How I Let it All Go, Literally: Downsizing to Live on the Road
When I tell people 90% of what I own in the world is parked right outside, I’m not kidding. Aside from a few boxes at my dad’s house and some items friends are caring for, everything resides in my RAV4 that I live out of. When I sold my house in May of 2021, I also got rid of a four-bedroom house plus basement full of things.
The funny thing is that the more you get rid of, the easier it is to do. After my first summer without a house, I found myself getting rid of even more. It makes you really think about what you need and what you use. It makes you think closely about every new item that you bring into your life—is it worth the space it takes up?
I often use this same phrase when I’m teaching my yoga classes: those thoughts, those emotions . . . are they worth the space they are taking up? If not, let them go. It shouldn’t be a mystery that more physical clutter means more mental and emotional clutter. I’m not suggesting everyone can or should downsize quite to the extreme that I have, but what can you let go of?
I had the advantage of knowing that I was going to start this journey long before my job or most of my friends did, so I slowly started parting with items long before it was time to get rid of it all. Whether you want to simply eliminate some things in your home or if you’re ready to move to a tiny house or live out of your car, I hope sharing my approach gives you some ideas:
Starting with the Hardest: My Bookcase
My book collection after downsizing and selling my large bookcases.
I found that when I started with my biggest obstacle, it made the rest easier. For me, it was my collection of books, some of my most prized possessions. After I was able to part with 75% of my books, I found confidence to move further.
Ready to pair down a collection? Instead of starting to pull books off the shelf that I thought I could let go of, I took a different approach. I carefully scanned my bookcase and moved only those I thought I could not part with to a table. After going through my 250+ books, I shocked myself by only hanging on to about 60 of them. The rest went into boxes until I was ready to sell them. I later had to slice that count much further to just what I took in my car, but that practice became easier, too, later on.
Build a Capsule Wardrobe
This was a huge game changer for me. In a capsule wardrobe, you pick 2-3 signature colors that go together (I chose mustard yellow, burgundy, and dark teal) and pair that with only black/white/grey (I also included navy). Anything not in that color palette goes. I know this sounds boring, but for the minimalistic lifestyle, it really works. I know that I can mix and match absolutely everything in my wardrobe. If I can’t make an item of clothing work in at least three different ways, it’s out.
I should note that I did not apply this to my yoga/workout clothes which are more about function than design. Coincidentally, all I ever wear these days are yoga pants, a tank top, and a sweatshirt. But hey, when I wear normal people clothes, it’s easy pickin’s.
Only Keeping What I Need
Now my case is drastic, right? I started pulling only items I absolutely needed to take with me and putting them in a separate room until I was ready to pack my vehicle. This helped me keep a visual of how much I was hanging on to.
My essentials: all my camping and hiking gear, camping kitchen with propane stove, mattress and pillows, small amount of books (tip: I buy books at thrift stores now and just donate them when I finish reading them), yoga mats and props, first-aid and repairs kits, journaling and a few craft supplies.
When I was really getting ready to downsize completely, I went from room to room and started organizing everything, occasionally pulling out only small items such as a pair of scissors to add to the collection of what to keep.
What to Do With It All
Once I had my plan in place, I started listing larger items that were worth money on Facebook Marketplace to sell. This allowed me to start at a small rate to save money and get rid of items without too much commitment. It helped parting with things slowly so that it was easier for the big emptying. Here are some other tactics I used:
Sell items on Facebook Marketplace (in my opinion Craigslist isn’t used much anymore, but it could be worth it for selling a couch, vehicle, or something else worth more money).
Sell items on personal Facebook account. I sold so much this way; as an added bonus, I got to see so many people for one last time.
Invite friends over to shop my closet. This is especially helpful if you have friends that are similar size as you. It’s easier to part with your favorite shirt when you know it’s going to be well-loved.
Host an estate sale. This was the big one. I really didn’t think I would sell nearly as much as I did, and it was with limited marketing effort. The last day, I marked everything as 50% off (except a few special high price items) just to get rid of it all.
Donate. You could leave it all with a thrift store (preferably a nonprofit with a good mission/ethics), but I chose to be more picky. It of course came with more work than was necessary, but I made sure items went to the women’s shelter, that my prom dresses went to the local theater’s costume department, and that items from my business went to another artist that could use them.
As a last resort, post on Facebook that it’s free and on your porch, and it’ll be gone in a blink.
How It Feels to Let Go
I’ll never forget the moment when I cried at my estate sale. A customer asked me to hold a couple of items that she wanted while she continued to shop. After she walked away, I held them in my hands: my DVD collection of Anne of Green Gables and my first copy of Little Women, a book that I used to collect different editions of. As silly as it was, this was the moment that I realized just how much I was letting go. Sensing what was going on, my mom said, “Kirsten, you don’t have to part with everything.” She’s right, but these items no longer served me. I just said I needed a moment is all. By the time the customer came back, I had resealed the smile to my lips, and happily bagged the items and gave them away.
Whether it’s a physical item or it’s something else we are carrying (a stressor, a thought, a regret, a resentment, a doubt), it’s okay to be sad to let it go while also knowing we need to let it go. It’s okay to feel that resistance of hanging on even as we let go.
As we let go and make that space for something new, can we be conscious of what we will fill it with instead? Or perhaps, for a time at least, can we leave that space open? 