Anchors Aweigh (and Things Away)!

My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.
~Steve Jobs
The things you own, end up owning you.
~Tyler Durden

It's getting real!

Now that I am officially employed and we have a home, I feel like there is so much that needs to be done. So many things need to come together in the right time for the next thing to come together. This move is like a tapestry in that everything we do, every decision we make is a part of the whole, and it is all woven together--individual threads holding onto each other to create the whole.

When you move 2000 miles away, partially over land and partially over sea, one huge consideration is...

...Things!

What do we take? What do we need? What things are worth a 2000 mile journey to our new home?

Several months ago, I sold my beloved Metallic Ray of Sunshine--a beautiful limited edition orange convertible 350 Z with which I thought I'd never part. You might think this would be a perfect island car, right? After our first visit to the island, we realized that there are many roads I would not be able to drive down in this car. Some roads require a 4-wheel drive. A Jeep seemed a much more practical car for the island. Luckily, I've always loved Jeeps, as well. So, we sold the Orange One and bought a Jeep.

We've also been purging our belongings for several months now. This process starts out easier and gets more difficult as you go. I even bought a book on the concept: Clutter Free by Kathi Lipp. I like to read a chapter of this book right before I go through an area to purge. One concept she describes in the book is emptying an area and asking yourself what you want to keep rather than what you want to discard. She also challenges you to make decisions about what you want to keep by asking these three questions: Do I love it? Do I use it? Would I replace it? Once I am finished with this book, I have several others to look into (recommended by friends who know I am purging): Project 333 by Courtney Carver (her idea is to wear only 33 things for 3 month), The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, Enough: Finding More By Living with Less by Will Davis Jr., and The Minimalists, who have a blog, podcasts, a book, etc.

It feels pretty amazing to own less. We have four garbage bags of clothes to donate, as well as extra kitchen supplies, DVDs, knick-knacks, etc. I'll keep you updated as we continue this process.

In the meantime, I challenge you to fill a box this week of things you can donate!

But, what about all of the things we are keeping?

This is where timing becomes art. It is a dance.

We decided to purchase an enclosed trailer and pack all of our belongings in the trailer (this was an idea passed along to us from a friend).

We will tow the trailer behind our Jeep to Miami, FL. The trailer and Jeep will be shipped to St Croix from Miami through Paradise Freight. I've been in contact with Charlene from Paradise Freight, and she has been extremely responsive and so helpful. If you take a look at the Paradise Freight Facebook Page, it looks like others have had the same positive experience.

We will drive to Miami Florida and deliver the Jeep and the Trailer to the shipping doc on Monday (Wednesday is the deadline for things to make the Thursday shipping date). The ship leaves the port on Thursday and arrives in St Croix on Monday. We can pick up our belongings on Friday (the Jeep has to go through a mandatory customs inspection). Every week, this is the same schedule.

We'll fly from Miami to St Croix with the pups and two friends who have volunteered to help out. We'll rent a car until we are able to pick up ours and begin learning all the details of being caretakers for our new island home.

Moving to St Croix would be easier if we didn't have any belongings we wanted to take. However, there are some things we really want to have--items that own us: scuba gear, games, clothes, tools a few mementos and some colorful, unique tile tables we think are perfect for a Caribbean home. We are continuously decreasing the load and taking only those things that we love, we use regularly, or would be more expensive to replace than to ship. We plan to be out doing the things we love about our island...not spending time at home with things. :)