to the dining room:
Stone ware, porcelain ware, silverware, trays, creamers, ladles, candlesticks, gravy dishes, chafing dishes, table linens, top linens, under linens, linens for linens, glasses, glasses, glasses, pitchers, pitchers, pitchers
Living room:
Futon, desk, desk accessories, printers, scanners, fax machines, routers, chairs, tables, file cabinets, storage cabinets, paintings, lamps, movie projectors, stereo systems.
Bedroom:
Lamps, quilts, electric blankets, shower caddies, hot water bottles, hair dryer, heating pads, inflatable neck pillows, knee pillows, body pillows, back pillows…
The clothes: five closets worth … the mink coat, the Akido Gi, the tux, the studs, the pumps, the shoes, the insoles, the shoes, the Shoe-Cabinet-Of-All-Shoe-Cabinets, the room for the Shoe-Cabinet-Of-All-Shoe-Cabinets which we call the garage.
The 3rd story deck:
Patio table and chairs, lamp heater, BBQ.
The back yard:
Fire pit, chairs, canopies, dozens of plants, outdoor lights, stained glass.
The garage! The tools, the wood, the cans full of paint, yard equipment, fertilizers, fishing poles, planks, bikes, surf boards, inflatables, camping gear (tents, lanterns, shower, stove, etc.), buckets, buckets within buckets, nests of buckets … rakes, shovels, post holer, tamper, hamper, bumper guards …
We sold much, but donated to charity or gifted to friends and family at least 98%.
We’ve started three businesses, changed jobs several times, and liquidation is the hardest thing we’ve ever done – even though we had practice with Jim’s mother’s household and had observed several friends attack the job – in different ways but similar results – for their deceased or disabled parents.
We knew what we were in for.
By far, the toughest part of liquidation was to accept that our stuff was basically worthless. Surprisingly, this was tough emotional work.
Our prized possessions were almost impossible to sell because they were so “special.”
Selling a cardboard box full of used writing utensils for $20 is a breeze, but finding a buyer for our rare books and signed lithograph was so time-intense, we opted to appraise and donate to local charities.
Okay, it was a dirty, stringy, dusty, gritty, squishy job – kind of like gutting a sperm whale and sorting it out by hand – but it was worth every moment. Take a look at us now: a clean, lean traveling machine!
The image below is a mosaic of more than 600 photos of possessions we sold, donated, gifted, recycled or threw away. To see the individual photo details, click the “+” or “–” buttons, or on the image and zoom in.
Photo mosaic by: Living In Beauty @ Mosaically
We have NOTHING in storage ANYWHERE. If it doesn’t fit in our Airstream or truck, we don’t own it!
UPDATE: Click here to see how we store our stuff in our truck.
UPDATE: Click here to see the inside of our Airstream.
If you want to see our exact route, click here.
*photos in this post (unless otherwise noted) were taken and copyrighted by Living In Beauty.
I just liquidated my storage last week. I have had storage for 20 years. I got rid of everything as well. My 600 sq ft apartment is perfect in Golden Hill. It is a monstrous undertaking but liberating once it is completed. Living light is a way of live.
Freeing and simple. I love it. You are living I’m beauty: light and simple!
Congratulations on your downsizing project, Teresa! It is a way of life, isn’t it? A different kind of discipline, and quite rewarding. Thanks so much for following.
xoxo,
LIB
Great blog! I’m glad you had space for 6 pounds of popcorn……ya gotta keep the important things in life! We’re looking forward to seeing y’all again sometime soon.
Larry
Yep, no matter what you get rid of, you have to keep the important stuff, and popcorn is way up there on the “important scale.” We do hope to “see you on the road”
Dad just arrived in his awesome new camper van!!! Let’s make plans to get together at your Thai place!
I secretly become you as I read your beautiful stories. I, too, long to be free of the “stuff” and am so encouraged by your freedom and resolve. Things should not have as much power as we give them. You are a teacher – and I am learning. Thank You.
Susan
Hey Susan! I love knowing that you’re with us! Parting from friends in San Diego was the toughest part of this and that’s why we started the blog. Every time we post, we check the time in San Diego.
