It’s been five months since we sold almost everything we owned and embarked on our Never Ending Voyage. It’s been a long, hard trip. Each morning I wake up and think about all the cool stuff I left behind:
“This Paraguayan sunrise sucks,” I’ll lament.
“If only I could be back in Manchester, sitting on my Ikea couch and watching the latest Michael Bay DVD on my huge Sony TV.”
OK, so I never actually owned a huge Sony TV and I’m never likely to say that about Michael Bay – dude raped my childhood – but, really, I’m still very surprised at how little I do miss.
Even if you’re not planning to be as nutty as us and get rid of your house, your car and anything you can’t get on your back, take the money and spend it (Pensions? Pffs, pensions are for old people!) on walking the earth until it starts running out (the money, not the earth) at which point you desperately scratch around looking for a way to make more just to eat that month (on a totally unrelated note, I think you could do with a new awesome website), there are still some major advantages to be had from getting rid of your junk.
1) Clutter Free House
Space is important. Hotels know this – that’s why you pay five or six times as much for less than double the square footage. Space gives you, er, space. To think. To breathe. To do calisthenics.
Sitting cooped up in a closet of a bedroom surrounded by bookshelves and boxes stacked to the ceiling while trying to work on a desk where every inch is covered by papers, pens, coffee mugs and knick-knacks except for the napkin-sized space you’ve allocated for mouse movements is not conducive to a relaxed and comfortable environment.
Not at all.
2) Clutter Free Mind
Spoiler Alert – If you’ve seen Up In The Air, click here to continue
There’s a scene in Up In The Air where George Clooney talks about filling an imaginary backpack with all of the stuff you own – house, car, tables, chairs, computers, books, DVDs, sofas, broken picture frames, bent spoons, that Madonna T-Shirt from 1989 that you’ll never wear again but can’t bear to get rid of (NOT MINE) – and then trying to carry it.
Then he tells you to burn it. Even playing along and pretending to, there’s a palpable sense of relief in the activity. A slightly panicky, oh-shit-what-now euphoria.
That. Is what freedom feels like.
Slightly panicky.
(The fact that he then goes on to talk about relationships in the same way should be glossed over quickly because the rest of the movie is about how relationships are important and basically how these talks he gives are rubbish. Still, I think the stuff thing holds.)
We used to own cars that were worth less than £500 because we lived in fricking Manchester. If you own a Mercedes or a BMW in a city like that then how can you not have a lingering sense of anxiety every time you leave it parked in an on-street parking bay down some dodgy looking back alley.
That, my friends, is stress. Ownership is stress by another name and it’s only worth it if the good bits of ownership outweigh the stressful bits.
MacBooks, yes. Ferraris in Burnage, not so much.
3) Money!
Obviously, the act of selling stuff instead of buying it will make you better off overall (that’s math, that is).
But there are other, secret, unknown, hidden benefits that I want to share with you. Secrets that swagger with impressiveness. Secrets so great, your world might actually implode.
A story, to illustrate.
We stayed in a studio apartment in Buenos Aires for two months. There is no way we would have fitted all of our old life into this tiny space. Our dining room table would have taken up half of it. Add a drum kit and we’d have had to have moved the bed out.
But, with just two backpacks and a guitar, it was huge. We barely made a dent in the closet space alone. In fact, we could have lived quite comfortably with all of our stuff IN the closet.
Without our old possessions, we can live in a tiny shoeboxes, still feel like we’re living in a palace and save a ton of money on the rent. Win, win and win.
And once you live in a smaller place, everything else gets cheaper too – gas bills, electricity bills, insurance – it’s all extra cash in your pocket which you could use to, ahem, not buy more stuff or, even better, cut down your working hours and have more of the one thing that money can never buy – time.
I know, right? Mind. Blown.
4) Appreciation
Now, I don’t want to get too militantly anti-personal property here – I’m no Pinko Commie (U-S-A! U-S-A!). Stuff can be great. I am especially enamored with the shiny, electronic stuff (how I crave a currently unjustifiable iPhone – are you sure you don’t need a website?) and musical stuff (full disclosure: my drum kit is in safe storage at my mum’s – I couldn’t bear to get rid of it, but I WILL (someday)).
But, if you don’t have the space for the stuff and you don’t want to spend too much money on your stuff, then every purchase needs to be justified and carefully weighed (literally, if you’re carrying it all on your back).
And when you put that much thought into your purchases, you appreciate them a whole lot more. Just last week, I spent a full two hours stroking my brand new Columbia fleece.
That last sentence is possibly a lie, but I am wearing it a lot and I’m not past having a sly little stroke when no one’s watching (and also touching my new fleece).
