OldAgePensioner
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Vagabondage or NOT? Need advice.
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OldAgePensioner said:
I plan to do take a leisurely 1 to 2 month to get there. I am bringing a tent and sleeping bag to enjoy the outdoors. I have driven to Miami Beach twice but in under 2 days.
You are right, NYC can teach one to be fairly street savy.
Regarding my trip to Thailand, I'm not sure from where i'll be flying from but besides Phoenix, I thought of LA or even SF but am not sure how I would get there. How are you getting to SF?
We'll definitely keep in touch. Timing is everything.
By the way, in the late 70's, I quit my job and chased after a short term girlfriend who moved to SF. Although, we did not rekindle our love relationship, I thoroughly enjoyed the 4 weeks I spent in SF. If I hadn't been so frugal minded (had a rent control apartment and no car), I would have loved to have moved there.
Best of luck and continued health to you on your trip to SF.
ladelfina
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OAP sounds like he is way beyond most people already in "de-junking" his life!
For people who aren't there yet, but wish they were, I'd recommend a TV series called the "Life Laundry", produced by the BBC. It may not be on anymore, but the host has a couple of books about how to go about de-cluttering your house and your life. The show was your basic reality but dealing with extreme hoarders or people who had just otherwise ended up with a lot of "junk", valuable and not, like one young lady who inherited an older friend's entire house stuffed to the gills with antiques and dog memorabilia (some items of which were worth thousands to the right interested party).
Each episode they would completely empty the house, put everything in a parking lot somewhere, and force the person to decide: keep/sell/giveaway/trash. They had a big "crushahh" onsite to pulverize the real crap.
---
This might be an idea for OAP: if he wants to keep some of his travel memories, maybe he could take some pictures of his nicest pieces and combine them with any snapshots or train tickets/ephemera from his trips and make a small scrapbook/ journal that he could keep with him and continue adding to in the future.. whether he sells his souvenirs or stores them..
Sounds like it's not the item that's so important as not completely getting rid of the memory of it..
If you don't see yourself needing antique furniture in the future, do contact a dealer and get the best price you can for it. If at some point you decide you want to settle somewhere for a while, you can always have fun shopping for some "new" antiques.
I would dispose of everything that has little to do with "who you are now."
For people who aren't there yet, but wish they were, I'd recommend a TV series called the "Life Laundry", produced by the BBC. It may not be on anymore, but the host has a couple of books about how to go about de-cluttering your house and your life. The show was your basic reality but dealing with extreme hoarders or people who had just otherwise ended up with a lot of "junk", valuable and not, like one young lady who inherited an older friend's entire house stuffed to the gills with antiques and dog memorabilia (some items of which were worth thousands to the right interested party).
Each episode they would completely empty the house, put everything in a parking lot somewhere, and force the person to decide: keep/sell/giveaway/trash. They had a big "crushahh" onsite to pulverize the real crap.
---
This might be an idea for OAP: if he wants to keep some of his travel memories, maybe he could take some pictures of his nicest pieces and combine them with any snapshots or train tickets/ephemera from his trips and make a small scrapbook/ journal that he could keep with him and continue adding to in the future.. whether he sells his souvenirs or stores them..
Sounds like it's not the item that's so important as not completely getting rid of the memory of it..
If you don't see yourself needing antique furniture in the future, do contact a dealer and get the best price you can for it. If at some point you decide you want to settle somewhere for a while, you can always have fun shopping for some "new" antiques.
I would dispose of everything that has little to do with "who you are now."
BUM
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Hi OAP!
I've been out of touch for awhile (DW says since the 80s). But regarding your questions about Blue Cross Blue Shield...While "The Blues" are in most states, they are organized by state. But IL requires that a policyholder be covered for emergency treatment elsewhere. In other words, even if you went to a BCBS doctor in CA you are generally considered out-of-network, but you would be covered. Its worth checking out however when you get to SF. We were surprised that our NY Aetna coverage was acceptable at our local doc's office here in NC.
