When we booked our one-way tickets to Bangkok, 7 weeks seemed like plenty of time to prepare for this journey. We made the agreement that we would get rid of all of our “stuff” – leaving a few storage containers with our parents – and move across the world with just two bags each. Can’t be too difficult, right? WRONG! Not only did I have my apartment in St. Pete to clean out, but I still had an entire roomful of stuff at my mom and dad’s house. Bringing Charlie with me to my parents to help me clean was probably the best thing I could have done. It’s so much easier for someone that has no sentimental attachments to toss it in the trash. If he hadn’t been there, I would still have a full room of stuff. I felt so much better after it was all said and done though. It was exhilarating to eliminate the extra baggage in my life!
How We Sold ALL of Our Possessions
We ended up having a yard sale two different weekends. Our family and friends joined us and brought plenty of food and beer. Our yard sale turned into quite the party and we really enjoyed spending time with everyone in our last few weeks. However, we quickly realized how hard it is to sell your stuff. You tend to think your own stuff is worth much more money than it is. It makes it very hard letting these things go for $1 – because that’s all anyone wants to pay for anything at a yard sale! By the second yard sale though, we were just giving everything away. We were over the haggling. Over the games. Over the heat. We just wanted to get it out of our sight and out of our lives so we could enjoy the rest of our time in the States. Charlie put some of the more expensive items on eBay and we put all of the furniture on Craigslist. Timing was in our favor. In the last day or two before we left, we managed to get rid of Charlie’s truck, moped, my bed and his couches. And whatever didn’t go, we dropped off at the key training center. Finally – we were done! Time to pack….
Moving to Thailand
We had four large suitcases to fill and each bag could not exceed 50 lbs. We began stuffing and weighing our bags to make sure we were within our limits. Crap. We were already creeping up on 60 lbs! Time to start eliminating. After weeding out more clothes, shuffling our clothes between bags, and adding a carry-on suitcase – mission accomplished!