If you want to be really hardcore, you’ll use the 1-in-1-out rule, where every purchase has to replace something similar – swapping a pair of socks for an XBox doesn’t count! I’m not there yet, but having a 40 litre backpack is kind of naturally limiting anyway so I almost rock.
Conclusion
Stuff sucks!
Kind of.
Well, not all of it.
Some stuff sucks!
Er.
Having more stuff than you actually need sucks!
Yeah, that’s it!
(Quick – get to the poignant summary!)
What’s really surprising is how much stuff I simply don’t remember owning. I’m sure if someone handed me a list right now of all of the things we sold I’d be surprised at how little I recognised; at how much of it was just clutter filling up my life, standing in the way of my freedom.
BOOM!
Now Go Do It!
Detailed Guide to Selling Everything You Own
We have written a three part series on how we sold our stuff, but frankly that’s put to shame by Adam Baker from Man Vs Debt who has written an incredibly detailed guide to selling everything you own called Sell Your Crap.
It’s based on his family’s experience of doing just that and features four separate eBooks: the main guide covers the whys and hows of selling your stuff, and there are three extra books with step by step instructions and special selling techniques for eBay, Craigslist and Amazon.
If that’s not enough there are 10 video interviews with other bloggers and authors who have got rid of their clutter.
I wish we’d had this guide when we were selling our possessions! Our posts are a great introduction but if you are really serious about selling everything you own check out the Sell Your Crap guide here.
Tell me how crazy I am! Militantly defend your right to buy everything you want, when you want it! Accuse me of being anti-American! Or, agree with me. That’s cool too.
We are Simon Fairbairn & 
95 Comments
I just sold all of my stuff at a carboot sale on Sunday. I now just have a large suitcase of clothes and shoes and the little things to take with me back to the UK where I am moving my base after living in Australia for two years.
Its absolutely liberating!
The Dame´s last post ..Are you an interesting person leading an unconventional life
Yay to selling all your stuff! Carboots are awesome places – full of some of the most interesting specimens of our species and the coffee is cheap (hideous, but cheap).
When I sell my stuff I’m all “Evil thing! I cast thee out! Thou art a shiny temptress – begone from my life!” There’s often a lot of arm waving too. I get funny looks from the people at the carboot but then they’re getting stuff like 150 videos and a video player for £5 so they don’t often run away.
Seriously, the guy bartered me down from £10. I was, like, “Dude. That’s 300 hours of entertainment. For the price of two cinema tickets.” But he was all, like, “But it’s video. What is this, the eighties?”.
He had a point.
Of course then Apple release something like the iTable and I’m all, like, “THIS IS AWESOME I NEED THIS RIGHT NOW MY WORLD WILL COLLAPSE IF I DON’T HAVE IT GET ME TO AN APPLE STORE IMMEDIATELY!”
Good luck with your trip to the UK.
I’m still not at the point where I have to sell all my stuff but I might be getting there soon. The problem I have is there’s a whole lot of storage at my folk’s place and it means I’m really good at hoarding a whole lot of pointless things over the span of years.
Can’t wait to see what’s in store for you guys. I’ll be following with enthusiasm.
Waq´s last post ..Discovering Don Draper
Ah, yes. The mum-has-an-attic/closet/basement/garage dilemma. If I’m honest, I still own a drum kit, two guitars and an amp, plus some old photos and evidence of my past life all stored in various nooks and crannies at Casa Mama and Casa Papa (thanks guys!), so I totally understand.
You’ll feel better once you do sell it all*, though.
Thanks very much, Waq!
*results not guaranteed – Never Ending Voyage cannot be held responsible for any lack of euphoria/feelings of regret from selling everything you own.
I’m having this dilemma over everything at the moment! In fact, need to set up an eBay account. managed to give away alot so far though! Love this blog, you two are so inspiring. x
janey´s last post ..Speechmark Summer Campus
Ebay was one of our biggest earners so it’s worth doing. It take time but you do get quicker. Well done for giving away stuff – sometimes that’s a lot easier.
Loved this post and it’s the topic I’m currently pondering – expect a post on my site soon. You’ve touched on some points that I’ll approach from a slightly different angle. Well done, and I agree. Now if I could just clean out this house of mine…
Keith´s last post ..10 Things Zorba the Greek Taught Me About Life
Thanks Keith – look forward to reading it!
One of the things to do on my Bucket List is to start a secret society. Maybe I should start one for people who have sold all of their junk? I could call it The Secret Society for People Who Have Sold All of Their Junk™.
It’ll be like the StoneCutters, but infinitely more awesome. I’d have a secret handshake and initiation ceremonies. I’d force the initiate to sell their most prized possession. While being paddled. And drinking a yard of ale.
I don’t think I would pass, though. I don’t think I could bring myself to sell my MacBook (Damn you Apple! DAMN YOU!).
