Blog 12 Downsizing

I think one of the difficulties in moving to Hawaii, or any warm weather locale, is deciding what do to with all your heavier clothing and winter paraphernalia. It’s like, “well what if we ever move back to Chicago, won’t I need this?” And in our case, like many, we were going to a much smaller house (2,000 square feet versus 4,000 square feet) because of all the outdoor lanai (patio) space we were going to be having at our new place.

I had never been exposed to “garage sale fever” that exists in northern California, and perhaps elsewhere. Over five garage sales we were able to sell about $7,000 worth of unneeded possessions including TV’s and furniture. We gave away probably a like amount, and threw away probably even more. Undoubtedly we could have downsized more, and probably should have.

Our last move, only two years ago, had been a corporate move and we brought everything with us – which is probably typical. And after two years in California, we had crates and boxes that we had never opened. That’s probably a message, but who wants to spend their weekends after newly arriving in California doing unpacking?!