Another summer down-under

Feels like the end of an era now. I’ve just finished a contract at a client site having worked there on and off for the last three and a half years. Feels strange to know that I won’t be going back. (Although I might have said that before - and never say never seems to be a theme with my life)

I’m heading back to New Zealand for another summer. Winter here in the UK is just a little too cold, dark and bitter for my liking. I might miss snowboarding, but body-surfing is a fairly good substitute in my book.

There’s a lot to prepare when heading away so long. Things like storing the car and motorbike properly. Although I almost wish I’d sold them this year as that would make it less things to worry about. De-junking has been partially successful, but there are so many things I’d still like to get rid of!

It’s amazing how much stuff weighs you down. It was so liberating when I got rid of everything I had in storage back in NZ. Most of it was worthless junk that I didn’t miss or even knew I had.

It’s hard sometimes to triage stuff when you’re in clear-out mode. It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in memories, distracted with other little projects or just find yourself shifting stuff from one part of the house to another. Having three boxes (Sell, Donate, Bin) and trying to sort out the items is one part of the equation, but what criteria do you use on whether you’ll keep a particular item?

Relevancy is a good criteria. If I’ve used it in the past twelve months, then it’s probably something relevant/useful. That spare arabic keyboard then probably needs to be donated/binned.

Is it something that enriches my life somehow? I would keep a painting that I liked. Books, my one big weakness, are also something that I consider enrich my life. I have a cupboard full of books, written by my favourite authors, that I read and re-read.

What other criteria should you use when making a decision to keep or get rid of something? And how much ‘stuff’ is enough? For three or four months each year, I effectively live out of a suitcase and don’t find it too restricting. Does that make everything I’ve got at home superfluous?