This is a great post — and one we can’t identify with very quickly! We’re decluttering right now. At any given moment we have at least a dozen items up for sale on eBay, Craigslist and Amazon. There’s pride of ownership and then there’s pride of owning nothing! We’re looking forward to joining the latter group!
Daniel´s last post ..Snap de la semaine- Grand Palace- Bangkok
eBay, Craigslist and Amazon – I like your scattergun approach. It’s like selling stuff with a shotgun. Maybe we should try that at a car boot sale – attach a coffee table to the end and fire it up into the air. If you can catch it, you can have it.
The Own Nothing and Proud group is a good group to be in. I keep trying to join, but they’re quite a militant bunch (I think some of them have too much pride, if you know what I mean). They let Erin in – she sold everything – but my damn drum kit meant I ‘didn’t meet their criteria’.
Thing is, the Proud Owner group won’t let me in either. Say I sold too much stuff.
This made me smile and reflect that I’m supposed to be ebaying and not reading other people’s blogs as we are moving into a camper van on Aug 11th and we still have 10 years worth of accumulated junk to get rid of … and that’s just the kids stuff. Simon, you have re-affirmed that we are not quite as mad as everybody thinks, I don’t want a corner office … I want yours!
No, no, you should keep reading other people’s blogs so long as other people’s blogs means our blog. It’s much more fun than eBay.
Don’t get me wrong, you are quite mad. You’re just joining a group of other people who are also quite mad, which makes you think you’re less mad than you actually are. Fortunately, on our side of the sanity fence the sunsets are prettier and the offices have sea views.
Much better.
Good luck with your trip. We campervaned around Australia and had an absolute blast. Where’s first for you?
Hey Simon, awesome post. I just wish I knew who Michael Bay was so I could commiserate. And yes, stuff sucks in a lot of ways. I definitely feel the most free when I’m off traveling with just one bag to my name. Now if I could just find the strength to sell all my crap at home.
Corbett´s last post ..33 Things I’ve Never Told You or- How to Re-Introduce Yourself and Kick Your Watered-Down Self in the Ass
Michael Bay. n. Director of Transformers and Transformers 2.
To Bay (e.g. a film). vb. To inexplicably butcher quality source material when producing a remake. ‘Did you see that movie? Guy totally Bayed it!’
In his defence, the films looked really good and the actual transforming of the big robots was spectacular. Just wished he’d paid his script guys the same as he paid his CGI girls.
I hear you about the stuff at home, though. My drum kits and my guitars sitting in lofts and garages at my folk’s houses are a testament to the weakness of my will. I will probably maybe sell them one day (possibly).
Ah, that Michael Bay. Yeah, I managed to choke down the first Transformers, but couldn’t get all the way through #2. Let’s hope he doesn’t get a hold of He Man or GI Joe or the Gobots.
Corbett´s last post ..33 Things I’ve Never Told You or- How to Re-Introduce Yourself and Kick Your Watered-Down Self in the Ass
New He-Man movie rumoured for 2011 – Grayskull – with John Stevenson directing. Hopefully he won’t Bay it.
I mean, Kung-Fu Panda was pretty good, right?
We’re delayed departing, (should have been in scandinavia about now … but, too much stuff to sell, including a house) so we’re heading to southern Europe / N.Africa for the winter. Then east … as far east as we can get (avoiding war zones) …
… gotta go. I need to purge my soul on the alter of Ebay … Keep up the fab writing, I’ll be back for more
Great post Simon! I love having fewer things. Yet, I still question whether I have too much! Although I guess I could be doing that until I’ve got nothing more than the clothes on my back and a toothbrush!
Adam´s last post ..The Travel Bug Bites Back
That’s the danger of this path and a side too few people talk about. What if you wake up one day and all you have is your underwear? You’ll be all, like, ‘Dammit! Why did I have to do this in Iceland!’
Luckily for me, I have a little materialist demon called Steve. Provided Apple keeps releasing Shiny New Things every year, Steve will keep reminding me that maybe owning stuff isn’t so bad…
How you liking being back on the road? Your blog looks well suave now and that photo from Turkey was amazing!
Great post and what a great find, finding your blog and fellow nomads on twitter!
I sold almost everything including my flat November 2009 and the feeling of no clutter, not having all that stuff I don’t need is great. Freedom to go where I want, chase the light for my photography. It’s funny what I’ve been missing, once in a while I have missed my own kitchen so I could actually cook my own food. And once in a while I really miss my old sofa, so good to relax and cuddle up on!
Flemming Bo Jensen´s last post ..News – Latest Images
Cooking in a hostel kitchen is not fun. If you can scatter the cockroaches, find some clean cutlery and remove the crusty remains of yesterday’s breakfast from the pan, then you stand half a chance of being able to eat beans on toast.
