We'd talked about doing it for years. And finally, in August of 2018, we did. We said goodbye to our home in northern California. We've gone nomad.
Of course, we miss our old house, especially the fireplace and the bountiful fruit trees that grew near the garage. I miss the kitchen we designed together and my water-themed office with its wall of books. My husband misses the garage dance studio he and our son created. Still. We're glad we took the plunge.
It's been about five months now. Let me tell you a bit about what it's been like.
What Was Difficult: Paring Down Our Stuff
We sold, gave away, and threw away over half of what we owned before we hit the road. The rest is in two storage units. The first one is 10x15. The second is 8x5. Having two storage units makes it easier to rummage through our stuff. However, one large unit would have been cheaper. Way cheaper.
If you're thinking about going nomad and putting your stuff in storage, make a deliberate choice. If you want easy access to your stuff, get two units. If you'd rather just store your stuff as cheaply as possible, get one. And if you decide to rent only one unit do not overestimate how much stuff you will actually get rid of! We made that mistake. And now we're making lemonade. Sigh.
Thank goodness we had started doing annual spring cleanings about five years before uprooting. By the time we were emptying the house, we had already gotten rid of 80% of the stuff in the garage. We had also emptied an entire room in order to transform it into a meditation space, cleaned out our closets, and Mari Kondoed the kitchen.
My point is this: by the time we were trying to empty our house, it wasn't that cluttered and we were well-practiced at getting rid of stuff. Still, the final pare down wasn't easy. Getting rid of stuff is much more time-consuming than acquiring it.
The most difficult part of the final pare down was getting rid of our cleaning supplies. I had no idea we had so many. There were cleaning supplies under each sink in the house, in the garage, and in the laundry room. I gave away as many as I could. However, there were still two car trunks worth of cleaning supplies left. How do I know this? Because it turns out that where we live cleaning supplies are "hazardous waste." So, if you want to get rid of them you have to take them to a special facility one trunk at a time. And you have to make an appointment about a week in advance. If you are planning to go nomad, check out the rules in your town!
What's Been Easy: Living Out of Suitcases and Shopping Bags
During our first month on the road, we filled our car and our little trailer with stuff –– clothes, shoes, books, exercise equipment, toiletries, more clothes, CDs, more books. By our second month, we were driving around with about half that stuff. None of it missed. Turns out less is not more, it's just easier.
These days we're traveling around with two suitcases, our work bags, and several shopping bags worth of random stuff like extra toiletries, a first-aid kit, books and CDs, and cleaning supplies (can't live without 'em!).
I'm so happy having less stuff with me on a day-to-day basis. I can't wait to get rid of more stuff. We visit the storage unit occasionally and pick out more stuff to give away. But we can't reach most of what we no longer want. So, we'll have to wait until we put down roots again to finish paring down. I've learned more about what sparks joy by being on the road than I could have learned by living with Mari Kondo herself!
What's Been Difficult: The Time Between 11 am and 3pm
When we're not in our little trailer, we're in hotels or short-term rentals. Usually, check out is at 11am and check in is at 3pm. Since going nomad, our worst days have been the days between temporary homes. This is because we have all of our stuff in the car and nowhere in particular to be. These are the times when I miss our house the most.
What's Been Surprising: How little I care about having a real plan
We don't know when we'll put down roots again. We're enjoying living in an improvisational way. Let's see how long that lasts!
What's Been Wonderful: Getting to see friends and family IRL
We spent our first few months as nomads on a cross-country trip. We had two appointments spaced just weeks apart, one in Michigan and the other in Texas. So we decided to drive to each and visit as many people as we could along the way. My husband was able to meet relatives he'd only spoken with on the phone. Both of us were able to see friends we hadn't seen in years, and meet their children for the first time. Even though we've been working from home for years, this could have never happened if we still had our house to take care of.
What's Been Self-Finding: Working at staying centered as the world zooms by
My goal in life is to act from love. I began a meditation practice several years ago to help me with this. Meditating regularly makes it easier for me to be self-aware. When I'm self-aware, I have a clearer sense of what to do when I'm overwhelmed. This is important to me because I've learned over the years that being overwhelmed impedes my ability to act from love. When I'm overwhelmed I tend to act from fear.
Living on the road –– dealing with decision fatigue, unfamiliar places, tiny spaces, and uncertainty –– is often overwhelming. As I cope with these hazards, I learn about myself. I learn about the self that decided years ago to do her best to act from love. And, I learn how to help that self when she's scared.