I've been out of touch for awhile (DW says since the 80s). But regarding your questions about Blue Cross Blue Shield...While "The Blues" are in most states, they are organized by state. But IL requires that a policyholder be covered for emergency treatment elsewhere. In other words, even if you went to a BCBS doctor in CA you are generally considered out-of-network, but you would be covered. Its worth checking out however when you get to SF. We were surprised that our NY Aetna coverage was acceptable at our local doc's office here in NC.
OldAgePensioner
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Maybe the goal should be "simplicity" or "convenience" instead of "everything should fit in the pack on my back".
I occasionally stumble accross items in my house that I forgot I owned. Stuff I never really used, I'm not sure why I bought it, and there's a low likelihood I'll ever use/need it in the future. To me, that says "get rid of me".
If you want to vagabond it for a while but don't want to get rid of everything, then stick what you DO want to retain in a storage unit somewhere or with a friend or family member. After a year, see if you can even remember what you stored. Did you miss it after a year? Did you find yourself needing something you stored away?
Bottom line is you shouldn't spend a lot of your limited time performing what I call "stuff management". Unless that expenditure of time is important to you or enriches your life somehow.
I occasionally stumble accross items in my house that I forgot I owned. Stuff I never really used, I'm not sure why I bought it, and there's a low likelihood I'll ever use/need it in the future. To me, that says "get rid of me".
If you want to vagabond it for a while but don't want to get rid of everything, then stick what you DO want to retain in a storage unit somewhere or with a friend or family member. After a year, see if you can even remember what you stored. Did you miss it after a year? Did you find yourself needing something you stored away?
Bottom line is you shouldn't spend a lot of your limited time performing what I call "stuff management". Unless that expenditure of time is important to you or enriches your life somehow.
OldAgePensioner
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Outtahere
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OAP, check out Ebay Trading Assistants or Ebay Drop Off locations. They will sell the items for you for a percentage. It's better then trashing them and there has to be someone out there that would love to have your book collection. You'd probably find one that would handle your whole storage unit for you.
BTW I really envy your ablity to dejunk your life.
BTW I really envy your ablity to dejunk your life.
OldAgePensioner
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Sheryl
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OAP you are an inspiration to a junk-horder like me. Justin's point cut to the quick - I spend too much precious time on "stuff managment." But it's like an addiction I'm trying to recover from.
I hope that you and MJ and anyone else who sets out on an adventure will continue to check in here on the forum whenever the internet connection is available.
We need to be continuously reminded of the world out there waiting for us wannabees.
I hope that you and MJ and anyone else who sets out on an adventure will continue to check in here on the forum whenever the internet connection is available.
We need to be continuously reminded of the world out there waiting for us wannabees.
OldAgePensioner
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OldAgePensioner said:
I have Dr. Danby's "Computer Modeling: From Sports to Spaceflight, From Order to Chaos" textbook on my bookshelf at home. It was used in the "Numerical Applications to Differential Equations" class. Painful memories... Very painful.
Sheryl said:
I had an epiphany about "stuff" one day. The purpose of "stuff" should be to enrich our lives. In contrast to the stated purpose, most of my "stuff" ends up being a burden and degrading the quality of my life. One can never recover the time and money spent on researching, acquiring, maintaining, cleaning, storing, insuring, moving, inventorying, worrying about, and disposing of "stuff".
Maybe I should convert to Buddhism.
OldAgePensioner
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unclemick
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Hmmm
Vagabondage may be the only cure.
Lost almost everything in Katrina - except for some Jimmy Buffett shirts and stuff.
In a new house(since last september) - it's amazing how much 'stuff' has been accumulated just since then.
Wow!
Vagabondage may be the only cure.
Lost almost everything in Katrina - except for some Jimmy Buffett shirts and stuff.
In a new house(since last september) - it's amazing how much 'stuff' has been accumulated just since then.
Wow!
OldAgePensioner
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SteveR
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Looks like OAP and Uncle Mick need to get together on find a new home for stuff...one has and no longer wants.....one lost all but still needs.