This is why, for the second time in six months, we’re renting an apartment for a month. Having a couch and a kitchen is an amazing luxury after eating empanadas for lunch and pasta for dinner every day for weeks.
We cooked Mexican food!
Mexican! With chili!
It was bliss.
Very nice. I wish I could sell all my stuff. God knows I need the money, but damn my tendency to be such a sentimental sap! At least, I’ve gone from pack-rat to just having a whole bunch of crap… lol. Keep up the good work!
VII
Thanks! We did keep some sentimental stuff like photos and letters and things.
They’re in a box somewhere in England.
I cannot even explain the freedom you feel selling all your stuff. People kept asking, of all things, about my work clothes. I think I’ll be able to find black pants when I get back home – whenever that is
ayngelina´s last post ..Getting robbed in San Juan del Sur
If you do go home, get a job without a dress code! I was once a Caseworker (a pretend lawyer) for a Law Centre and they didn’t have a dress code. I used to go to work with ridiculous hair (think Jimmy Page circa 1972), flared cords and paisley shirts.
My clients were all ‘Is this a Law Centre or the 1980s? Can I really take legal advice from Jon Bon Jovi over here?’
It was awesome.
Yet again, you have made me think about my life. I sold (almost) everything once. I left ‘home’ and traveled the world (where I met you). Then, I came back ‘home’ where I am now. I will never be the same.
Traveling has that effect. That’s why we only lasted 9 months before we were on the road again…
If you fancy upping sticks again, come meet us in South America! Otherwise, we’ll see you when we get to SF?
Hope things are suitably awesome with you!
Couldn’t agree more guys – enjoying your blog from a stalkers perspective! Keep up the inspiration. We are in BA so would love to meet you on the road somewhere? Loads of questions for you.
We’re in Salta until the middle of August, so if you make it over here before then we can go get coffee and, um, pastries!
Loved this post!
We sold our flat and freecycled most of our stuff before our first RTW and like you went home to save and head out again!! We have a small storage locker with the things we couldn’t bear to part with (me – my fantastic pots and pans, him – CD’s). It’s a wonderful feeling having virtually no “stuff” – I have enough emotional baggage so getting rid of the physical stuff was a relief
Having said that we’re currently renting an apartment in BA and have had to stop ourselves buying a few extra bits and pieces to decorate it!!
How’s the weather now? We’ll be spending a couple of days in Salta next week on route to Bolivia and it’ll be good to prepare ourselves…
Cate´s last post ..Its ok to stay put
Yeah, emotional baggage is a tough one. I tried a two-for-one at a car boot but even at 50p, no-one was interested. Too much of their own, they said. Pah. I was all, like, who couldn’t use a little more?
Freecycling is a morally righteous way of getting rid of your stuff – kudos. We were evil little capitalists when we did it.
No! You can’t have my picture frames! You must pay me 30 pieces of silver! My Precioussssss.
We’re in Salta at the moment and it’s freezing. If you fancy meeting up for a coffee, give us a shout.
Agreed!
I love the simplicity one bag brings. You stop focusing on your “stuff” and start looking up and out at the world around you.
Anthony Feint´s last post ..Your Idea Rocks
Totally.
Although, if I’m honest, I still spend far too long focusing on my MacBook Pro…
We’re currently in Prague staying with friends and looking for an apartment in Berlin to rent for a couple of months. It is so freeing to know that we can pick up and go anytime we find the right apartment – just put the backpacks on and hop a train to Berlin. Although our bags are bigger than 40 Liters each, it is still freeing to know that we have everything we need on our backs.
And, we SO wish we could find that Buenos Aires apartment in Berlin. It was a studio, but felt so airy and roomy. Love that place.
Audrey´s last post ..Panorama of the Week- Guatemala’s Most Beautiful Cemetery
It is a very liberating feeling – we can have all our gear together and be out the door in about 10 minutes. We found it especially useful if the cops are on to us.
Good luck with the apartment – we’re relying on you to find all of the most awesome places all over the world for us!
It is incredible how quickly you can accumulate stuff… My husband and I sold just about everything we owned (except our 4 cats, saint bernard and a few suitcases of clothes and books) before moving from Canada to Belgium. It was terrifying and liberating at the same time. After 5 years here, I have to say we’ve acquired new stuff. I am much more selective about what come into our home… I have to be, it’s tiny. But going without all of that clutter taught me how little we need to get by, and how the rest of it mostly is just excess baggage.
Alison´s last post ..Singing the Expat Blues Flashback
Well done on not selling the cats and the dog – that was restrained of you. Erin tried to sell me on eBay but I found the listing and made her take it down.
The worst thing? The reserve price was 99p.
