Our Hard-Earned Advice for Downsizing | Downsizing for Full-Time Travel and Retirement

[@LuchoSuerte]

I couldn’t agree more but I would like to add something. Mentally, at the start, you will put the disposal of your stuff into 4 categories: 1. most of the stuff we will sell; 2. what we can’t sell we give to friends and family; 3. what they won’t take we donate to charity; 4. the small amount of stuff left over we put in the trash. You will quickly discover: 1. Your stuff isn’t worth as much as you think, if anything and you will have more to give to friends and family than you thought. 2. Your friends and family have their own stuff and don’t want yours. 3. You will be making a lot of trips to Goodwill, a lot. 4. OMG, I have been living with this giant pile of trash that no one wants. 5. Finally, after this huge struggle of parting with all your precious stuff, you will discover you don’t miss any of it.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

There is so much truth to this, Lucho! That's why we have an entire episode dedicated to this process! We can tell you've done this yourself! Are you a full-time traveler? Or an expat somewhere? -Judy

[@LuchoSuerte]

Full time travelers

[@shannonkendrick517]

All true! We downsized to a smaller house a year ago and still need to get rid of so many things I do not need, do not use and no one else wants.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

It's a process for sure, @shannonkendrick517. Can you share what the delay has been or if there is an obstacle you might want resources for to get unstuck? Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your experience. -Judy

[@nomadjim]

Very helpful advice. When I decided I was going to move forward with selling my house so I could travel full-time, it left me with about 3 months to go through the downsizing process. It seemed overwhelming at first but as I got into it, it became easier and started feeling like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders. As things disappear, you really get that feeling of accomplishment. I made the mistake of keeping enough things that I needed a small storage unit. After 2 years of wasting my money with that, I finally downsized the storage unit to a very small amount of items I could keep in an empty corner of my parent's storage shed...no more ridiculous storage unit costs. And now when I see what's left over, I tell myself it's time to downsize that! Thanks for the video. I think it will help a lot of people who are preparing for full-time travel.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for watching and for sharing your experience, Nomad Jim. We kept a small storage unit initially because we left for full-time travel with the idea that the tech job in London might reopen and we'd revert to being expats. It was initially scary to have Kevin quit his job and it was our potential backup plan. But after a few short months of traveling when the job offer was back on the table, we turned it down and didn't look back. The next time we were in San Francisco, we cleaned out that storage unit. It was momentarily hard because it had some of our very favorite things. But we knew with certainty that we wouldn't need them anymore. We still have a single box of unscanned photos that our son is holding for us that we try to scan whenever we're in the US, but it would have been so much easier to have done it before we left! Good for you for all the hard work you did clearing things out! -Judy

[@dianamartin9558]

Great video. After selling, giving away, trashing all our stuff in May of this year, we don’t miss anything. It’s such a burden lifted! Love the out takes! We have some funny ones we should share 😅

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Diana, Thank you so much for watching! I'm sure you have some great stories! We'd love to hear them! -Judy

[@stevegrey9829]

In addition to freeing up your own lives, think of the gift you are giving your children. We spent the best part of a year cleaning out my mother-in-law's house when she passed. Lots of weekends and holidays spent throwing stuff in huge dumpsters. Multiple trips to Goodwill. Your kids will thank you.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

You are so right, Steve. I've heard of families taking many, many months to take care of this burdensome task and it's time consuming and heartbreaking. -Judy

[@nunuvyurbiz123]

It's insane how difficult it is to get rid of things - the emotional aspect, yes, but also the logistics of selling, donating, disposing. I would say leave a year, at least.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Ronin, Unfortunately, for some people that's just enough time that they mistakenly feel like they have all the time in the world! You can do it in less time, but it takes diligence, consistency, and dedication (and hard work!). But if you have the time, you should begin as soon as possible! -Judy

[@elizaC3024]

