The big unpack begins!
It’s been a full on week this week. We’ve hardly had chance to stop and think.
We’ve got our Smart car back on the road, after two years in a garage all it needed were four new tyres, a new battery, an MOT and some Tax – all for the grand total of £390. So now we don’t have to drive Dave around everywhere – which makes life a lot easier for parking thanks to the UK’s love of height barriers.
We picked up the keys to the house we’re going to be renting for the next few months and have spent most of the rest of the week clearing out the places we’ve been storing our things in. Both of our parents attics are now free of our stuff. The storage unit we’ve been renting is now free of our furniture and empty. We’ve almost emptied the attic in our old house, with the help of several of our friends, in which we found an airer with clothes still hung on it to dry! There is just another hour or so’s worth of stuff to get out of there, but our new garage is already pretty much full of cardboard boxes.
Looking around at all of the ‘stuff’ that was so important to us before we left it made my heart sink a little. Not just because we need to sort through it all, but because we’ve lived a minimalist, free lifestyle for two years and as Jay said, we’re now starting to feel cluttered again. In Dave we managed with two small chopping boards and two sharp knives – in our old life we had packed up a cardboard box full of chopping boards and around 30 sharp knives! But it is so easy to fall back into the old ways, we’ve already had a ‘discussion’ about just how much stuff I was slotting back into our lives, which was too much for Jay’s liking. And he’s right, we don’t need it all.
So keep your eyes on eBay and the Nottingham freecycle network as our big clear out continues – you might be able to bag yourself a bargain as we continue to de-clutter.
Our empty storage unit, our work here was done!
The big move in begins
Charlie makes himself at home on the sofas – just like old times!
(our camera is having a rest, so these are all take on my phone!)
Ju x
Good luck with the new life style. We disposed of all our worldly goods before we started out.We have looked at our storage and we are quite amazed at how little we have (about four or five plastic boxes).We have also begun a declutter of the van.In a few years time all we will have is a couple of rucksacks,yiks thats scary.We will keep in touch and good luck. Rob and Sue
I hope the raclette is staying! If you need a home for it let me know!!
Yes, we know the unpacking business. Our storage this time round has all of 75sq Ft, precisely so as to avoid all the clutter and unwanted. We would be lost in anything bigger than a 1 bedroom flat.
On the Aegean in northern Greece at present, £1.95 for a Bordeaux Red from Lidl’s. Wish you were here … cheers! :))
Hi Marius
Have a snifter of that Bordeaux for us mate! We had such a cracking time in Greece, perfect weather, awesome antiquity, cheap food, welcoming people, you name it. I hope you get the same or better! If you happen to bump into a Swede who has just fixed his motorhome floor, say hello from us.
I’m sat in the front room of our rental and it’s filling up nicely. The garage is rammed and there’s more stuff to bring over here, lots of it. I could happily have a wee fire. On the other hand all my tools are still to collect, and I’d not fancy burning them!
I’m pleased to report we are still TV less though. We have one, a 37″ thing which used to be big and expensive and now is neither. We both have a weird sensation when we sit on the sofa of reaching for the remote control, we’ve obviously conditioned ourselves over the years. I’ve started writing a book of our travels and read a couple of books already. It’s easy to use the TV time on other stuff, but time will be the test!
I’m really interested in how your time as a warden went, and how you feel now that you are fully nomadic again. Warden work is on our plan for some time in the future you see, so getting advice from the experienced would be rather helpful. Drop us a line at julieandjason@ourtour.co.uk if you get chance?
Cheers, enjoy Greece and take it easy on the sundowners! Jay xx
Yes, we know what you mean! We cleared out our house in the UK and only brought to Spain what would fit into our 2 cars. Sold the cars and bought Cervantes (our motorhome )and we’re really enjoying feeling decluttered. Hope you’re able to set off in Dave again soon!
Good luck guys xxx
We only spent a few months travelling (this time!) yet came back home and felt the same bewilderment with all of the stuff’ in all of the cupboards that we hadn’t missed at all while away. The autumn and winter will be spent clearing out… As for the TV, that could go, as it has already started to pull us both back in; it seems we are too easily conditioned to reach for the remote as soon as we hit the sofa! Enjoy your settled time, but do keep posting. :-)