What to Bring and What to Leave Behind

Image credit: Sean Oliver (flickr.com)

As the title of this article suggests, I am hoping to provide some helpful insights for those who will soon be relocating. Without a doubt, everyone who needs to pack things and move to a new home has encountered this question. This can be particularly difficult to answer especially if you have accumulated a lot of stuff throughout the years.

Here are a few more questions to help you decide whether items are worth-bringing or not:

Are you emotionally attached to it?

Perhaps most important of all, you need to assess whether an item is important to you for emotional reasons. Is it a souvenir from an important life event? Has it been given by someone? Is it a favorite object from your childhood or something that has value to your entire family? If so, then those are valid reasons to keep the item. 

Is it still useful to you?

Aside from emotional attachment, another determining factor is whether an item is still useful for you or not. Think! When was the last time you really used the object in question? If, for instance, it’s a pair of shoe you are no longer wearing then it’s probably best to throw that away.

Must-Brings

Of course, there are some things that should definitely be brought with you as you relocate. Personal and financial documents are never optional. Passports, birth certificates, IDs, loan documents, mortgage papers, and others. Jewelries and antiques are also important because they are valuable. If you have any collection such as figurines, books, or anything else, then those should also be included.

As for the rest…

Some items are optional and so you might want to get rid of them either by selling or donating them instead. If you’re feeling generous and if you can find a local organization that needs, say, used clothing, then it will be a terrific idea to get in touch and bring the goods to them.

Alternatively, you may consider selling your stuff. If you have the convenience of extra time, you can offer the items online through eBay or even Facebook. If this is not possible, another option is to organize a garage sale so that interested buyers can drop by and buy what you have.

Speaking of which, I’ll be writing an upcoming blog about how to organize an effective garage sale. I will be covering the basics of how to make such an event successful so be sure to stay tuned for that.