We downsized due to health issues and unfortunately it was in a matter of two months. So nothing really got sorted, and only a handful of things were gotten rid of. My mobility was declining and a couple of family members had a few hours to help, so just box 📦 and load in trailer. Now years later, surgeries and PT, I have mobility. So now I am going through decades of stuff. We donated some over the years,had kids come and sort through. Now we can go through and massively reduce our inventory. I have already scanned all family photos, I did it for my mother in 2020, when she went into an assisted living facility. Then she could watch her memories on a digital photo frame. She loved it. Now we are selling a lot of assorted items online and yes it is absolutely freeing. I keep looking through more boxes and photographing, and listing more. We are doing our first extended trip this fall. In the past it was 7 weeks, now it's 5 months. We will see how we feel afterwards and go from there. But we are both excited about it. We are keeping our home base, we have really got the costs of owning it to a minimum. 😊

[@FindingGinaMarie]

So sorry to hear about your health issues, Eliza. Your circumstances are so unfortunate, but it also speaks to how beneficial it is to live more minimally if you can. How fortunate that you have regained your health and mobility, but it sounds like it was hard work and a lot of pain to get to this point. You're ahead of most people to have scanned your photos already. What joy you brought your mother by having done this! We'll be addressing the other stuff in an upcoming video and hopefully that will help somewhat. Although I'm sure it feels daunting, it's so much easier when you are healthy. Take good care! -Judy

[@chevelleflorida]

I'd love to hear tips on how you're maintaining your home while you're travelling. Is someone living in it? Do you use housesitters? Have friends and family check in on it? For now, I like the idea of a home base. However, I don't like the idea of leaving my home empty for months at a time. Thanks for sharing your experience and well wishes on your journey!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi @chevelleflorida, It doesn't sound like @elizaC3024 is on the road yet, but we hope she will share what she plans to do. As for us, we have no home base, which gives us more money for our travels and we don't want the responsibility in case there are issues. But we know that's not for everyone. -Judy

[@elizaC3024]

@@chevelleflorida I am blessed to be married to an engineer with a tinkering soul. Since moving here, and my falling a lot he installed cameras around the house and garden. Then over 7 years it grew. Then as I stabilized after surgeries and PT, we planned trip and he went on to security camera placement. He also has monitoring software that he can access anywhere with internet. Now this is involved and definitely something that I couldn't have done. My sister on the other hand has google home at her current house, but had ADT at her previous home. She lives in subdivisions with HOA and she told her neighbors when she traveled ( albeit never more than 2 weeks). We have done 3- 7 week long trips in the past. All leaving our home in the winter months. We are in a Northern climate so we drain all water lines and unplug everything that isn't necessary. We have contact information for the local sheriff and state police with us , should we see something wrong on a camera. Due to living rurally we leave our home on the understanding that anything could happen, but our desire to see and explore the world is more important to us, at least while we are physically able to. We opened a PO box for our ebay and we forwarded our mail there. By the way there are 2 reasons for not traveling longer than 7 weeks in the past first money, we are budgeted. Second we have a hybrid solar power system that required battery maintenance every 7 weeks, or things go 💥 boom. So there's that. We have recently updated that. And we will venture out on our first 5 month trip. We won't give up our home base, at least not yet. But we will extend our travel time. Our home is never rented out, it sits patiently awaiting our return. You have to find you comfort level. This is ours now.

[@IramisandGerry]

Love this. We have started our five year plan! It’s so so so hard to begin. ❤😂

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Wow, congratulations! It is hard, but I promise it gets harder the longer you wait! There is so much freedom that comes from getting rid of your stuff! -Judy

[@dianamartin9558]

Sorry to agree with Judy…. It gets harder. There’s going to be family/friends that puts the guilt trip on you. Stay with it… we don’t regret it!

[@IramisandGerry]

@@dianamartin9558 thank you for the encouragement. When you are looking around you think “I am gonna bang this out in one weekend!” HAAAA… famous last words. Sigh* one shelf at a time. 🤞🏽🤞🏽🤞🏽😭

[@bw5911]

I started my 5 year plan 5 years ago and I am leaving permanently in 2.5 months. I went by very quickly.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

​@@bw5911 WOW. That is so incredible, BW! We are so happy for you! Do you have any trepidations now that are so close to leaving? We give you so much credit. When we were ready to leave, we were ready and out! It takes a lot of discipline to work your plan for that amount of time. Great job! -Judy

[@katmartinez3737]