Maybe I’ve been reading too much anthropology lately (the election revived my life-long interest in origins and human evolution) but I can see how I’ve always struggled between the hunter-gatherer and the farmer – though, I lean more toward nomadic (maybe acting has something to do with that). Ancient people could do both things, depending on the circumstances, but it’s much more complicated for modern people to break loose.
I read yesterday about a dig where an early farming family of eight individuals, living near a hunter-gathering community of over 150 individuals, had more than twice the artifacts.
Whenever the moon comes out nice and full, I think about you and what’s coming up in your garden.
xoxoxo
– Carmen
What an awesome post. “Dying isn’t the only way to part with stuff” is an excellent line – I will have to borrow it. We did the same thing when we hit the road two and a half years ago. We also went cold turkey with no storage. I also adore your mosaic, what a genius idea.
Hi Kate! Love your blog! We love Borrego (one of our favorite places) and will be staying near Coronado in San Diego for at least a month summer 2017. Hopefully, we can meet-up sometime!
Cheers!
LIB
Lately I’ve been spending way too much time removing wallpaper and repainting rooms.
Conclusion: Brilliant Move!
We reached our limit, Bill! Not saying we’ll never go back but so far we haven’t missed our weekend Home Depot shopping trips.
Excella Forever,
LIB
Oh my, I am 52 and it is now that I realize your thoughts are timeless and to be considered in depth. We don’t mean to clutter; it’s just so wasteful the way I consume. Today is when it stops. Thanks
Dr. Dan
ps (What a beauty. Way to go. Take off)
Thank you for your kind comments, Dr. Dan. We’re all learning. Best to you. Enjoy the holidays!
LIB
We’re prepping to start prepping for this task. We’re going to spend 5months on the road to make sure we can hack it before leaping but then….
anyway, I just love the mosaic. What a perfect way to dispose of the physical while retaining the memory triggers. The memories triggered by seeing touching holding our things is what makes it hard for me to dispose of the physical. Photographing and then the mosaic – perfect. Thank you.
Michael, So sorry it took so long to respond to this. The mosaic went down last week and we found out that the host got hacked. It’s back up today. Anyway, I noticed that we’d overlooked your post. How’s the project going for you? Progress?
Thanks for being with us!
LIB
Hello! I just found your blog last night….stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading it….loved it! My husband and I have been wanting to live a similar lifestyle (though in a 36 ft. Class A, gas, MH) leaving CA (with its high cost of living and politics not to our liking)..knowing there is more to life than “perfect weather” …we live by a beach also…hard to leave that…but not the nearby ghetto where there are stabbings all too often! I have to leave to save my sanity! Ha!
We hope to begin all the processes next year but we will never be as organized as you! But reading your blog has given me lots of ideas and confirms to me that “things” have owned us! My husband has a harder time getting rid of things…it won’t be pretty!
Thanks for all the great information and details! I look forward to following your travels an learning more about being on the road!
Patti Suttle
Welcome to LIB, Patti! So happy to have you with us. We had to revisit this post today because we discovered the mosaic at the end had disappeared – but Jim just put it back up. You might want to check it out, above.
Before LIB, we’ve always lived on the beach, within walking distance of the beach, or at the most a fifteen-minute drive away from the beach – so, I understand the trepidation of parting with that comfort. Loosening our grip was a slow process.
You have so much to do! I hope your efforts are a blessing to you and your husband. We had our hair-raising moments, but overall our communication skills were heightened during that period. Confrontation with loss is so difficult – especially at the first. Being gentle with ourselves, rewarding our efforts and sympathetic collaboration was a bonding experience that continues to serve us every day. As the stuff slowly diminished our focus on each other increased.
We’re looking forward to hearing more from you.
Safe Travels!
LIB
Yes, the parting is the hardest part. I’ve been paying for storage for a couple of years now and I’m finally starting to get rid of almost everything that ties me to a life that no longer exists. I too have been adventuring. You can follow my next adventure at http://www.AKtoCabo.com Thank you!
How do you get the locations written on your pics?
