All that you can't leave behind...

I have moved a few times in my life. Actually that's a bit of an understatement - I have moved a lot. During that time I have had to make some difficult decisions about things I own. Actually again this is not totally true either - some decisions were difficult, some were very easy to make. 

Through the last nomadic 10 years, the main refuge for my overflow has been my mother's house. That poor woman - with four adult children, her attic has become a waste ground for one-armed teddies, old school photographs and things that "might come in handy some day". With her two eldest now home-owners themselves the rafters are under somewhat less pressure. However my brother and I still persist in using her house as a "U-Store-it" facility. I was a born hoarder - and a sleep-talker, with one of my most notable combinations of the two being the lines "Don't throw it away - I might use it!" Yes even in my sleep I was thinking about hoarding! I was destined for a life of newspapers  stacked neck-high in hallways and a specially designated room for teddies. And then something happened...I started moving around and going travelling - and sometimes combining the both. 

Somewhere in Laos - and not a hair-straightener in sight

Cuba - The First Lesson

My first big lesson came on a trip to Cuba when I was twenty. I went with two school friends and they brought big suitcases with them. I didn't have the money to buy one of these so I went with two borrowed rucksacks - one medium, the other large. After the two week vacation, I returned home and emptied the contents of my bag on the floor for washing. Looking at two piles of clothes I could have fitted the clothes I had worn into the smaller of the two bags. From this day forward I took a whole new approach to my packing. There has been some mishaps along the way... Like the time I packed for a holiday to Barcelona with a hangover and ended up with 4(!) pairs of stilettos in my bag when I arrived, of which I wore none. Or the time I went to Santander to a language college and brought everything I owned. But in the main I have become a reformed character. I travelled through South East Asia in '05 for three months with only a half full 45 litre ruck sack on arrival in Bangkok. I also came home with a viewpoint that if it can't fit on your back in a rucksack - it's not worth buying!

Moving Abroad - Lesson Number Two

After I returned from Asia I began college in University College Cork (UCC) and rented a cool large apartment on the north-side of Cork City. I emphasis large for a reason. I spent two years there and my minimalist fervour somewhat waned through these years of comfort with ample space to put things. When it came time for me to move out, before going to Spain to attend an Erasmus year abroad - it took three carloads to move me out! It was time for some radical change. I spent that Christmas sorting through my stuff. Bag after bag of clothes were sent to the second hand shop. Scraps of paper with tiny bits of information were thrown away. It was time for a new lean mean Orla. My mother, the long suffering recipient of my life over flow was even taken aback. She worried for my mental health, how could my little hoarder have changed so radically? She was convinced it was a "change before death"! And did I die from not having all these things to weigh me down? No, in fact, I believe I prospered. With less possessions to tie me down I felt more free than I had ever felt. No I still don't think I could reach the dizzy heights of minimalism that Niall Doherty has  achieved but I am fairly happy with my new approach. 

Keep Doing it - Lesson Number Three

Like anything else this takes some devotion and even a bit of daily self-practise. My recent few moves have shown that. These big clears outs are fine but much better to do it as you go. I am currently dealing with the backlog from not having been more scrupulous with my throwing out and its really not worth it. There are amazing places you can offload unwanted items like freecycle.org or your local charity shop. There is an Irish Cancer Society shop in Cork who actually come and pick up your unwanted furniture to sell on in their shop. I have seen a lot of skips around Cork with perfectly good items that could have been sold there or passed on to a new home through the Free Cycle network and instead they will end up taking up space in land fill. Little and often is the way. I also like this approach with clothes. My current favourite is taking an item of low self worth - yes you know what I'm talking about- that thing you wear when there is nothing else in the wardrobe. Its warm, it's comfortable but its bloody horrible. Let it go! 

There are still things I have trouble parting with (More to follow on these) but like I said it's a daily approach that keeps me happier, and in the future - more free when it comes to moving again. 

Things I have learned from moving and packing light:

1. Some "must haves" become less of a necessity when you are faced with shipping them or carrying them across great distances. 

2. I have become more aware of the value of things as well as their financial cost. 

3. I have become less attached to things - they are just that - things.

4. I find I prioritise experiences and people more than "possessions"

5. I think more about consequences of my purchases, for example, I now nearly never impulse buy. 

6. I don't get too upset if something gets broken, lost or damaged.

7. No matter how little I  think I have packed there is still too much in there!

8. I will nearly never see my fellow travellers again - do I really need to waste energy carrying and repacking a hair-dryer (or other such grooming items) just so I can look like I do at home? 

(This post was brought to you courtesy of the back-breaking work of Joan and Eddie Burke, Pratheesh Kumar & Alan O'Neill)