Erin’s also very selective about what gets put in our backpacks. Me, not so much (we don’t talk about the chunky headphones).
Somehow, probably because I began traveling right after school, I’ve never really owned much stuff so I never had to sell or get rid of anything. For as long as I can remember I’ve had two medium-sized boxes (although I’m no longer sure what’s in them) stored in the closet at my mom’s house. And I’ll probably get rid of that stuff eventually, about the same time you sell your drum kit perhaps.
And at this point, I have no plans to accumulate any more than what I already have as I agree fully with all of the benefits you list above. I’m completely addicted to that freedom of being able to pick up and move on – anytime, and to anywhere….
I get upset when my things don’t fit into my 40 liter backpack and I have to pull out my daypack to use!
Earl´s last post ..WiseGifter- No More Useless Stuff!
Ha, that’ll be the day that the devil buys some swanky Prada snowboots and farmers install landing strips in their pigpens, then. I know I should get rid of it, but it’s so purple! And shiny!
Nobody should ever have to sell something that purple and shiny.
Having a small backpack is great cause it naturally limits what you can buy. It makes browsing music shops a lot easier.
Me: ‘Hey, Erin! Check out this 16 channel SoundCraft digital mixing desk!’
Erin: ‘…’
Me: ‘Oh, yeah. Right.’
GULP! You mean I wasn’t supposed to sell the drum kit??
I do wish that I could let go of ‘stuff’ – but I still want to hold on to the battered blue case in the loft – the one that contains cards and pasta pictures and stuff that you and Kevin made for me….
BTW Pensions aren’t just for old people – I am kind of interested in mine, and I’d hate you to suggest that I am old (I am merely experienced in life!!) Love you guys and envy your bravery, wisdom, and ability to let go! XX
Hey, those pasta pictures are solid pieces of work. In fact, what are they doing in a battered old suitcase? They should be adorning walls up and down the country!
Honestly, I’d actually love to have a pension but I have a feeling I’m just going to have to work forever. I’ll be like 98, tied to my Mac with the Grim Reaper standing behind me, tapping his foot and looking at his sundial watch.
‘Sorry, GM! Client’s come back with some last minute changes, you know what they’re like! Another couple of hours, I promise!’
I also sometimes have a sly stroke… of my Macbook Pro. But besides that new love of my life, stuff does suck. Well, anything more than 60 or so litres of stuff sucks because then I have to start attaching crap to the outside of my bag and it’s never good to have smelly hiking books all up in people’s faces as you try to cram yourself onto a busy bus. Loved reading the post!
Kirsty´s last post ..Rwanda By Bus Possibly Not My Best Idea
Ha ha, I know how that goes. It’s so…aluminiumy. And when you press those keys, mmmm. Just the right amount of resistance and a beautiful, perfectly pitched click that says ‘Sir, you have just done something exceptional. May I be the first to offer my congratulations on such an impressive S?’
And you know when that glowy apple logo lights up, everyone else in the room starts whispering to their black Windows laptops: ‘See? See how she behaves in public? See how well turned out she is? Why can’t you be like that? With your hissy fit driver conflicts and your childish Blue Screens! She never acts like that, does she? You’re a disgrace! A bloody disgrace!’
If the devil wanted me to commit original sin, all he’d have to is set up a tree full of Apple products. Damn Steve and his shiny temptations! DAMN HIM!
It’s his fault I was rejected from Monk school.
Good advice. I’d like to add ditch the things that don’t sell too!
When I left to travel I sold nearly everything that was worth something. 15 months later on my return and my parents moved house complaining about how much stuff I still had, and they are right. I just kept a load of useless stuff for no reason (like a playstation 1 with 3 controllers and demo discs in 2010) and have no idea why I have it all.
It’s weird being back and seeing certain things (tools are a big one) that you think ‘this’ll come in handy one day’ and still keep them, even though it may be years until you actually do and it’s been years since you last used it, and when you do need something they can be bought cheaply 2nd hand off eBay anyway!
However you’re right about justifying gadgets. With a modern phone you get a phone (dur), GPS, music player, video player, camera, camcorder, and a games console, so they do make sense
AdventureRob´s last post ..A Rant Rules About Using Public Toilets
At least tools might actually come in handy one day. Less so with a drum kit – it’s hard to see a situation where I’ll be saying ‘dammit, if only I hadn’t have sold that cowbell!’
On the other hand, it is purple. And shiny. That has to count for something.
Hi Simon,
I love your blog and your writing style. It takes up a lot courage to sell everything and travel with your love one, I admire what you do. I’m also a designer (Full-time), so I understand how it feel to be at 9-5 job. Especially company here doesn’t give you a lot vacations days. I’ll check back on your blog again, great post!
.S
Sarah Wu´s last post ..Cross-Processed Effect in Photoshop
Thanks Sarah! It’s either courage or madness. I’m still undecided.
