The weeks leading up to our move were hectic to say the least. We had to “unravel our portfolio”, which basically consisted of two cars, music equipment, household goods and a cat. Miles—plenty of stories about him to come—was definitely coming, so we had to reduce the rest down to a minimum. This meant deciding how much to ship and by what method. Ocean shipping seemed to be the cheapest, but was only worth it if you had lots of stuff to send. It also took 5-6 weeks to arrive, and you never know what the customs charges might be or how many palms you’d have to grease to actually take delivery this century. We wanted to simplify anyway, so decided against a big shipment via ocean container.
The only other viable option was to buy suitcases, fill them with goods, and haul them on the plane with us. We’d likely have some overage charges, but it would be cheaper than ocean shipping. That ended up being the option we chose.
Once we decided to go the airplane route, we had to sell basically everything we owned and pare down to a few bags. “What should we take, the silverware, or bathroom towels? Do we have room for both? Argh!”—was a typical dilemma we’d have to solve. We decided to only take necessary items we can’t live without and aren’t available for purchase in Bolivia. That meant clothes, shoes, good kitchen stuff, music gear, medicines, and a few absolutely necessary odds and ends (like loose leaf tea for Samantha, and Lindberg porterhouse and roast seasoning—the BEST stuff on earth for grilling!—for Michael).
In the weeks prior to our departure it became clear that we needed to shed a lot of stuff. Much of it sold on Craigslist, our friends and family bought some things (thanks guys!), and some items went to donation. Thankfully we were able to get 99% of it sorted before leaving. Still have a few things to get rid of... Anyone want an upright bass? :D
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| Samantha packing up the day before we leave |
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