Great video, hilarious blooper 🤣

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks so much, Kat! I'm always surprised about what Kevin pulls out for bloopers, but for that second one, he really got me! -Judy

[@berg8970]

My wife and I plan on giving away certain items to family and friends and then calling in an estate-selling company as soon as we close on the sale of our house. This is the easiest way to eliminate everything in one day for us.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Great idea. It doesn't solve the problem of photos and memorabilia, so you might still need to think about those. We had a box of sentimental items that we'd collected for each of our children. We skimmed through their boxes and then passed them over to them. We took a few photos of some things, but there's no way to keep that stuff. We didn't even look inside the boxes of our own memorabilia for the most part. Our focus was on the new memories that we'd be creating for ourselves. We'd love to hear how that process works for you after it's over and what your learnings from that might be. -Judy

[@GlobetrotterGranny]

This was a great video full of very helpful tips!!!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Rebecca, Thank you so much for watching! We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed this episode. We always hope we are providing good value in exchange for your time! Safe travels! -Judy

[@retirementbudgettravel699]

Very motivating video. While listening to your video, I packed up a bunch of kitchen items to toss or donate. Lol!! We have already down sized tremendously….but there is always more! 😂 Really enjoyed the video! Excellent advice! Thank you!! Marion & Jan

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Bravo, Marion and Jan! You are right. There is ALWAYS more! We hope our next video will help with more of this process, but if you have specific questions about your stuff, please let us know! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy

[@retirementbudgettravel699]

@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you! Always a pleasure getting your kind comments & good advice!! 😁👍🏼

[@bw5911]

I remember at the beginning of your videos talking about furniture you found hard to part with … and look at your INCREDIBLE life now!❤️💕❤️

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Yes, and we have zero regrets! We know that any home we live in far in the future will likely look much different than where we were in San Francisco. So what does it serve to hold onto things that no longer fit our new lifestyle? And we know that our most precious things have found new life with other people and aren’t holding us down from the life we want to be living. We are so grateful for your ongoing support and encouragement, BW! You definitely have been around with us from the beginning and we so appreciate you! -Judy

[@anthonypeter8652]

The lighting and video quality is fantastic. You both look great!!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks so much, Anthony Peter! We carry a key light with us when we travel. We never know what acoustics and lighting we're going to have in our Airbnbs. And we thought we did pretty well until the hail storm hit. We even lost power for a bit, but we have an Anker 140 watt battery that covered us enough to finish! Kevin has worked very hard to have the right gear without being too much. -Judy ⚙️ GEAR LIST: findingGinaMarie.com/gear

[@AlisonMurray-c4f]

Stuff : set it free and let somebody else love it ! 💕

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Yes, Alison, exactly! We wholeheartedly agree! We'll talk about this more, but it's very hard to get what you paid (or even half of its value) unless things are rare and in very high demand. Everyone wants a deal so be prepared to donate a lot of your really nice things. It's all sunk costs, so you have to learn on from it. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy

[@CarinRuff]

Very good advice to start moving stuff out asap! I got over a major hurdle when I realized I could have the junk-hauling guys come multiple times. The first visit they took enough stuff to make it feasible to see what I had and to imagine that sorting everything was a doable task.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

That is so awesome, Carin. Because a lot of people in San Francisco don't have vehicles, the donation sites were overloaded with doing pickups and the wait was sometimes two months! We've hired junk hauling guys in the past when we were first clearing out our storage unit (if you mean the 1-800-Junk folks), but even with having some good quality items, we still had to pay a fee. However, it probably is worth it if you have a lot to remove. I'm so glad to hear that this simple step made the rest of your process feel easier! Anything to give you a leg up in what is always a hard process is a great thing! -Judy

[@larapfeffer2845]

Planning being ready to be abroad as snowbirds in 1-1 1/2 years from now. Will have a home here still. Planning on Purchasing a smaller home & we Started downsizing already. Not taking any large items with us- just our bags! We are working on using up the excess personal care products & have stopped purchasing things in the past year. Your tips and encouragement are so helpful , thank you!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