My mother recently sold her house and moved into Assisted Living. My brother and I took all we could of her stuff but she still had a ton that had to be give away or tossed. She lives on 10% of the stuff she used to have and says she misses a few of her family treasures but otherwise is fine with what she has left.
I am slooooooooooooooowly getting rid of stuff my late wife hoarded over her lifetime. Most of it has value and I can't bring myself to just throw it away or give it away.....at least for now. Family members don't have room for the boxes of old family pictures and old movies....what do you do with it besides keep it? I have such a hard time getting rid of these kinds of things. Trinkets, knick knacks and other "stuff" was not so bad and I took care of that over a year ago. I keep waiting for my kids to get out of school with the hopes they will settle down somewhere and want some of the excess stuff but I have a feeling they will not want it and I will be stuck with getting rid of it. I know I should just let it go but the memories are too difficult to just give to some stranger. Maybe someday I will feel differently.
Anybody need a couple of sets of dishes.............I think I am down to 7 sets now. :
My mother recently sold her house and moved into Assisted Living. My brother and I took all we could of her stuff but she still had a ton that had to be give away or tossed. She lives on 10% of the stuff she used to have and says she misses a few of her family treasures but otherwise is fine with what she has left.
I am slooooooooooooooowly getting rid of stuff my late wife hoarded over her lifetime. Most of it has value and I can't bring myself to just throw it away or give it away.....at least for now. Family members don't have room for the boxes of old family pictures and old movies....what do you do with it besides keep it? I have such a hard time getting rid of these kinds of things. Trinkets, knick knacks and other "stuff" was not so bad and I took care of that over a year ago. I keep waiting for my kids to get out of school with the hopes they will settle down somewhere and want some of the excess stuff but I have a feeling they will not want it and I will be stuck with getting rid of it. I know I should just let it go but the memories are too difficult to just give to some stranger. Maybe someday I will feel differently.
Anybody need a couple of sets of dishes.............I think I am down to 7 sets now. :
cute fuzzy bunny
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Any kind of shelter. I'll be calling around for some over the next few days as I just bought a new gigantic set of pans to replace my rag-tag collection from three different sets...and cleaned all the rest of the seldom used crap out of my kitchen this morning while i was at it.
Between goodwill regional CEO's making a million dollars a year and even the yuba city one getting picky about what they'll take, I've decided they've gotten my last box o' stuff.
I've got OAP fever...I'm sick of jammed cabinets, garage and sheds...
Between goodwill regional CEO's making a million dollars a year and even the yuba city one getting picky about what they'll take, I've decided they've gotten my last box o' stuff.
I've got OAP fever...I'm sick of jammed cabinets, garage and sheds...
OldAgePensioner
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ladelfina
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OAP, sounds like you have reduced things to the right degree for yourself.. There aren't all that many people (in the "First World", at least) that can say all their "stuff" fits into a 4x4x4' space!
When I first moved overseas, I came with four suitcases: clothes/shoes/coats for summer & winter and the rest books, laptop & CDs, and... kitchen gadgets and knives I couldn't do without!! I didn't miss any of the rest of my personal "stuff" which I had boxed up and left in the basement of my house (which I rented furnished in the meantime).
Now fast-forward a few years, to when we made our definitive move: we shipped 2 40' long CONTAINERS of stuff! 1 was our 2 cars, the other.. everything else. Once you get into "container" territory, it doesn't cost any more to just keep piling the stuff in! That notwithstanding, we got rid of at least 30 boxes of books, and about 25 SUV-loads of everything under the sun to the local Goodwill. As CFB pointed out, they are getting super-picky, so while I was careful not to give them stuff that was truly of zero value, I'm sure they put a lot of it into the dumpster anyway. 4 'antique' manual typewriters, 2 aquarium setups, a pristine old professional slide projector.. I could go on... I just didn't have the time or the energy to E-bay it. I guess I didn't really learn much from my 4-suitcase move.. 'cause here I am sitting amongst my old "stuff" once again, even tho' it is only 1/2 of it!!