Either or, you get to experience stuff that many other haven’t yet. You still get to design while you travel.. don’t you love the power of the web? haha. I just turned 27 in April and I have never travel in my life before. September of last year is the first time I ever flew and travel. I just realize how fun it is to go out and experience everything. I think I caught the travel bug! : )
Sarah´s last post ..Cross-Processed Effect in Photoshop
Really great post! I can tell how happy you are with your decision to sell everything and live the dream. I’m jealous, I wish I had more stuff to sell!
Poi´s last post ..To take or not to take That is the Question!
Thank you. So far it’s working out. Erin and I are a good team – I buy stuff and she sells it.
Very fun post.
I always feel such freedom when I travel and have so little to think about, worry about, carry around. Now that I’m home for a while, I’m slowly but surely clearing out my life, garage, being brutal with myself in getting rid of stuff and once it’s gone YAHOOOING for the sheer freedom it brings. 
Krista´s last post ..Cousins- The Beach and a Salmon Feast
Good luck with it! When we returned from our first trip we were amazed at the stuff we’d left behind. This made it a lot easier to get rid of everything this time. We knew we wouldn’t miss it.
Great idea. Except that my laptop cries whenever we talk about a new owner. She (yes, a she!) screams profanities at me, wondering what she did wrong. Then, I realized I just can’t do it to her. No.
And you haven’t heard what my other stuff had to say.
*excuses*
I admire you for being deaf to their cries! =D
Mela´s last post ..Almost there
Well there’s no way we’d part with our Macbook so that’s understandable. It’s not bad to have things that you use on a daily basis, it’s just the stuff filling up cupboards for a rainy day that’s the problem.
Being a univeristy student i have – moved to halls – moved home – moved to student house – moved home – moved to another student house – moved to bfs – moved home (all in three years)
but shed loads of clothes/scarves/shoes/scarves/books/scarves/paper/scarves – seriously I have filled nearly a whole bin liner full of scarves!
I thought this had forced me not to aquire much stuff. However I was pretty surprised when I started going through it all. Unfortunately there is no big sony TV
Unfortunately I dont have enough time to sell my stuff so I have decided to do my bit and donate it all to charity! Hopegfully it will go to a loving home – especially the scarves!!
We found that selling clothes and books was nearly impossible anyway so you’re doing the right thing. We gave away tons of stuff to the charity shop once we had sold as much as we could. Good luck!
Can I just say that you’re hilarious Simon!? I have read through all the comments and your responses, first as I am also preparing to take off for a year of RTW very (extremely panicky) soon and trying to get rid of most of the extras, but then because each of your responses makes me laugh out loud
So thanks for making my day!!!
ps. our blog is still a baby, and doesn’t even know how to talk yet, but we’re trying to slowly nurture it into a small babbling child, so one day soon it should hopefully spit out it’s first ‘mama’.
Thanks Helena. It’s nice when blogs are young but then they grow into surly, sarcastic teenagers. Hopefully ours will make it to a mature, responsible adult but, if it does (and that’s a mighty ‘If’), it’ll all be down to Erin.
I’ll be happy if it can just stay out of jail. I have low standards.
Good luck with the selling of the stuffs and the traveling of the world. You’ll have a blast!
Wow, look at all of the comments this post got! I think as I’ve traveled more and more, I’ve realized that the best “things” in life are memories and experiences…not more stuff to fill your home with. I’m definitely trying to simplify my life more. Loved this post!
Andi´s last post ..29 Things To Do Before I Turn 29
I think travel definitely helps you realise that, and things are simpler with less stuff.
Dear Andi
your comment summed up everything i am feeling right at this moment. I have just stumbled across this blog and i am thinking that finding such like minded people may just save my life!
Great read, I finally gave up all my stuff a few months back, and hit the road like you mention I have not missed anything, if anything i could do with ditching a few things I kept….
Glad you’ve had a similar experience. We haven’t heard of anyone who has sold their stuff and regretted it.
We’re currently taking baby steps.
We sold over half of what we have and going backpacking at the end of the year. When (and if) we come back and want to continue to travel, we’re just going to get rid of it all and leave.
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That’s a good way to start. I’m pretty sure that after travelling you won’t find it hard to get rid of the rest.
Great article. I love this idea. I dont know yet if I am going to be able to sell everything I own but I know I am getting rid of alot and changing my habits. In my last post I talk about how I have become a minimalist. Its interesting what wanting to travel makes you do.
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Selling absolutely everything isn’t the right thing for everyone but the important thing is to appreciate what you have and not buy things for the sake of it. It sounds like you are doing that so well done! I never thought I would have sold my entire book collection, but a passion for travel makes you reassess your priorities and now it isn’t a big deal for me.
