Possessed by our Possessions!

OK, so my wife and I live in Central Virginia and, up until last weekend, we lived during the week in a nice condo in town and then spent weekends at our "house in the country". Well, with the economy being what it is, we decided to start renting the condo in an effort to offset a portion of our two mortgages. What we didn't realize was that we had, over the last couple of years, built up two complete households of "stuff".



Now that may not seem like a big deal until you consider the fact that we are now being forced to combine two households into one... and believe me, it is turning out to be a challenge. The movers came yesterday and picked up all of the "stuff" from the condo and brought it here to the house. And all I can say is... what a mess! There are boxes sitting around in every room and my ultimate "Man Shop" is now filled with tables, chairs and assorted other household goodies. Hardly acceptable in a shop that houses tools, motorcycles, trailers, cars, etc.



I know, by now you're wondering what the heck my little "consolidation move" has to do with motorcycles, trailers and traveling on the open road. Well, it has everything to do with it. I mean, isn't that why we ride motorcycles and travel all over the place on our bikes anyway? To get away from all of the "stuff" and get back to being ourselves without all of the stuff that defines us and confines us.



Several years ago, my wife and I owned a business in Van Nuys, CA(Los Angeles area) that we purchased while we were still living in San Diego. It wasn't too long after the purchase that we realized we needed to be closer to the day-to-day operation and that would involve a move to Los Angeles. Luckily, for once in our lives we were actually on the right side of the housing market and could easily sell our San Diego property for a tidy profit. What we weren't sold on was the move to Los Angeles. Neither of us was particularly keen on the idea of sinking another fortune into a home there, so we came up with another option.



We owned a 40 ft. sailboat while we were in San Diego and decided to sail the boat up to Marina del Rey, CA (a "port suburb" of LA) and live on the boat while we decided what to do with our housing situation. I told my wife "two weeks on the boat" and then we would have our next move planned. Well, two weeks turned into two years and I will always remember those two years as some of the happiest of my life. I'm an avid sailor and we were able to sail most weekends over to Catalina Island (27 miles off the coast of CA), anchor in a nice private cove, fish, dive for lobster, etc. It was an idyllic existence, at least until we had to come back to LA to run the business. But I digress...



Here's my point. When we moved from our fairly sizable San Diego home onto the boat, we had to put the majority of our possessions in storage. What I didn't realize at the time was that putting those belongings in storage actually freed me up to enjoy my life and not be "owned" by my possessions. I realize we had the boat and all that goes with it, but it was a SIMPLE life. The boat contained everything that we needed for travel and adventure, but you couldn't have much because there just wasn't room for it.



I think that's why we really love our motorcycle and our Trekker Trailer. We can load up everything we need for a relaxing camping or cross-country trip and know that we will be comfortable and self-contained. And, at the same time, leave all of the other possessions at home to be forgotten about. That's what true freedom is all about.



So, as I sit here at my desk with boxes piled all around me... I think to myself, "do I really need all this stuff?" And although the answer is most likely a profound "no", it sure doesn't seem to keep me from acquiring it.



Well, I have to go now... I have a lot of boxes to unpack:-(



See you on the road.



MotoRush