In a world that often feels overwhelmed by possessions, it can be difficult to imagine a life where minimalism reigns and the concept of "stuff" takes a back seat to experiences. Yet, very recently, for our family, this notion became a reality when we spent a week packing up our home.

We decided to pack up our entire four-bedroom house and put everything into storage while embarking on a global journey, travelling the world with only five suitcases between us for the next few months.

To be precise, we have four small suitcases that fit into carry-on luggage, my travelling office in a backpack and one bigger family suitcase, weight to be distributed depending on the mood swings with kg of the airline we are flying with.

Packing up our home and deciding to live out of a suitcase

The decision to live out of suitcases was not an easy one, nor was the move itself a smooth process. In fact, it was a chaotic and emotionally charged undertaking, filled with highs and lows, moments of desperation and overwhelm. I find this somewhat ironic seeing I write about how to be organised with a move. However, this story isn’t just about moving from one place to another; it’s about the messy, sometimes difficult journey of letting go of the past and creating space for new adventures.

Packing up our home: The Catalyst for Change

It all began with a simple idea, or at least it seemed like a simple idea at the time. We had been living in a four-bedroom house for several years and I have had this dream of traveling the world, living frugally and simply like I did as an 18-year-old when I first came to Australia.

At first, it was a long-held dream something I have been telling people I wanted to do for over two decades. The more my husband and I talked about it, the more it started to make sense. Why not sell everything, store what was necessary, and set off on an adventure? If we wouldn’t before our eldest turned 18 which she will do in May 2025, I would regret it for the rest of my life. The more we thought about it, the more liberating it seemed. My husband would take long service leave, I would work as a digital nomad in a part-time capacity.

One afternoon after discussing this with my husband, we put it to the kids as we sat together discussing our plans. I said “we can stay in the same town you have known all your lives, or we can see where this world travel idea can lead us”. The idea of leaving everything behind, packing up and traveling the world was presented. My kids decided to discuss together and came back after two days saying “yes let’s do this”.

The decision was made, but then the reality of what that would entail started to set in. We were about to make a huge life change — one that would require packing up our home, downsizing significantly and letting go of things we had accumulated over the years, through several moves’ stages of the kid’s growth and becoming a blended family ten years ago when my husband joined us (which is short for of having two of everything in your house).

Packing up our home: The Messy Move Letting Go of Possessions

Packing up our home, a four-bedroom house was no easy feat. I normally keep things in check but life with teenagers expands at the seams with stuff, activities not to mention the two demanding full-time jobs.

Unlike the usual advice I give, this wasn’t about sorting through boxes and deciding what to keep or get rid of. For us, it was a sprint to the finish line. My job still had some demanding tasks to wrap up, and we had a firm deadline to move out of the house and catch a flight. In just one week, my husband had the challenge of packing up our home full of belongings into a 4–6-meter storage container — essentially, the size of a bedroom. Everything had to fit into that space.

We mainly kept furniture that would be too expensive to replace when we returned. We also had boxes of things we couldn’t deal with at the time, like paperwork — to keep or toss? The plan was that, if it fit into the storage space, we could get back to it. Expecting we’ll have a completely different perspective on our belongings when we get back.

Packing up our home: I have been there done that

I have packed up my life in a suitcase twice before and it is liberating. To know you can cart your items in a few bags is an amazingly freeing experience, having said that I am also in my forties now, I like my comfort and there are way more people in the house than just me. For example, my husband, hasn’t had this liberating experience before and has happily held onto his things as a single guy for years. This made it a lot trickier for him.

Added to this is the stuff you simply need to function, everyone needs a bed, a desk, a chair, basic kitchen items. We live in a world that is designed to “give us” stuff we “need” as soon as we do anything like decluttering, organising or going on a minimalist path we are simply swimming upstream.

The combination of a deadline and clear space limitations forced us to fit everything into one storage unit. It wasn’t pretty, it was hard work, but we got there in the end.

Packing up our home and using Facebook Market Place

One very big surprise during this packing up our home process was that we decided to list items for sale on Facebook Marketplace. This was run by my daughter. It was a great decision that turned out to be very rewarding; our items could live on, and people helped us dismantle items and gave us money for it, giving us some extra cash to fund our travels.

Managing the Facebook marketplace whilst moving out was, however, also frustrating; my daughter was on the phone for several days straight managing enquiries, sorting through scammers and making sure we were in our packed-up house when people would come to pick up some items.

Overall, I would do this again, which means I made a 180C turnaround on my previous suggestions. The way that I would do it is by having specific days set aside to do this task selling on the Facebook marketplace as the main activity of these days. I would sell items earlier and have a set time for people to pick up items.

Packing up our home: The items we couldn’t sell

Then there were the items we couldn’t sell. Furniture that was too large or impractical to keep was donated or taken to local charity shops. I have always believed in the power of giving, so donating unwanted items was an opportunity to pass on what we no longer needed to someone who could use it. However, with the number of things being given away, the logistics of going to the secondhand place for the sixth time a week is not to be underestimated.

Packing up our home: Navigating the Emotional Rollercoaster.

Decluttering the house and saying goodbye to our possessions wasn’t just physically exhausting but emotionally draining. When we arrived at our first destination, we slept for three days, and I knew in the back of my mind that there were still many items to deal with when I came back from this trip. If this is hard for someone passionate about decluttering and organising, how hard will it be for someone new to this space?

The idea of packing up our home and reducing our entire life to the contents of five suitcases felt surreal, especially to my husband. The fear of missing something important, something hard to replace whilst on the road, lingered in the background. As we are in the early stages of our world trip, most of this seems unfounded, and like most travellers, if nothing else, we probably overpacked.

I firmly believe that our memories and experiences don’t live in our possessions. They live in our minds and hearts, having said this the older you are the harder it is to part with things and the more people you have in your house the harder it is to part with items. For years, it has been Mum saying let’s reduce this stuff with varied success, even though my family buys into the ideas of organisation, decluttering and minimalism (within reason).

Packing up our home and The New Reality of Embracing [enforced] Minimalism

As we succeeded in packing up our home, the house became emptier, and fewer items remained, a sense of freedom began to take hold. We had sold, donated, or disposed of most of our belongings, and the once-filled home was now open and spacious. It also desperately needed a clean as we hadn’t been able to move the beds for a while.

Time will tell how this packing up our home and minimalist world travel experience will continue but for now we have made room for something bigger: new experiences, new perspectives, and a life full of possibility.