You do not realize how much you will forget.
I returned from nine months of solo female travel around the world with a giant grin and a million hugs for loved ones… and then proceeded to not be able to find a thing.
When you are getting ready to leave the country, you assume you will be able to find your favorite shoes multiple months and a head full of Asia, Africa, and Europe later. Trust me: you will not be able to.
Here are some glimpses of how this looks, with lessons attached:
Thursday (one day after returning from Around the World): Gleefully about to leave the house to meet a friend in Harvard Square for burritos when I realize: “Where the heck are my keys?” Thirty minutes later I found them, blessedly hanging by the door.
Lesson 1: Leave your most important stuff in extremely obvious or well-labeled places, or you will freak out! I repeat: You do not realize how much you will forget.
Thursday to the Present: “I know I had two fully loaded train cards and two fully full bottles of face lotion. But where oh where are they? Am I going crazy? I’ve looked everywhere!”
Lesson 2: Some things you will never find. Maybe you stored them in a place so “safe” that it’s also safe from your new brain, or maybe some well-meaning person thought the items needed a new owner. Either way, move on and buy a new set. If you really wanted to keep the thingies, you should have labeled ’em clearly and put them in a logical place! Now I know.
Friday: “I HAVE NO PANTS OR SHOES!” Then, after three hours of ruffling through every nook and cranny, I finally had the bright idea to climb up to the attic. Oh, smart self! Before I flew out in August, I had apparently carefully folded all my pants and stacked all my shoes into two boxes, each of which was labeled with a paper stating the exact specifications and colors of the contents! Yay! Clarity!
Lesson 3: It seems stupid now to label what you leave in ridiculous detail, but you will love yourself for it when you return!
Sunday: “I don’t remember half of these trashy shirts. Did I raid a dumpster before I left? I knew I was unfashionable, but this is ridiculous.”
Lesson 4: Since you won’t remember your clothes when you return home, the month before you leave is the perfect time to donate the majority of your ratty wardrobe. It’s much more pleasant to come home to very little and be forced to do some fun shopping (or clothing swapping) with friends than to realize that the clothes in your musty backpack are classier than what’s left in your drawers.
To summarize: After traveling around the world, your mind will be full of Asian temples and African sun and European pastries and the crazy people you met and the ridiculous things you did… not with your left-behind material possessions.
Hence, before you leave, label things dumbly well, put them in obvious places (maybe even make a master list of where everything is!), know that some stuff WILL disappear before you return, and make the mediocre stuff disappear yourself, before you leave!
The author, Lillie Marshall, is a 6-foot-tall National Board Certified Teacher of English, fitness fan, and mother of two who has been a public school educator since 2003. She launched Around the World “L” Travel and Life Blog in 2009, and over 4.2 million readers have now visited this site. Lillie also runs TeachingTraveling.com and DrawingsOf.com. Subscribe to her monthly newsletter, and follow @WorldLillie on social media!
Ann-Katrin
Sunday 27th of April 2014
Fully agree on the "donate to charity" - but don't go overboard and throw all. I kept SOME things that were just wrong for THAT occasion but I knew I could need later, also so I could pick up the bags and boxes from storage and ship them to a new location once I have found out where I want to live next. Having to do shopping when you come back and have learnt to live with so little is horrible and awful, especially if you are like me - but learning to get rid of a lot of stuff and learning to live with a lot less is the most liberating thing I have ever been through, I think. But then again I will never return to exactly the same setup as I had before I travelled, even if I would return to the same location I would ensure it was different. In some ways.
Lillie
Sunday 27th of April 2014
Well said!
Rob @ Hungry Escapades
Sunday 12th of January 2014
We spent months getting rid of all our possessions. Sometimes it was a ball ache, but mainly it felt liberating getting rid of all that needless junk!
Lillie
Sunday 12th of January 2014
Yes!
Holgs
Tuesday 6th of March 2012
Getting rid of as much stuff as possible early on is great advice. Chances are you're not going to want a lot of your stuff when you get back. When I first went traveling, friends at home encouraged me to keep stuff "because you're going to need it when you get back". Now each time I go back home I try to get a rid of a little bit more, but at the same time I think OMG I can't believe all this stuff is still sitting here. Craigslist, Ebay and donating to charity are essential pre-RTW trip activities!
Lillie
Tuesday 6th of March 2012
Yes!!! High five! :)
Mary @ Green Global Travel
Tuesday 20th of December 2011
Thanks for the tips. I hate that panicky feeling of not being able to find something when I know I was really careful about what I did with it. I'm pretty organized, but traveling takes your mind to so many places it is hard to remember the little stuff. Glad to hear I'm not alone.
Abby
Saturday 10th of December 2011
After unpacking my storage unit after being gone a year, it still took me 13 months to find my second set of car keys. That was a LONG time to worry about locking my keys in the car -- never again! I will definitely be more organized next time...
Lillie
Saturday 10th of December 2011
LOL! So glad to learn I wasn't the only one with this issue!