How exciting, Lara! I bet it will be wonderful to be away from the snow! We were born and raised in Buffalo, New York, so we get wanting to be warm in winter! Good for you to have started already. We are so excited for you. I hope you have been giving yourselves a pat on the back for every bit of progress you are making! Thank you so much for watching! -Judy

[@livnsji]

Judy, love your haircut! Looks great, awesome content too.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@livnsji: Thank you so much! You never know what you'll get in each new country. Thank you so much for watching as well! -Judy

[@vickyconover9912]

Thank you for sharing 💕 I love your hair too! Cute!!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much for watching, Vicky, and for the compliment! I had just had my hair cut and colored the day we recorded (we're in Albania). The stylist almost put the wrong color on and lopped off a huge chunk of my hair before I realized what was happening! But I'm happy with it. It's always an adventure about what you're going to get! -Judy

[@Midlifewanders]

Thanks for the great video. We’re getting close! We sold our 3000 sq ft house last November thinking that we’d try apartment living for awhile and maybe buy a house again some day. So into a storage unit went all the furniture that wouldn’t fit, the contents of our garage, and way too much stuff. Well, after about 3 months in an apartment we decided we never wanted to own a home again, so we started the process of getting rid of all the stuff in the giant storage unit. Then about 3 months later we decided we were going to do full time travel. Two months to go to departure date and we have probably only have 20% of the things we did a year ago! Now we’re down to just things we need for day to day life. No spare decorative pillows or bowls 😂. Now we’re trying to figure out all the timing of getting rid of the final things like our bed, couch, dishes, and cars in the final weeks! As a self proclaimed “shop-a-holic” for home items, it’s been quite a transformation for me to STOP BUYING STUFF!! So ready for the life of only a suitcase and no longer having the stress of all the STUFF! Really enjoy watching your videos and your practical and honest approach to all you’ve learned!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

That is so awesome, @ailiekofoid2691! It wasn't the most efficient method because cleaning out a storage unit is its own version of hell, but whatever way it works, it's great that you are where you are now. I know after we sold our home in Houston we loved how clutter free our home felt before we moved into our very small apartment. We never want to be consumed by stuff again! Final things are hard to get rid of because it means you'll be uncomfortable for a while, but if it means that you have to stay in a hotel for a few days or a week in your hometown, it's worth it! Congratulations. You are in the home stretch! -Judy

[@surnamename293]

My favorite Tipps are 7 & 11 😅 So real 😅 10 is a good reminder. And goal oriented yes.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks so much for watching and for letting know what you found most helpful. It was so hard for us to use tip 7 when we were going back and forth between the idea of full-time travel and being expats. The culling process is similar, but also very different. It was easier to get rid of it all versus deciding what few things to keep. We are so much happier being full-time travelers without a bunch of stuff we're clinging to, but we know that's not for everyone. -Judy

[@crrizello5157]

I don't think I will end up doing full time traveling (longer term travel trips), but I began my downsizing a year ago. Just going through the garage and eliminating the clutter there was so freeing. I have definitely changed my mindset to focus on less. Our kids don't want our stuff so I am slowly shedding possessions.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

That is awesome, Rizello! Your kids are pretty typical. None of our kids wanted our stuff, either, and we're glad that we won't die and leave them a bunch of useless things that will take months for them to get rid of down the road. I am so glad to hear that you found the process freeing. It's such a great feeling, and we wish we had discovered this path sooner. We would have saved so much money and would have had such a different set of priorities. Bravo for you! And we are starting this series because we don't think that full-time travel has to be your end goal. Just creating more breathing space in your mind is a great reason! -Judy

[@styme1124]

