My first bit of downsizing happened when my wife of 45 years died fifteen years ago. My kids were a godsend. After 24 years of Mary Ann's Parkinson's disease shaping our lives, I was ready to take next steps. My daughter handled the clothing and, always sensitive to what I wasn't ready to let go. Eight years later I was ready to sell the house and downsize to a large one room loft apartment. Again, my kids helped. The size of the apt determined that the vast majority of what was in our 1800 sq ft townhome had to be sold or given away. The next step was smaller because of the downsizing that had already been done. I decided to get rid of the rest of my belongings and downsize to my backpack with which I had been traveling overseas for a couple of months a year for about ten years. Each time I was ready for the next step. Without intentionally preparing for the specific next step, I did precisely what made the next move possible. The first decision was out of my control, the loss of my wife. The next came after nurturing wanderlust in manageable bites the need for a house diminished. The last bite was a relatively small one since by then there was only one large room of stuff to shed. I recognize this comment does not provided specific tools that might be helpful. It is just a sketch of how the downsizing went. While not one technically (only use the 90 day visitor visa), I am functionally a digital nomad, also with two carryons, my backpack and electronics bag.
I cannot agree more on doing an estate sale. Time is money and I couldn't fathom spending all that time just to get a little more money...maybe. Not to mention the hassle of listing everything individually and all the interaction with non-serious buyers. It just wasn't worth it for us.
Incidentally, our estate sale worked a bit differently. The company took care of everything post-sale (donated what didn't sell to the charity of our choice, and threw out the trash). They even brought a house cleaner in so the house was ready to be shown as a rental the next day. Once we left the house ("Leave your coffee cup in the sink!") we never returned until 6 years later when we went back to sell it.
That "Goodwill" you did sounds crazy!!! I can't believe went crazy for all that stuff, but, well, yes, I can!
It was fantastic
But you've provided exactly that-- evidence that Nomad Life is attainable, one step at a time. Congrats on getting to your dreams your way.
My first bit of downsizing happened when my wife of 45 years died fifteen years ago. My kids were a godsend. After 24 years of Mary Ann's Parkinson's disease shaping our lives, I was ready to take next steps. My daughter handled the clothing and, always sensitive to what I wasn't ready to let go. Eight years later I was ready to sell the house and downsize to a large one room loft apartment. Again, my kids helped. The size of the apt determined that the vast majority of what was in our 1800 sq ft townhome had to be sold or given away. The next step was smaller because of the downsizing that had already been done. I decided to get rid of the rest of my belongings and downsize to my backpack with which I had been traveling overseas for a couple of months a year for about ten years. Each time I was ready for the next step. Without intentionally preparing for the specific next step, I did precisely what made the next move possible. The first decision was out of my control, the loss of my wife. The next came after nurturing wanderlust in manageable bites the need for a house diminished. The last bite was a relatively small one since by then there was only one large room of stuff to shed. I recognize this comment does not provided specific tools that might be helpful. It is just a sketch of how the downsizing went. While not one technically (only use the 90 day visitor visa), I am functionally a digital nomad, also with two carryons, my backpack and electronics bag.
I cannot agree more on doing an estate sale. Time is money and I couldn't fathom spending all that time just to get a little more money...maybe. Not to mention the hassle of listing everything individually and all the interaction with non-serious buyers. It just wasn't worth it for us.
Incidentally, our estate sale worked a bit differently. The company took care of everything post-sale (donated what didn't sell to the charity of our choice, and threw out the trash). They even brought a house cleaner in so the house was ready to be shown as a rental the next day. Once we left the house ("Leave your coffee cup in the sink!") we never returned until 6 years later when we went back to sell it.
The FB Marketplace fiasco of buyers not showing up and then nickeling us enough!