We’re very fortunate to be moving into a furnished apartment on campus at Mark’s new university, everything is there and we don’t need to bring our furniture. But how do you decide what things of sentimental value to pack?
We’ve got three basic groups: things to be stored in my lovely Mother in law’s basement, things to be craigslisted/gifted to friends/ thrown out, and things to be brought with us. We are limited to luggage ( up to 10 pieces each) and that puts us at a 50lb limit per box.
Of course we’re also moving with a 7 year old (who by the way is a champ about moving again and downsizing his toys) and in an effort to make such a big move easier for him, his various treasures and toys will be taking up the most of our packing space. We got these great footlockers to bring on the airplane that I saw on another blog about moving overseas. I was able to get all his legos into one footlocker with room and pounds to spare. He has given away a chunk of his toys, but he has some he’d like saved at Grandma’s too.
I have collected crafting supplies, kitchen gear, vintage pyrex bowls. None of which is practical for stuffing on a plane and bringing around the world. Some crafting stuff will be donated to teachers I worked with and friends, some will go to my MIL’s house for her and my nieces to use, and some will come with (I’m trying very hard to limit it to one footlocker!).
I think Mark has the easiest job with packing, in so much as he is very minimalistic in his nature. He’d have next to nothing if he could get his stubborn wife to stop collecting things. He has an easier time letting go of things too. I have a hard time letting go of the memories or emotional attachments I have to things, especially if they were a gift from someone. I have hung on to things way to long because they were a gift from someone I love.
So I’m trying to use this as a cleansing, get rid of things that hold me back from embracing the adventure ahead of me. It’s admittedly nice to have a stash of really important stuff at my MIL’s house (Alex’s childhood art work and things from school, my vintage pyrex, and a few other knick knacks I’m worried won’t travel well).
Traveling Expat Family 