Cutting the ties that bind us

[NoTies]

There was a similar thread here a while back but I can't find it.
After nearly a year of liveaboard cruising we have finally done it and sold just about everything that doesn't go on the boat. The only things we kept are photos, sentimental stuff, some special books atc. and they all fitted into the admiral's 2 door sports car!! Will store the stuff at a family member's house, sell the car and we're free as birds.
It was a tough decision and taken in several steps but we are certainly feeling a lot better for it and seem to have had a burden lifted from our shoulders.

[Alan Wheeler]

Very cool. Good on ya.

[GordMay]

You’ve overcome one of the common obstacles to successful cruising ~ pride of possession.

You can never get enough of what you don't need to make you happy; because no matter how much you have, what you don’t have always amounts to more.

As Billy Graham said (perhaps paraphrasing Ben Franklin): “There is nothing wrong with men possessing riches. The wrong comes when riches possess men.”

[ssullivan]

There is no better feeling! I still remember it well. You've made a very positive, life-altering step.

[dana-tenacity]

Now for the depressing part, coming back is much, much , much harder. here's hoping you never have to.

[ssullivan]

Amen to that...

[Island Mike]

"Pride of possession" What a statement; everything is going well with our plans to finish the boat and live the dream. However, over the past 32 years we have accumulated a considerable amount of stuff. My wife will have no issues with a total down size, and while I tell her I will not have a problem, I am not sure. Gord, you wrote some profound words, I need to take heed of those words...
Sean did anything go into storage until your return? I think once I pass this threshold the rest is downhill.
I wonder how many people can do everything except rid themselves of their earthly possesions and then let that foil their plans?

[ssullivan]

Oddly, I did have to throw a few things in storage. We kept some times in a barn in Newport. Some of those items were:

XC Skiis, snowboard (probably my most painful - I started snowboarding in 1987 and did it semi-pro back then), records of my wrecked company, some momentos (like a shoebox worth), office clothes in case of emergency, and that's all I can remember.

Oddly, it was a mistake to even store that garbage, other than possibly the skiing stuff. We did use it last winter. This winter, not so much.

So anyway, the stored stuff was basically a mistake since we aren't even sure what the heck is up there anymore. We haven't needed it in the year and a half or so we have been living aboard at all. We are planning to get up there shortly, grab the snowboard and xc-skiis (just in case, and also for vacations) and throw just about everything else out or donate it.

One nice things is if you have assets and things you are selling, it can add a bit to your cruising funds. That's always nice. So don't look at it as losing your "stuff" look at it as gaining more funds to do what you really love.

Mike, hope to run into you this summer. We'll be out at anchor again all summer. Not sure where yet, but that's the beauty of life aboard.

[Island Mike]

Sean,

Thanks for the feedback, we will be moored in Deep River this summer, so Im sure sometime through the summer we will meet up.

[NoTies]

Fortunately Sue & I have easily marketable skills. She is an accomplished sailor and qualified chef and dietician and I am a marine engineer who also has a commercial master's license, so getting work anywhere is pretty easy. We have no plans to come back fulltime to NZ but anything can change I guess.

[Zeus]

Congrats!!

[Jon D]

Congrats on the stuff. It's a big move.

[sneuman]

While I've never gone through this in the context of living aboard, I have done it a few times in regards to living abroad. The first time (going to India), we sold most everything but the house in Illinois, which we rented. We stored "important" things in the basement. A flood destroyed a lot of stuff (we can't even remember most of what it was) and then we sold the house. The last time was 7 years ago when my wife and I went to Hong Kong. Again, we stored some items with a friend, none of it valuable. We have since lost touch with the friend and have no idea what happened to the stuff. It's amazing, after careful culling, we thought sure the store items must be kept, but now that they are gone, it doesn't seem to matter.

[Weyalan]

As I move slowl closer to "cutting the ties that bind", this has been a subject often on my mind. I can tell that I am still not "ready" in that I still seem to be trapped into thinking that there is going to be stuff that I am going to need to store... I kinda know that this is a fallacy and that I should sell/donate or junk it all, but I am not totally comfortable with the idea yet. My pushbike for example, that I built myself - that would be a real wrench to let go, my book collection too, etc.

Like I say, to me this is a sign that I am not yet "ready". But I will be

[GordMay]

As Thoreau said, ”That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”

Only you can identify and prioritize those things that will improve the quality of your life. In a world of scarcity, making these determinations is necessary, if not always "comfortable" (comfort being the absence of discomfort).

The first step to breaking free from the materialism trap (the “ties that bind”) is to understand the difference between “need” and “want.” The amazing thing is, that once you learn to live with less, it becomes a habit, and a pleasure in and of itself.

A need is something you have to have - a necessity, like food.

A want is something you would like to have, but isn’t absolutely necessary - a luxury, like Coca Cola. Although “wants” vary according to individual interests, tastes, and lifestyles - they are always insatiable. Because the potential list of things we could want is infinite - we can never get enough of what we don't need, to make ourselves happy.

Certainly, I wouldn’t suggest that you give away everything you own and become a monk! But it is important that you strike a balance between those things that you have to have, and the things that you would like to have.

Here’s an interesting self-examination exercise:
Ask yourself if you could live on 80 percent of your current income, if necessary.
Now ask, whether you save 20 percent of your income.
For many people, answering yes then no, it's simply how they misperceive a need versus a want.