The Art of Leaving

Preferred amount of luggage

So you have lived in a place for a few years and you are about to move away. But not by renting a truck, but using only a few suitcases as you are flying, not driving. And you are a poor vagabond who cannot afford renting space in a container. Here is what you do:

Make sure you have a sibling who works for an airline. He or she can fly over using cheap airline tickets, get you a cheap ticket and provide luggage space. You will need it.

Make sure said sibling is a nice one. The kind that would not mind being in the US for just 60 hours and also does not mind hauling luggage between Midway Airport and O’Hare Airport in Chicago to save money.

Utilize all your available frequent flier miles to get your sibling and you to the correct departure city. Disregard the fact you have forked over the equivalent of a small country’s annual budget on flights over the past few years and just celebrate the fact that you got to fly so cheaply to the correct city.

Make sure to cash in as much as you can on your possessions – post stuff on Craig’s list (American friends), Blocket (Swedish friends), and Gumtree (Australian friends). Give away good household items to people who need them and donate the rest to charities.

Old worn-out T shirts do not need to be hauled across the world. Do your hardcore workouts in them and throw them away one by one.

Pack clothes you care for deeply – such as your custom made pieces of Chinese clothing – using double plastic bags. Yes, your packing will look like it belongs to a bag lady, but yes, stuff leaks and clothes can get ruined. Not sure why, but stuff always leaks.

Make sure you have amazing friends who will miss you and will buy you going away lunches and dinners. This will minimize the amount of food you will have to calculate to have in your fridge during the last few days at your current place of residence.

Set aside time to call/meet with your bank, accountant, retirement/investment company, property tax place, real estate agent, dentist, orthodontist, dermatologist, school, work, electric company etc etc. It’s boring, but needed. If you don’t feel like a grownup, this is the time to act like one. Make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you leave.

Make sure you let people who matters to you know that although you may have an ocean in between you, you don’t ever say goodbye. Skype is excellent and you are a traveler, which means jumping on a plane for a visit is always at the top of your list of priorities.

When you have a small meltdown and think you won’t be able to bring anything with you to your next place, and you should just chuck it all - go for a walk to clear your head. Then come back and realize that X amount of allowed luggage is a lot.

On the fence of keeping stuff? Stuff that you may want to bring back, but know will only wind up in a pile at your parents house? Take a picture of the item and give it away/donate/trash it. (This may just be me…a common theme in my blog posts…my lack of attachment to “stuff”. I swear I am not a cold hearted person!)

When the sibling arrives, the one working for an airline, take him or her out for a nice dinner. It’s a frekin long way to travel to do a “pick up”. And offer him or her your bed, you can sleep on the floor. You are a Viking Princess or a Viking Princess in training, a hard floor will not face you.

And if you are scared and do not feel prepare for a massive change in your life, think of this quote: “Leap and the net will appear” – John Burroughs. Just don’t jump out of your transatlantic flight; you need to safely get your sibling and you to your next destination. You can totally jump out of planes later as a extracurricular activity.