Selling and getting rid of your stuff also gives you more TIME.
Saving time looking for stuff, wondering where you’re going to put it or rearrange your room, what to wear, etc.
Also, you can get electronic versions of most books.
There is no point buying information in printed format. Saves on trees as well. And the little electrons will love you for it
I Love a Simple Life!
I completely agree that it makes things a lot simpler and saves time. We can now pack up all our stuff and move to a new place in 15 minutes. That’s so much better that the stressful house moves most people have.
Good post – less is more and all that. Except, I can imagine myself stroking a Patagonia Fleece, but a Columbia one? no way! Safe travels guys – look forward to reading more.
No much choice of fleeces here in Salta I’m afraid!
Thanks Never Ending Voyage! This blog really resonates with me.
I’m 24, single and have an apartment full of anything and everything anyone has ever thought they might need…
Every morning for the past two years, I wake up and look at all the junk in my room and instead of thinking ‘wow i love you stuff. what would i do without you?’, I feel like I can’t breathe.
I want to sell/give away everything that I own over the next 15 months so that I can backpack around Europe for a couple of years without having to pay for storage and also to have a little extra cash in my pocket. But as I pull out all of the crap from underneath my bed and in my cupboard, I have no idea where to start…
Its so true what Brad Pitt says in Fight Club, all the things that I own, own me. Everything I look at seems to have a reason for not being sold/given away. “Someone gave it to me and they might be offended.” “But the ice skates are basically brand new”. “What would I do without my bike helmet and surfboard”. I should note that I don’t own a bike and for the past 5 years the board is purely ornamental.
I digress.
Anyways, would appreciate any stories about how you sold/gave away your first item?
It can be hard to start, but I promise it gets easier. The trick is not to think about it (how new it is, how expensive it was etc). I can’t remember the first item I sold but it was probably on ebay. I started by making a list of things that we hadn’t used in over a year – those are a good place to start. I worked my way up to the more difficult things (my book collection and our snowboards). Good luck with it!
Interesting decision. I am assuming that you actually owned items of value and made a profit off the sale of your house and are now living off of your savings. Right now, I am faced with the necessity of unloading everything I have collected throughout my adulthood. Alas, I own virtually nothing of any value; it’s all just junk. In fact, I turn 40 in January and I have never even owned a home of my own.
I’m actually quite terrified, not of letting it go of all my possessions, but of the revelation that I am soon to be homeless without so much as a penny to my name; and, because I hold a Masters in Education, it seems I am all but unemployable in this dwindling economy, so my prospects for the future don’t look so promising.
At this point, I don’t know how much money it is going to to take to get me where I need to go, or even where I am headed. A few friends have offered to let me stay with them until I can get back on my feet, but I don’t want to be a burden. So, I am hoping that in selling my car, (the blue book value is @$4000, and given that it’s still in excellent condition, I hope to get at least that much).
Still, I’m not really sure what to expect once I am left with only a backpack and a few garments of clothing to my name. I’m thinking if I head to Southern California, I will at least be a warm, dry bag lady, versus one who is soaking wet and freezing my ass off in Portland, OR.
Hi Rachel,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you – we were in the jungle!
We are actually still in the process of selling our house (the market is very slow right now), and we made a few thousand from our other possessions, but mostly we are living off savings and Simon’s earnings from web design. We wish we’d never bought our house, it’s such a burden, so I wouldn’t worry about never having owned a home.
I think you have so many possibilities open to you, and I hope you are able to embrace the freedom of not being tied down by things or a home, and being able to go anywhere you want.
Have you considered teaching English in Asia? In Korea, Taiwan and Japan you can earn a decent living and save up quite a bit of money. With your Masters in Education I am sure you’d be able to get a position easily.
Good luck with everything and I hope things work out OK.
Hello. Did you really sell everything you own? To what end? What did you do with the money from it? Did you spend it on yourself then? I’ve been thinking a lot lately and I’m thinking of selling my house, and my car, and everything in the house. And me and my daughter want to help the world. I don’t really know how, we want to help children more than anything, but really the world’s a friggin mess and we want to do some good with the time we have on the Earth. Hmmm…What am I asking you….Mostly I guess how hard is it on you? To like, own nothing. It’s scary, selling everything. So I sort of want a first hand account I guess. Thanks.
Hi Christine,
We sold everything except for Simon’s drum kit and 2 small boxes of photo albums which are stored in Simon’s mum´s loft. To be honest we could do without these though. We also haven’t managed to sell our house yet but we have almost forgotten we have it and it will be sold soon hopefully.
Otherwise we travel with two small backpacks (carry on size) and a travel guitar. Everything else got sold. It was difficult at first but it gets easier as you continue selling things. By the end I just wanted it all gone and we gave lots of things away to charity.