Diane, thanks for asking the question. We publish our blog on a platform called “Word Press.” One of the features of Word Press is it allows us to place comments, or locations, on any photo we use on the post. The comment on the photo is not actually ‘on’ the photo, but the way Word Press displays it, it looks like it is. Hope this helps to answer your question. Safe Travels!
I will treat myself, while I grade Common App essays from my Covid-19-affected and very precious juniors, with one blog post per every five papers today.
I started with how you parted with your stuff, and I think it probably matters less to you today that it did a few years ago, but know this: I will visit your beloved and well-curated books in Coronado this June when I’m in SD visiting my grandkids. Can you recommend one of your favorites?
Lesa, so glad you found Living In Beauty. We hope you enjoy reading the blog posts as much as we like living this lifestyle and writing about it. You are correct that we actually have fewer possessions today, 1,400 days later, than when we started out. We have found joy in a simpler life and owning fewer “things.” When we said we donated our books to the Coronado library, what that actually means is we donated them to the library’s used book department called “Second Hand Prose.” They, in turn, decide if a certain book goes into the library itself, is transferred to another library, or is sold at their used book store in the back of the library or each April at their book stand at the Coronado Flower Festival. So the chances of many or any of our books making it to the library’s shelves are probably slim to none. Many of our books may still be on the shelves of the used book store though, and one of our favorite authors is Thomas Merton. Safe travels and hope we meet someday on the road. Jim and Carmen
Loved this post especially the video of the magic show and all the pics of Jim’s favorite shirt. I believe I’ve seen him in this shirt. More than once. Anyway, we’re in the final stages of our final downsizing to get back on the road. We don’t have two years, more like a few weeks. It’s a difficult emotional journey. But after a year on the road and coming back to our “stuff”, we realized we can live without pretty much all of it. The off-loading of stuff definitely makes you lighter. Our kids are concerned and perplexed. They are in the acquisition stage of life and don’t understand. We are in the divesting stage of life. We don’t want them to have to deal with what I had to deal with when my folks passed away. A house full of 50+ years of stuff that largely had to be thrown away. There was so much of it I had to ask folks from Church to help. I said make three piles. Stuff that looks important from a family history point of view, stuff that looks worth keeping or selling, and everything else. Guess which pile was the biggest? Anyway, we’re still a bit in the woods but making our way closer and closer to The Clearing. Looking forward to it!
Hey Steve … Wow. You and Sue are in the thick of it. So many of our friends children don’t want their parents stuff yet they agonize about the family stuff going to strangers.
It’s all so emotional. The things that hold your memories are also holding back experiences that create new memories. It’s a deal you make and hope for the best. And you are giving the children an almost priceless gift by dealing with it now.
Oh boy. That Everything Else pile is a doozie. Be good to yourselves, stay safe, and when things get difficult just visualize that finish line – soon to come – when the last item leaves your hands …
free …
to do other stuff 😉
Safe and Happy Travels!
Carmen & Jim
Ok I can’t stand it! I am in love with you people. After binge reading thus far and the description and mosaic of stuff…I don’t feel so bad about all our stuff. We ain’t got that much anyway. Poverty thinking is hard to overcome. If there are people like you’ll out there this will be a blast. You two are lovely talented folks. Your blog was just what I needed to read as we are taking the leap in a year when I retire.
Diane, so glad you found us and that you are enjoying some of the posts. We sure love this lifestyle and currently have no plans to stop. Health would have to be the reason for us to change plans, but, knock on wood, so far we are still in good health (for old folks in their mid 60’s 🤪) Purging all our possessions was a fascinating process and since we have been on the road all these years, we have found that we are constantly evaluating what we have, tossing what we no longer need, and loving the feeling of gettin’ rid of stuff. Carmen is the artistic side of the blog being the writer and photographer. I am the technical side overseeing the website and marketing. It works for us. Congratulations on your decision to take a leap year when you retire. Maybe our paths will cross on the road some day. Stay safe out there and happy travels. Jim
Wow….. I’m impressed!! As you were listing all the stuff you liquidated I was nodding my head, “yup, yup, sounds like our stuff!” Bravo! I’m impressed!
Dana, thank you! Jim