Location: Forest Hills, Washington DC, United States, North America
Altitude: 76.00 m
It’s appalling how much stuff I’ve accumulated over the years! When I moved from Kentucky to Maryland in 2004 I got rid of a lot of electronic junk I thought I might use someday – but never did. When I moved from Maryland to DC I downsized again, but still I had a storage unit stuffed to the ceiling. Finally, when I moved from my small studio apartment (lovingly nicknamed Space Station Susanne because it had about the same internal volume as SkyLab) to the one-bedroom that I currently occupy, I had enough room to bring boxes out of storage and begin going through all of it item-by-item. So, for the past couple of years, as part of my moving-aboard preparations, I have been throwing away junk, Ebay-ing stuff that had enough value to make the effort worthwhile, donating still more, and re-packing the things that I will keep.
I’ve always had moving boxes in my current apartment, it felt as though I was in a perpetual state of moving in, or out, or … something. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked by neighbors if I was moving when they saw another load of boxes coming or going. Now, after two years, I’m getting down to the last of it. What’s back in storage are things that I’m relatively certain I will use – or they too will be purged. My long term goal is to reduce even further, eventually having only those possessions that will fit on my boat – except my car, of course 😉
With the current round of downsizing almost complete, I’m nearly ready to begin the search for my new home. Serenity is out there somewhere and I’m eager to go find her.