Five steps to not lose your mind when packing up your home
When you are planning to travel for a couple of months, you begin your preparations months in advance. Part of our groundwork was to do some maintenance on the house and put it on the market. We anticipated that the sale would take about three months if everything went smoothly.
Our house was sold after only two weeks! And as an extra shock, it was sold on the condition that we also moved out within two weeks. For an incessant planner like myself, this turned my world upside down. We had to pack up a three-bedroom house that had been our home for six years in a matter of days – you accumulate a lot of junk over six years.
Here are the necessary steps to take to pack up your house in 14 days:
1. Build a list
The first thing you need to do is put together a list of all the furniture and equipment and then price it. You’ll be surprised with how much you can quickly sell if you price it reasonably, send the list on to friends and colleagues and ask everyone to share the information. Be sure to take photos of the pieces available. These photos generate far more interest from potential buyers and makes it easier to list unsold items for sale online.
2. Separate what stays, what goes and what requires more time to think
You need to start thinking about what you want to keep for when you travels are over. Ultimately, we will be moving to Australia, and based on advice from friends who have immigrated we have decided to keep very little. We are only keeping our clothes, computers and some special family mementos. One or two highly unpractical but desperately loved items have also made the cut.
Due to this all happening so quickly, we have the extra complication of needing to keep everything required for work and studies for the next three months. We also packed items we would need when the travels begin. This included the big important stuff, life camera equipment and rain jackets, as well as the seemingly mundane, like ear plugs and travel locks.
The worst part of this exercise is making up your mind about all those items that you just don’t know how to categorise. These pieces fall somewhere between ‘you’re not quite ready to let go’, ‘you are sure they must have some value for someone’ or finally ‘what the hell is this?’.
3. Get people to your house
When anyone arrives at your house to pick up furniture they have purchased, be sure to show them all the other available items. We displayed all our crockery and kitchen goods on the counters for everyone to pick through. It is funny how you can be easily and unreasonably offended when no one wants some of the junk you don't either want. How rude!
Plan a ‘house cooling’ party inviting friends to take bits and pieces that they may have had their eyes on for years. This ended up being a wicked party and created fantastic memories we can take with us.
4. The big clean-up
Arrange for a suitable charity to collect any unsold items that still have value. For the rest, get a rubbish removal company to collect whatever is left. By this stage, you become ruthless and stop taking the time to reminisce about the origin of any the objects. When time is running out, you become ruthless and are now suddenly prepared to chuck something that may have previously been precious.
5. Get a grip
Be ready for an emotional roller coaster. Sorting through your possessions and leaving a place with so many memories can be tough. Finding a little note from your Grandma can be enough to break you. You can get terribly nostalgic and find yourself wanting to be surrounded by loved ones. Get a grip – you are about to go on the biggest adventure EVER!
Our house was sold after only two weeks! And as an extra shock, it was sold on the condition that we also moved out within two weeks. For an incessant planner like myself, this turned my world upside down. We had to pack up a three-bedroom house that had been our home for six years in a matter of days – you accumulate a lot of junk over six years.
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| Selling your house in preparation for your travels might happen much faster than you anticipate. |
Here are the necessary steps to take to pack up your house in 14 days:
1. Build a list
The first thing you need to do is put together a list of all the furniture and equipment and then price it. You’ll be surprised with how much you can quickly sell if you price it reasonably, send the list on to friends and colleagues and ask everyone to share the information. Be sure to take photos of the pieces available. These photos generate far more interest from potential buyers and makes it easier to list unsold items for sale online.
2. Separate what stays, what goes and what requires more time to think
You need to start thinking about what you want to keep for when you travels are over. Ultimately, we will be moving to Australia, and based on advice from friends who have immigrated we have decided to keep very little. We are only keeping our clothes, computers and some special family mementos. One or two highly unpractical but desperately loved items have also made the cut.
Due to this all happening so quickly, we have the extra complication of needing to keep everything required for work and studies for the next three months. We also packed items we would need when the travels begin. This included the big important stuff, life camera equipment and rain jackets, as well as the seemingly mundane, like ear plugs and travel locks.
The worst part of this exercise is making up your mind about all those items that you just don’t know how to categorise. These pieces fall somewhere between ‘you’re not quite ready to let go’, ‘you are sure they must have some value for someone’ or finally ‘what the hell is this?’.
3. Get people to your house
When anyone arrives at your house to pick up furniture they have purchased, be sure to show them all the other available items. We displayed all our crockery and kitchen goods on the counters for everyone to pick through. It is funny how you can be easily and unreasonably offended when no one wants some of the junk you don't either want. How rude!
Plan a ‘house cooling’ party inviting friends to take bits and pieces that they may have had their eyes on for years. This ended up being a wicked party and created fantastic memories we can take with us.
4. The big clean-up
Arrange for a suitable charity to collect any unsold items that still have value. For the rest, get a rubbish removal company to collect whatever is left. By this stage, you become ruthless and stop taking the time to reminisce about the origin of any the objects. When time is running out, you become ruthless and are now suddenly prepared to chuck something that may have previously been precious.
5. Get a grip
Be ready for an emotional roller coaster. Sorting through your possessions and leaving a place with so many memories can be tough. Finding a little note from your Grandma can be enough to break you. You can get terribly nostalgic and find yourself wanting to be surrounded by loved ones. Get a grip – you are about to go on the biggest adventure EVER!
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