We don’t regret it at all. We don’t miss anything and we feel very free. It’s an amazing feeling being able to pack up in 10 minutes and move on to the next place. When we feel like we need a home for a while we just rent a fully furnished apartment.
We made a few thousand by selling our things and put this towards our travel savings.
If you are interested in volunteering check out the Nerdy Nomad blog. Kirsty has ben travelling for years volunteering as she goes. http://www.nerdynomad.com/volunteering
I would say if you are feeling the urge to sell everything and do something different then just go for it. Good luck!
The iPhone is justifiable. It combines so many different functions that its actually nonsensical not to have one if you’re trying to save space. It is also shiny. I’m stroking mine right now. And my iPhone.
That’s true. I think we may be compromising and getting an iPod Touch instead, as we don’t really need the phone part.
Well, I haven’t gotten rid of all my stuff yet… I ended up salvaging the situation to a certain degree and staying put for now. I plan to sell off my belongings slowly and gradually over the next few years. I’ve started by downsizing my book & movie collection by selling them on Amazon Marketplace.
I’ve pretty much stopped buying anything that isn’t perishable. I refuse to spend money on anything I don’t absolutely need for survival right now, which makes the most sense given my lack of funds anyhow.
In answer to your question Erin, yes, I have considered teaching English overseas. I think I could do that fairly easily, but my kids would definitely not go for it. Right now, my life is pretty much on hold until they are grown up and out of the house.
Only 3 more years to go and I am home free and the possibilities are unlimited. In the meantime, I am working on figuring out what I want out of my life… I turn 40 on Saturday, January 15th. I realize I’ve pretty much wasted my life up til now… Maybe in this next decade I will figure things out and get it right!
Namaste!
Rachel
It sounds like you are on the right track Rachel. Good luck with it!
I had a question, why do I want to sell everything I own? I searched the internet to see if I could find the answer to why I want to sell everything. I’m still not sure. I don’t have a specific destination in mind. I have struggled with this desire for many years, thinking I was crazy and would regret selling everything. Your site has given me some ideas of why I may want to sell everything. In truth I’m scared I would regret it. If you could help me with my issue, I would appreciate that.
I think you can benefit from selling everything even if you don’t want to travel. You’ll save money, have less stress, more space and more freedom. We haven’t regretted it at all. Good luck!
Thank you so much for sharing your views, yes nowadays there are too much things with us that we don’t really need. And it’s really nice to see someone that has a good view on things. It’s like wants and needs, there are the things that we want to have that takes up space and there are things that we really need. These things really sums up what we will be getting at life. Keep it up and great work!
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Great stuff! We sold most everything we had (kept 16 boxes in storage) but the stuff we carry with us 3 years ago and have loved the freedom. After raising 3 kids it’s our time now. Thanks for the post.
-David
Show me the way!
Hey guys!
My fella and I have decided to sell everything we own so we can buy a van to live in for a year to help us save up for our wedding, dream honeymoon to Canada and a new married life together! It’s ridiculous how much money you can save if you are not paying rent and regular bills. We’re into our 4th week of selling everything and up to about £450. We’ve done a carboot and selling lots on amazon and ebay. Thank you for being such an inspiration!
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What a great story – thanks for sharing. Selling your stuff is both liberating and profitable. Good luck with it!
I’m intrigued. I’ve been having an itch to “free” myself from personal possessions, and this might be the inspiration I need! Thanks!
We would really recommend it. Let us know if you have any questions.
I’m not there yet, but I’m downsizing, big-time. It’s kind of a pain; sometimes I wish I could just hire somebody to Get. Rid. of. it. All. Maybe someone should start a service?
I recently posted about the same thing: http://www.50plusandontherun.com/2011/10/all-i-want-for-christmas-is-dumpster.html
Good luck to you guys!
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I completely understand that feeling. In the end we ended up dumping a load of stuff off at the charity shop. That was particularly hard with many many books we couldn’t sell, but we don’t regret it at all. A Kindle makes so much more sense that bookshelves full of heavy books anyway. Good luck!
I don’t know where you live, but in Portland, OR there is a service that hauls away your unwanted stuff… the company is called JUNK.
You guys are on to something here…
I’ve just worked out that I spend £420 a year on my mobile phone bill. That goes up to £575 when I add on the cost of insuring the phone!
Recently I’ve been itching to go travelling again, but since joining the grown up world of work, rent, bills and a car, saving seems impossible. After reading this I’m getting a slight glimmer of hope!
It’s amazing how your bills add up isn’t it? We always stuck with a pay as you go phone so that we could limit the amount we spent. You just need to examine everything you spend and see if there’s a way you can cut down. There’s definitely hope! Good luck with it!
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