Leaving it all behind?

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

This may sound like a strange question, but I own very little that I actually care enough about to take with me. I have a cat and a few family heirlooms and items like that, but honestly, they would fill little more than a suitcase. I'll probably fedex the heirlooms and Peter Parker (the cat) will fly down with me along with a suitcase of clothing. Anything else can be replaced and the climate is very different between Canada and Austin, TX.

Has anyone else basically left it all behind when they moved? I'm still a long ways out, but I'm starting to think practicalities since I'm moving apartments soon and it makes more sense to downsize then.

If you did leave your belongings behind, did you regret it? Is there anything you would advise?

[Pamala Bull 4]

i left everything behind but my clothes i could fit in 2 suitcases. i sold and gave away everything else. i dont regret it at all.

the only thing i miss as a female is having more clothes , my wardrobe was huge. but it was all worth it for my love.

And i moved from Australia to USA. long trip! everything can be replaced , im slowly building my closet backup

i was slowely downsizing before i left , it made it easy to pack in the end and bring what i just had left

[Gail83 21]

When I arrived here in Dallas in July I only had 1 suitcase with me. I have a box of things left behind at my mums but I got rid of everything else. I found it to be a very cathartic experience and don't regret it. I was really amazed just how little was very important to me when it came down to it. Good luck with your move.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Why not!! If it doesn't make sense to bring it with you, then leave it behind--give it away or sell it. No reason to pay $$$$ to bring stuff with you that won't be used or just takes up space! Wish I had given more stuff away!

[indiana_sweetie 120]

When I visited my hubby overseas I brought back some of his things, as much as I could fit in. When he came here he only took what fit in one suitcase because his laptop and documents were in his carry on. I wish he could have brought more clothes, but he insisted on bringing embriodered Turkish towels as gifts LOL

[ricky and elaine 8]

Interesting! Over the past few years I have moved a few times. (within Ontario) to smaller and smaller places. I have had 3 content sales and still have stuff. Now I am in a small place and still would need a truck to move my belongings. As time goes by I look around at the things i found most precious and I realise they are just "things" Ok a few family heirlooms and pics. I do believe I can put anything I want in my SUV ..including my dog and move and feel free! I want to start anew! Clearly with the cost of my move...Ontario to Nevada it would be cheaper to start again. For me its almost theraputic! lol. Letting go!

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I'm glad I'm not being told I'm insane lol! It just seems to make more sense. I'm a thrift shop junkie--I can replace my whole wardrobe for under a hundred dollars, probably. My fiancé lost everything in a fire over the summer and we've been looking at and for replacement items together online so the household will be set up when I get there and will contain things I like, not just things she likes. I sew, but I can get new machines off of Craigslist. Pet supplies seem to be MUCH cheaper in the US than in Canada, so I think I will leave my pet supplies for my current flatmate's cat and we'll replace everything for Peter Parker.

I don't own a car and it'll probably take a few weeks to get me my license, then we'll have to figure out a car if Austin's transit isn't good enough (I live in Toronto and I'm used to fairly amazing regular transit schedules) and we can't work out sharing her car (which is actually hilariously my ideal car) so it seems like selling my belongings to be able to put a good down payment on a small car for me would be a better use of resources than taking them. Plus, I want to bring lots of ketchup.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

Definitely not leaving behind my super sweet cat. She's my baby, . I had same thinking like yours about these things to be honest. But my fiance told me if I wanted to bring all my stuff he will going to hire a moving company to do so. Still, I am not sure yet. The long journey still on the way.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I love the name of your cat and I love even more than you don't seem to shorten it to "Petey" or something, but refer to him as Peter Parker.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Well, he often gets called Pete for short when I babytalk him. The vet calls him Spidercat. His brothers are my rats, Steve, Tony and Bruce. By the time we make the trip down (probably a year or so once we get married then file while I stay up here and wait for the visa), sadly, the StarkSpangledBanner boys will be in their twilight time, so I've made arrangements with a rat experienced friend to take them so that they don't have the stress of a flight to potentially put them over the rainbow bridge before their time.

He LOVES to climb. He climbs the cage stack (my roommate has a cage for sugar gliders on top of my rat cage), bookshelves, his cat tree, anything he can climb.

[ricnally 258]

Clothes are waaaay cheap in the US. You can buy new stuff in the US that will be half the cost of Canadian thrift shop stuff. US craigslist is amazing, too! Just bring what's irreplaceable--Peter Parker, obviously (I love the name, too!)

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

Clothes are waaaay cheap in the US. You can buy new stuff in the US that will be half the cost of Canadian thrift shop stuff. US craigslist is amazing, too! Just bring what's irreplaceable--Peter Parker, obviously (I love the name, too!)

Good to know! May sound stupid, but in Canadian thrift stores, it's usually easy to find smaller sizes (size 0, 2, 4) because people can't fit into them after babies and stuff. Is that the case in the US as well, do you know?

And Peter Parker is absolutely irreplaceable. I've got a handful of photographs, my high school diploma, my laptop, my phone, a 100 year old mandolin, an electric guitar and a 110 year old violin that I absolutely cannot replace. Other than that, everything else is easily disposable.

Is fedex probably the safest way to ship the mandolin and violin, does anyone know? The violin has a case, but they don't make cases in the shape of the mandolin, so I will have to cut foam for it and pack it in a box.

[Xanax 349]

I left everything because I AOS'd from the VWP with only a very small suitcase of clothes.

There are things I wish I had but nothing was irreplaceable except my puppies who stayed behind with my family

[Kajikit 65]

Clothes, linens, plates etc are easily replaced. What are irreplaceable are the mementos. If there's anything you feel sentimental about, or think you MIGHT feel sentimental about five years down the track, take it... there's no way to get it back. That doesn't mean you have to take EVERYTHING... but I came here with three suitcases of clothes and two boxes of personal possessions, and there was a bunch of stuff that I left back in Australia that I've often really wished I could see again.

[gizzyboo 6]

The public transportation in Austin isn't great but depends on what area of town you will be living in. Welcome to Austin!!