Decompression

My GF and I spent most of the last two and a half weeks on vacation.  It’s one of the perks of being in the education field, that I will sincerely miss, when I return to the real world in the next few months.

We were quite productive, however.  One of the goals I’ve been aiming for in this whole process is an easy and smooth move.  Moving from one country to another is already a cluster without the added stress of looking for a job, a place to live, meeting old friends, hooking up a new cell phone, bills, etc. etc.  The smoother and less stressful I can make this will allow me to put energy into other tasks.

After living in Japan for almost eight years, you would imagine that I have acquired a lot of “stuff.”  Well, despite that fact I thought I was being frugal and cutting back, you’d be right.  Both the GF and I had acquired a lot of possessions.  What to do!?  Decompress.  I find the stress of a move is directly correlated with how much you have to move.  Multiply that by ten if you’re moving overseas.  Decompressing your life is the easiest way I’ve found (other than not acquiring things in the first place) to make moving easier.

Here are some tips I’ve discovered about making your move overseas as painless as possible:

1.  Time is your friend.

If you are thinking of moving, even if it’s a year away, start now!  I can’t stress this enough.  No matter how much stuff you think you DON’T have, you probably have three times that.  Look at all those books, games, DVDs, comic books, clothing…  Remember that guy that moved away and gave you all those plastic bins, Guitar Hero guitars, mini cooler, and small BBQ?  Yep, you need to deal with that now, and the sooner you start the better.

The one thing I absolutely wanted to avoid was hauling everything out to the curb and letting the garbage man take care of it.  Why?  I think, first and foremost, that throwing things away is the coward’s way out.  That’s some strong language, but you’re the one who acquired it, deal with it like an adult.  Just throwing your problems down a whole for future generations to deal with is stupid, irresponsible, and a waste.  The person who is willing to own up to what they have acquired and responsibly reallocate it is rare indeed.  I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, but the volume of things we’ve given away vs. thrown away is on the scare of 99 to 1.  That is a ratio I can deal with.

All of this takes time.  A lot of time.  You have to go through every book, game, box, suit case, bag, closet, pantry, medicine cabinet, storage closet, and backpack and choose what you really need and what is just fluff.  The sooner you start the better.

Another reason I don’t want to just throw things away is that it’s actually really expensive to throw away things in Japan.  Many times, if you want to throw away shelves, plastic bins, or anything oversized, you have to pay for it.  I’m all for this!  I think you should have to pay to be wasteful.  Maybe if this policy were enacted in more places we would see less waste.  I’ve met many a foreigner who put a dresser or table out on the curb for garbage pickup, only to be met with a notice saying they have to pay for its removal.  

Give yourself time to go through your stuff, separate out what you want and what you don’t want.

2.  Freecycle and Craiglst are your best friend.

What do you do with what you don’t want?  Freecycle (FC) an Craigslist (CL).  Those plastic bins I keep referring to have gone to a better place.  The book shelves that held all my videogames have been dismantled and are awaiting pickup.  Our kitchen table and chairs were given away along with the bedroom mirror.

I’m all for selling what you can.  I’ve done that as well.  My George Foreman grill works really well and still has value.  I have time, so I’m willing to see if it will fetch 1,000 yen on CL.  Our Apple TV doesn’t play well with our modem so it went for 6,000 yen.  But, six perfectly usable wine glasses?  I don’t think we could even get 100 yen.  So they are free.  We received two fans that work perfectly for free.  Free in, free out.

3.  Build up a community.

Now that I’ve interacted with over a dozen people via FC and CL, I often find when I have something new to give away I’ll just email people directly. Several people have asked me to contact them if I have other things to give away. I have one guy who lives in the same neighborhood who I email before I post anything as he is usually very interested.  Is he building up his own doomsday?  I can’t live other people lives.  I hope he really needs these items and uses them.  If it keeps them out of a landfill, I’m all for it.

Things start to fly out the door when you have someone who is already interested, knows where you live, and likes your stuff.

4.  Make your stuff presentable.

Nobody wants to pick up garbage and bring it to their house.  So, clean up your old things to make them look nice.  This also works with the last point, as someone who likes the look and quality of your things will likely be willing to come back and take more.

This might all seem common sense.  And yet, year after year I see friends, co-workers, and neighbors make a mad rush for the garbage bin.  Do us, and yourself, a favor.  Start early, freecycle your stuff, and don’t let it happen again.