Living Out of Suitcases

As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, we are not in California right now. We have escaped Cali’s high Covid numbers and subsequent high regulation and have fled to Utah and Idaho for the past few months.

We wanted to leave Cali as soon as the initial lockdown took place, but I was weeks away from delivering a baby, so we stayed. We delivered a healthy baby and allowed time for me to recover. We knew that lockdown in California would be tougher than in Utah or other more rural areas, so we looked forward to leaving the state.

In the meantime, I filled my time with reading, watching videos, and researching about minimalism. My anxiety needed an outlet, and I was more than willing to come up with an obsession to give it.

What is minimalism? Joshua Becker – author of “The Minimalist Home” – defines minimalism as “the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it.”

I guess being cooped up in a crowded house makes one realize how much stuff there is, and how little is really being used to fulfill one’s life purpose and add to one’s joy. Or maybe that’s just me. Being home every day during quarantine made it blatantly obvious what we used on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. More importantly than that, I saw how flawed my reasoning behind keeping things was. I determined to make our living environment a place free of clutter and adding more personal space. I was done feeling cramped, anxious, and rushed for time taking care of stuff that was actually detracting from my quality of life.

As we waited for Baby Pandy to make her arrival, I decluttered. I boxed up duplicates, excess, unused, broken, single use and infrequently used items. I boxed up books that I loved, but knew I wouldn’t read or reference again. I ended up with a shed full of stuff to donate or give away (the thrift stores were shut down). In that pile went things that were in perfect condition, but never used. Stuff that was beautiful, but not special to me. Things that were fun but not necessary and many more items.

An amazing thing happened as I boxed. I began to feel more grateful. I began to see the excess. I began to realize that what I really wanted and needed had nothing to do with how many items I had. In fact, what I wanted was better achieved with less physical items. I gained more peace, more time with my children, and more useful space. With each box I started to see the surprising benefits of owning less.

Looking back now, I realize that God was preparing me for the time when we’d live with very few possessions. We left for Utah at the end of May and will be returning to California at the end of September. We took with us only what would fit in our SUV. One third of the year we have lived with minimal possessions and our lives have not suffered for the lack thereof. In fact, we’ve had the time of our lives. This will be a summer that I will remember for the rest of my life.

We have gone on so many adventures. Ben and I have started playing pickleball as a couple, much to the delight of my in-laws. The girls have loved the nature walks, park trips, crafting, projects, and general adventuring. We saw a huge osprey nest. We went to the Idaho Falls Zoo. We visited a llama farm. We will be heading to Yellowstone next week. It has been so amazing, seeing the beauty of Idaho and Utah. We have gotten to visit with family and friends. We have had baptisms, a baby blessing, a pickleball tournament, and hiked to a waterfall. It’s been amazing.

And all the while we’ve been living out of suitcases. We packed three days worth of clothes. We haven’t worried about the lack of options. We always seem to have enough with the little that we came with. At one point my mother visited and brought our homeschool curriculum for the new school year. I’m grateful that we didn’t need to do without that, although I’m sure we would have been okay using free and natural resources.

I now have goals and dreams that look so different than they did before. The home I wish for doesn’t need to have a huge yard. It doesn’t need to have a garden. In fact… it doesn’t need to even be a house. I can imagine a happy life, living in an RV full time. I can imagine loving an apartment. I can imagine living in a hotel, motel, AirBNB or packing a llama with a tent and needed supplies and backpacking. Ha. That last one is mostly a joke. But honestly, the options are limitless because I have not placed physical boundaries on my dreams. I can be happy, not just survive, with very little. In fact, when we go back to California, I want to continue this lifestyle.

I will be starting a YouTube channel soon and I’m so excited to share it with you all! I already have a product sponsor!

So here we are. We are actors. We are nomads. We are minimalists. We are continuing in faith toward our goals. We have enough and plenty to share. We have hope. God has blessed us so much.