Is This Normal? Getting Rid of Our Life

[Rhapsody-NS27]

As I read the posts in this thread, it is sounding more and more like a support group for addicts. "Hi, my name is Daniel and I'm a/an (addict, cruiser, live aboard, etc.) and I need help."

Everyone here has a common interest when it comes to boats in general so no matter what one decides and how you pursue your interests, you're still in good company.

Best of luck. Sometimes it's best to go against the norm.

[zeehag]

robyn--smart move....lol no pun intended...i know how difficult it is to part with STUFF collected with love and care over time. i have no stowage place onland--i gave my grandmother's duncan pfyffe to my sister and ran like hell. i am a gear head and sold 2 nissan 300 zx cars and one datsun 300zx turbo car--what lovely freedom!!!! i outfitted using a beeter--1988 2.2 hp plymouth horizon with a patch or two of paint left on it and many dents--lol loved that damcar--was great to stuff with wood, engine parts, engines, whatever and go somewhere, as long as the oil stayed in..LOL..that was tricky--
so do not cry over gone items--make new ones happen that take up less space and mean more to ye. bon voyage and have fun with your new lifestyle. we each do it differently and we each have different experiences--but it should b positive without regrets ..... life is an adventure meant to be LIVED, after all....

btw--what, exactly , is "norm"

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by zeehag

btw--what, exactly , is "norm"

norm = Normal.... I was saying it as in getting away from what most people call "normal" and just doing your own thing.

[zeehag]

normal is a certain percent of society into which NO ONE fits--therefore doesnt exist. we are each individual and need to consider that in our lifelong reality.
normal used to be beaver and wally cleaver--and we KNOW they are fake....just television propaganda for dictating alleged norms.

[stevensuf]

To me it was kinda liked i had died, and all my things were being given away , sold or dumped, quite emotional, but later it was as if i had died and gone to heaven, granted occasional moment of hell are thrown in for good measure

[zeehag]

stevensuf--yes, that emotion happens also--is a phase...kinda like death and dying but with a helluva rebirth!!!!

[w32honu]

Great thread.......

Jules and I are very close to breaking away. Been pairing down on the home front for a good while now. We have found this thread very informative.

More!!!!!!!!!!

[rtbates]

After long periods of anticipation it's a natural let down when the dreaming stops and the dream starts... warts and all...

[sww914]

Originally Posted by rtbates

After long periods of anticipation it's a natural let down when the dreaming stops and the dream starts... warts and all...

You said it!
The whole time my boy had a tracheostomy, from 2 to 4 1/2 years old, I dreamed of how perfect life would be after he was healthy and no longer trying to die of something every month. A few weeks after he was finally decannulated I hit emotional rock-bottom really hard. The problem, you see, is that I had imagined a perfect life post-trach. It wasn't a perfect life, it was a normal crappy life like everyone else's, just without the horror.

[Dennis.G]

Originally Posted by reed1v

well that is just silly. unless your really down to your last dime, put the stuff in storage. over time, prices skyrocket. you will save a bundle by storing stuff till you later on need them. use to be able to buy a new couch for $200, now at least $1200. stainless pans from $5 now around $60, and so on. so if its good quality, keep it. some stuff they just dont make anymore or make in inferior quality.

Or pay good money month after month to store your old couch, pots and pans, and in the end have old stuff that you could buy at any garage sale for dirt cheap if you needed it at all in the end.

Oh, and miss a couple of storage payments and the stuff all gets sold off by the storage company leaving you with nothing after all.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by zeehag

normal is a certain percent of society into which NO ONE fits--therefore doesnt exist. we are each individual and need to consider that in our lifelong reality.
normal used to be beaver and wally cleaver--and we KNOW they are fake....just television propaganda for dictating alleged norms.

I've never seen anything on TV that is closer to the life of my parents, myself, my children and my grandchildren and most of the people I know than the life of the "Cleavers"! Well, maybe "Ozzie and Harriet" or "Father Knows Best"!

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I've never seen anything on TV that is closer to the life of my parents, myself, my children and my grandchildren and most of the people I know than the life of the "Cleavers"! Well, maybe "Ozzie and Harriet" or "Father Knows Best"!

We were more the Adams Family without the money...

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by CaptForce

I've never seen anything on TV that is closer to the life of my parents, myself, my children and my grandchildren and most of the people I know than the life of the "Cleavers"! Well, maybe "Ozzie and Harriet" or "Father Knows Best"!

I did a series of The Wire (I married "Snoop" ).


Not (yet) decamped to a boat - but cleaned out a few houses / lives in my time, both for dead people and for myself (for various reasons / in varying countries / for different lives).

I echo the comment made already that doing for self is akin to dying! - sometimes you stare at stuff and realise that if someone else was clearing out for you that so much is just worthless rubbish that would go into a skip without any pause for thought - full only of memories that mean zero to anyone else.....not to say that you don't do the same , but not without first saying "good bye" .

Of course also useful if you live so can move in 5 minutes flat....or even without ever returning "home".....but that approach does also get old.

[jeremiason]

Lori and I made a similar path as you did... Sold the house and gave the kids most of the possessions... We moved on the boat 4 years before we left. Both of us were nervous, especially when friends started to think we were nuts...

In Sept 2010, we departed San Francisco and have never regreted the choice.

Cruising isn't all roses, there have been a few hard times, but so far the good times have have out numbered the bad and we wake every day with a smile.

Fair winds....

[JanetGroene]

A storage locker is highly recommended if you can get back to it after the first year's lease is up and re-evaluate. We found that many items meant nothing at all, couldn't even remember why we saved them. Others, however, were more precious than ever. Even if you plan to sell stuff it may be wise to store for a while so you don't take a bath in selling hastily. As for Grandma's hutch, it can never be retrieved and it could mean to much to your children or grandchildren later. It's funny how some of the worst kids return to family and become fiercely loyal to their heritage. Many storage facilities allow you to have a tag sale at your unit, so you don't have to move the stuff elsewhere to sell it.