Such a good video and very timely for me. I'm not traveling full time but getting ready to move to a much smaller apartment for a few years before retiring. After retiring I'll travel for longer periods but still keep a homebase. The thought of going through 35 years of accumulated stuff is overwhelming but like you said start one room at a time. I have till July so I should be okay but mixed in with a full time job and a parttime one makes it a little more stressful. Now I'm going to go and watch your other video on Sell, Donate, Gift.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thanks so much for watching. We hope our Sell, Donate, Gift video was useful. I'll put a link below to the resource we put together to help you manage the process. I don't think you are starting too early. It's important not to overanalyze everything and although it might feel daunting, I promise that you will have a new lightness and sense of freedom as you work through the process! Plus once you take stock of everything you've accumulated, it should shock you into spending a whole lot less money! I've included some additional resources that will be useful to you even if you aren't going to travel full time, especially if you will be going for longer periods. -Judy RESOURCES: 🎥 8 Critical Questions for Downsizing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paK8l41vbddqiJo ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX 🎥 Navigating Full-Time Travel: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF1PzikjO5wvLLMtOE1UkdvH 🔗 Here's a link to our ever-growing articles for full-time travelers (you can find it by going to our travel tips and then filtering by Nomads): 📝 Articles for Full-Time Travelers: findingginamarie.com/travel-tips/?category=nomads

[@styme1124]

@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you so much for the additional resources and response!😄

[@marilynsue4273]

I downsized to 608 square feet, and I love it.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Good for you, Marilyn Sue! 👏👏👏 But we were shocked at how much stuff we had when we were only in 850 square feet. Life will be much different when we finally in the far distant future decide to settle down somewhere. I hope you are getting the zen and peace from having less stuff! -Judy

[@Positively46]

To your point 6 and 7 I told my family I will take photos of anything that’s sentimental and we could put it in an album 😊…then they send it’s ok just donate it. 😅

[@FindingGinaMarie]

I would actually only take photos of the things I think *I'd* miss, but as you move through the process, it gets easier to move on from your things, especially if you are getting rid of it all. Our children wanted almost nothing that we thought might be sentimental. Thanks for watching! -Judy

[@mytraveldiary63]

Oh my! I did the same, and I was planning to move to Portugal. Then, I changed my mind and was left with a lot of stuff to eliminate.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Yes, SAME! I watched a few of your episodes on KZbin (and subscribed-best of luck to you!) and saw that you loved Porto. Our downsizing process was a hot mess at the end because while we could have pushed out our travel date to give ourselves more time, we just didn't want to! Fortunately we have it all behind us now, but it was not a pretty process! -Judy

[@anne4369]

In about 2 months’ time, we put on the market and sold our ~2300 SF house and moved into a 650 SF 1 bedroom month-to-month apartment in our preparation to retire and start slow travel retirement. I have to say that the feeling of freedom and frankly *relief* that comes from downsizing and decluttering is surprisingly lovely. We have no children and only one parent left, so letting go of things was pretty easy. That being said, once we got into the apartment, we realized we need to do even more “purging” and decluttering. 😮 what the heck? 😂

[@anne4369]

The difficult stuff for me with sentimental value is the collection of paintings I have that were painted by my mother, who passed when I was 17. Our closest relatives are 2500 miles away and I’m just not sure what to do with all the paintings, so for now, we’ve placed them in a small storage unit, until we can figure out what to do with them. Thank you so much for yet another awesome video. I greatly appreciate your willingness to share your experience with us! 😊

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Anne, I can completely believe what you are saying! But congratulations on all your hard work. I hope you are giving yourselves a pat on the back for what you've already done. We were shocked at how much we managed to accumulate, so know that you aren't alone. It would seem like you are already pros, but here are a few additional resources if you haven't already seen them or I haven't already sent them to you! I know you've made comments on a few of our other videos already! -Judy 🎥 8 Critical Questions for Downsizing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paK8l41vbddqiJo ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Anne, I'm so sorry for the loss of your mother. What a young age to no longer have her in your life. I can completely understand why this decision is so hard for you. Outside of the cost of shipping, have your relatives expressed interest in these paintings? I can appreciate that the designs and colors may not suit everyone's aesthetic, even if the memories are special. If there are people who want them, it would probably be worth the cost to send them to family (or friends of your mother if there is anyone) who will love and care for them. Otherwise, could you save one or two instead of the entire collection versus paying for storage of them? Have you priced out what it costs per year to store them, factoring in that the storage unit will go up in price each year? When we first moved to San Francisco, we had a storage unit that we kept downsizing. At the end, we realized that over the course of six years we spent about $15,000 on that unit. There was absolutely nothing in there worth that amount of money! The most precious things were photo albums, memorabilia, and Christmas decor. But we allowed six years to go by without enjoying any of it. Why keep it in that case? Sometimes letting some time pass to have a clearer head helps, but we've also found that delaying the decision doesn't always make it easier. Having photographs of them isn't the same as having the things that your mother touched and created, but you can then always carry them with you. But you get to decide if the storage fees are worth it for the next several years that you'll be traveling. For some people, what you're holding onto is literally priceless, and the cost isn't prohibitive. But if you're spending $30 per month over the next 10 years, you may decide that $3,600 is worth it to you. We wish you all the best in working out this hard decision. -Judy

