Tales of a 21st Century Gypsy
November 23, 2003. Finishing work, selling the car, buying the supplies, sorting my stuff, eeekk!
I’m starting to get a bit nervous about things. Mostly about how much I have to do before I can leave. About selling my car, and getting a good price for it. But I need my camera to photograph the car – and my furniture - and I need the photos to get the info on the web, and I need the website up before I run ads for the stuff, and I need the ads up before I can hope to sell any of it. And the camera hasn’t arrived. Catch-22.
Going through all of my things is a bit overwhelming as well. I guess it’s like any move – at the start you focus on what you have accomplished, and it seems easy and productive. But now I’m in a middle stage – realizing what an awful lot of stuff I do have, and how little will fit in my van. And realizing that though I’d love to reduce my things to what fits in the van, part of me likes what I have and doesn’t want to get rid of it – even if I never wear those shirts, or read those books. Yet when I chipped my favorite huge red bowl that I had fully planned to pack and keep, I hardly had a regret at pulling it out, taping on the biggest chip, and putting it on the “give-away” shelf. I wonder whether I could get rid of even more and not regret it?
I thought I could reduce my clothes to what I’ll take with me, but even there I’m not sure. For one thing, I think I’ve already got more in the “take with” drawers than will fit in the van. For another, there are things I don’t want to give away but don’t see any point in taking with me. I’ve grudgingly realized that I may end up storing clothes in the wardrobe in my basement in Virginia. Not too much, though, I hope.