The Purge: over the hump...

[29chico]

I am very much looking forward to joining the tribe from time to time as I search for the best mountain bike trails in the US and Canada.  I recently turned 59 and hope to have many good active years yet to pursue my quest/passion.

I am in escrow on a property and need to empty it out before the deal closes.  First thing that I did was to get rid of the tools and materiel that will no longer needed from a large storage unit and moved the rest to a much smaller and cheaper storage unit.  Huge amounts of crap has been purged.  A lot of the stuff was what remained of 30+ years of accumulated crap that I had purged during the process of selling my family home last year.

Just late last night, after giving a buddy three decades worth of excess bicycle parts and accessories,  I realized that I am over the hump and starting to coast down toward the finish line of this endeavor!  It is a great feeling to have gained such momentum in severing the emotional connection to all that stuff.

I gave away and donated most of the stuff.  I think that I will have realized six or seven hundred $'s for selling the more valuable items.  That is just icing on the cake.

I'll be giving myself a much needed long vacation and return to dive in to the last of the purge sometime after the RTR.  

Happy trails!

 

[SimonLea]

Good for you! I am currently in the process of the purge as well. It is overwhelming and the urge to just walk away from it all is strong, but I resist. I can almost feel it physically weighing me down and every item I purge makes me breathe a little easier. Good luck!

 

[cyndi]

Good on you!

Have you gotten to the point where getting rid of something feels sooooooo good and you almost can't help yourself when it comes to getting rid of more?

 

[highdesertranger]

good for you Chico. see you at RTR. happy trails. highdesertranger

 

[29chico]

Good on you!

Have you gotten to the point where getting rid of something feels sooooooo good and you almost can't help yourself when it comes to getting rid of more?

Pretty much that is the case.  It does feel very good at this point to make more stuff go away.  

My current mode is to put everything that I know I will need on the road in one room that was totally emptied out for that purpose.  As for the stuff that is not in that room, I'm hoping to purge 90% of it.

 

[cyndi]

Great plan!

we have that give away pile at the RTR. it's a great place to purge stuff that yoou thought you'd need/use.

 

[29chico]

Great plan!

we have that give away pile at the RTR. it's a great place to purge stuff that yoou thought you'd need/use.

The give away pile is a good idea.  I'd be surprised if I did not end up putting some crap, err "valuable homeless items" on it.

 

[BobBski]

Good for you Chico. I finished the process 2 weeks ago....soooo liberating.

 

[Hippiechk]

Even on the road with no additional storage purging is a regular process for me.

I am a scrounger, I hate waste & I am sure I will eventually need a left handed swizzel stick!!

I am a regular contributor to our monthly community 'free pile' here.

In Quartzsite I met a great bunch of women, not usually more than a dozen, who do a sharing circle & bring some lovely stuff out. I shared some things but was never in an acquiring mood the few times I made it. I did get invited for a lunch & a glorious long hot shower that was better than any possession though...pure bliss!

 

[accrete]

Good for you and my you have many happy MT bike travels/adventures...

My wife and I went through a similar purge moving out of a 3bdrm farmhouse on an acre of land back in the fall of 2011 and downsizing into a 5th wheel. Funny thing is that nearly every fall (we are doing another "purge" in a couple weeks) we find more stuff we can get rid of and we have no exterior storage other than what we can fit in the 5ver. Sure feels good to find homes for stuff we no longer feel the need to hang on to!