[@CJ-Photo]

It's sad but I tossed my photos. I started scanning and it was just such a big job that it was daunting. I realized I never looked at them (and I don't have kids so ..). I do feel bad but I honestly don't miss them.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

We understand this. It was hard for us to even throw away the original photos after we scanned them. We do like seeing some of our scanned photos coming up in our memories on our iPhones, so we actually do look at them more than when they were in boxes. But it is such a daunting task. We checked into the cost of getting them done, but it was super expensive. Moving our videos to digital wasn't nearly as expensive, thankfully, but we had significantly less of those. Don't feel bad. We get it. -Judy

[@user-zq3dr5di1x]

This is what I think we will end up doing. We don’t have children & the photos have been in a box for 30 years or more! I think I will feel weird throwing them out, but I have lugged them around enough! I’m glad you are not sorry. Right now our plan is to start traveling on 2 years.

[@stevenjb.9275]

If you have a lot of photos. You could purchase (maybe used) scanner that has a feeder option. Drop the photos in and they automatically scan. Then you can send the physical photos to the shredder. When finished, you will then need to offer the scanner to a new home. I scanned some photos that I knew I would not look at, probably ever, but I still wanted a digital copy

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Melissa, Starting now is not too early to start downsizing! I think photos are one of those things that you have to handle how you feel most comfortable. We are glad for the photos we have scanned already, but we do have a box our son is holding for us that we have to make time to scan when we are back in the US (and there's never enough time for it). People will judge you for getting rid of everything and traveling full time, so let them judge you for throwing away photos. It's still your life and you can live it however you want. If discarding photos that you haven't looked at in 30 years gives you freedom, then by all means do it. -Judy

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Yes, Steven, that can work. The scanners that feed don't typically provide the same scan quality as flatbeds, but it's a way to preserve photos in a faster method than one by one. Thanks for watching and for weighing in! -Judy

[@christinecline-leung9520]

Great video thank you! Did you scan all your photos or use a service? If you scanned was there a specific device yoy found helpful?

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Christine, We used a service to convert our various formats of videos to digital, but it was too pricey for us to scan our photos, so we did it on our own. We used an Epson Perfection V39. Someone posted in the comments that they used a scanner with a feeder, and although we have one of those, we preferred using a flatbed because they make significantly better digitized scans. But we do have a box of photos that our son is storing for us that we still have to scan. The process is too tedious for him, so we try to scan a bit at a time when we visit. But it's the LAST thing we are interested in doing when we get to the US, which is why we suggest that you do it while you're watching television or talking on the phone, etc. and steadily make progress on it! -Judy

[@christinecline-leung9520]

@@FindingGinaMarie thank you! The services are expensive. I'm concerned I may run out of time if I do it myself, so your advice to start early is definitely good.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Yes, it's a big regret of ours that we didn't start sooner. It's also time consuming. We ended up throwing away the hard copies as we scanned them, trashed the negatives, and Kevin tried to be discerning about not scanning every single picture (we had some blurry ones or ones that were nearly similar). -Judy

[@nikki_jp4216]

We are upsizing as London property isnt thaybig, but throwing away or donating a lot of stuff. BUT I know its not enough...

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Hi Nikki, I think you can have more space without having more stuff. But I also know that there are times where if you get rid of enough stuff, you don't need more room 😉 Of course, every situation is different, and the space your are gaining might be really meaningful (extra bedroom, more functional kitchen). If you can start to get rid of things (and not feel like you have to fill up every cabinet and drawer), you will feel an indescribable lightness. Here's our video on how to get started and a downsizing worksheet if you're interested. Thanks so much for watching! -Judy 🎥 8 Critical Questions for Downsizing: kzbin.info/www/bejne/paK8l41vbddqiJo ✅ Downsizing Prep Worksheet: findingginamarie.com/request-downsizing-prep-worksheet

[@Fell214]

What changed your minds so late in the game to not go the expat route?