--- Those who need to de-junk": definitely cultivate an E-bay friend/acquaintance if you are not of a mind to do it yourself. Even splitting the profit 50/50 you'll be surprised at how far ahead you can come out. [Case in point: we're looking through mom's garage and come across a bag full of 30-year-old stuffed animals.. not in the worst shape ever, but certainly nothing you would buy for your kid, even at a yard sale for 25c!! Dusty, musty. Mom's friend, a serious E-bayer spies one big "dog", says "let's see what we can get for that", and sells it for.. $75!!!!!!! I am not kidding!]
SteveR, maybe what you should do with the old movies is take them to a place that will put them on a DVD for you. It might cost a bit, but then you can make copies for the rest of your family as gifts. At some point it will become difficult to find a working home movie player/screen anyway..
OAP, it's great that you'll soon be "footloose"!! Thanks for inspiring us to re-examine and purge.. now I'll start right in on all the junk in the garage!.. umm, after I finish my coffee.
When I first moved overseas, I came with four suitcases: clothes/shoes/coats for summer & winter and the rest books, laptop & CDs, and... kitchen gadgets and knives I couldn't do without!! I didn't miss any of the rest of my personal "stuff" which I had boxed up and left in the basement of my house (which I rented furnished in the meantime).
Now fast-forward a few years, to when we made our definitive move: we shipped 2 40' long CONTAINERS of stuff! 1 was our 2 cars, the other.. everything else. Once you get into "container" territory, it doesn't cost any more to just keep piling the stuff in! That notwithstanding, we got rid of at least 30 boxes of books, and about 25 SUV-loads of everything under the sun to the local Goodwill. As CFB pointed out, they are getting super-picky, so while I was careful not to give them stuff that was truly of zero value, I'm sure they put a lot of it into the dumpster anyway. 4 'antique' manual typewriters, 2 aquarium setups, a pristine old professional slide projector.. I could go on... I just didn't have the time or the energy to E-bay it. I guess I didn't really learn much from my 4-suitcase move.. 'cause here I am sitting amongst my old "stuff" once again, even tho' it is only 1/2 of it!!
--- Those who need to de-junk": definitely cultivate an E-bay friend/acquaintance if you are not of a mind to do it yourself. Even splitting the profit 50/50 you'll be surprised at how far ahead you can come out. [Case in point: we're looking through mom's garage and come across a bag full of 30-year-old stuffed animals.. not in the worst shape ever, but certainly nothing you would buy for your kid, even at a yard sale for 25c!! Dusty, musty. Mom's friend, a serious E-bayer spies one big "dog", says "let's see what we can get for that", and sells it for.. $75!!!!!!!
I am not kidding!]SteveR, maybe what you should do with the old movies is take them to a place that will put them on a DVD for you. It might cost a bit, but then you can make copies for the rest of your family as gifts. At some point it will become difficult to find a working home movie player/screen anyway..
OAP, it's great that you'll soon be "footloose"!! Thanks for inspiring us to re-examine and purge.. now I'll start right in on all the junk in the garage!.. umm, after I finish my coffee.
OldAgePensioner
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cute fuzzy bunny
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
OldAgePensioner said:
Ah yes. When I sold my mcmansion and had to get rid of half my stuff before moving in here, I came across the boxes and boxes of NFL games I had taped in the 80's and early 90's. I had completely forgotten about them. In fact, I didnt even own a VCR anymore :
Took some to my then-girlfriends house and watched 'em. Old Joe Montana's 49ers vs Phil Simms Giants. Warren Moon trying to win a championship with the chuck and duck run and shoot in houston when houston wasnt in tennesee. A lot of guys who are balding announcers now, in their prime. Then took them all to the dump and set them to one side of the pile.Somewhere, maybe someone was a bit pleased after the initial disappointment that they hadnt found a treasure trove of porn...