[@FindingGinaMarie]

M&T: Great question! We actually have a series of videos that walks through all our thought process for this since we had our channel before we started traveling! We thought it would be useful to document how we weighed out our decision in case it was helpful for others. I'll link it below. But the short answer is below: First, we thought we could live in Italy while we were going through the dual citizenship process, but my type of application doesn't allow it. So then we were considering Portugal, and we had a trip scheduled to visit, but I was involved in a three-month jury trial that caused us to postpone our visit. By the time we finally visited, we had mostly talked ourselves out of becoming expats and neither Porto nor Lisbon felt like it would be home for us. Then Kevin was offered a job in London, a city we both adore. There was some serious back and forth, but during that time, there were a bunch of tech layoffs and the req was closed, so the opportunity was paused. We kept a small storage unit of things that we would have taken to London in the meantime (no furniture!) in the event the opportunity became available again. About four months after we started traveling full time, the job did open up again, but by then we were absolutely sure we didn't want to settle down anywhere. So we went back to the US later that year and got rid of the last remaining bit that we stored (except for some photos that we still need to scan when we're in San Francisco-don't be us!!). -Judy 🎥 Preparing for Full-Time Travel: kzbin.info/aero/PLNT98lWfwdF0Hm94IeHJksaTV37AcdchX

[@Fell214]

@@FindingGinaMarie I see why it was hectic at that point. I’ll take a look at that series. Thanks.

[@FotosLostnFound]

How do you meet new people and stay in touch with them when you’re traveling so much. Don’t you miss having a regular social net work inviting friendsto lunch dinner etc. or becoming involved in a towns social activities like pickle ball or walking or hiking groups? Or even a church so that you see the same people and build friendships.

[@Fell214]

@@FotosLostnFound We travel much like the channel’s hosts. Can honestly say we don’t miss people back the U.S. (can call or FaceTime if needed). We have made a few good friends in Europe with similar interests (generally hiking) during our travels. As a retired couple, our time now is about us and that’s enough. Our adult kids have their own lives back in the U.S. We don’t need to be a daily part of their lives.

[@FindingGinaMarie]

@FotosLostnFound Our KZbin channel allows us to meet up with our followers, which has been such a wonderful bonus. We're in Tirana, Albania and met up with two couples, a couple in Colmar, France, and another couple in Madrid. That's just been in the last 2.5 months. We try to build relationships with our Airbnb hosts and tour guides. We've met up with people afterwards who have joined the tours we've been on, and we also meet up with friends and family who live around the world, either by visiting where they live or during their travels. This week alone, I chatted with a guide from Vietnam, two different people we met in Egypt (one who happens to live in Albania). We also still stay in touch with friends and family from home. I spoke with my two sisters, my brother, my sister-in-law, a cousin, and my mother just in the last three days. All of these people are spread out already (NY, California, Arizona, Texas), so I wasn't seeing them regularly anyway. Additionally, of course if you are staying in a place as a slow traveler, you can do volunteer work, arrange meet up through forums, and do a search for activities in the area to join and sign up for them. People everywhere have been friendly, so there are opportunities everywhere. -Judy

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Hi, dear JUDY and KEVIN - I am glad you went through this process with a positive attitude. Everyone values "things" in a different way. Not everyone will be able to embark on this adventure. :( MY BEST LUCK, HEALTH and WISHES for you BOTH!

[@FindingGinaMarie]

Thank you so much, Enrique! We think that even if people don't become full-time travelers like us that the downsizing and decluttering process is such a worthwhile thing to do. As one of our viewers mentioned, it's a huge burden on family members to have to get rid of a lifetime of their parents' or other family members' stuff after their passing. Especially when we get older, it's nice to pass on stuff to family members that they might enjoy while you're still alive to see it. But don't be surprised if no one is interested in your stuff. People already have plenty of their own! We will take your well wishes and share them back to you as well. We always love to hear from you! -Judy