Ultralight Backpacking Gear: A List for the Reasonable Minimalist

Posted on December 7, 2012 by Amy

I’ve been traveling on. I arrived in Southern Califorina exactly yesterday.

After approximately three months of bike touring and three more months volunteering, its finally time for me to hit the road again. This time, however, I’m packed for travel by foot & by rock. Last time I detailed my gear it was back in Oregon on my bike tour. Now, I’ve changed things up, bought new things, got rid of others, and created a slick new set up for my upcoming travels.

Therefore, I present to you, an updated list of my earthly posessions for my next stint as a vagabond rock climber.

The Wardrobe aka. My Clothes Chunk (38 items)

I’ll start with the boring and slightly excessive. This wardrobe has been relatively fine tuned over the past 6 months. Each piece serves a function. I should do a fashion show sometime to show you the incredible versatility of my clothes chunk. Sometimes I look a bit ridiculous, but that really isn’t anything new.

One green shirt dress thing
One little black dress
One print dress that usually ends up being my laundry day outfit
One black skirt
Waterproof biking jacket leftover from bike tour
An oversized red sweatshirt
A white knit sweat — incredibly impractical for traveling, but I like it.
One thin tan sweater
A houndstooth scarf — absolutely essential, any scarf, houndstooth or not
A plaid long-sleeve
A tan long-sleeve, which I’m seeing now may be a bit redundant
Blue & white striped 3/4 length shirt
The W Dress from American Apparel — I think that’s what its called. I’ve made several holes in this shirt by now..
White Manna T-shirt from Arcata, CA
A plain black shirt
One pair of black tights
One pair of neon tights from bike tour that I adore
Yellow leggings
A pair of jeans
One pair of longer striped jean shorts — internationally appropriate
Another pair of shorts, tan & white striped — less internationally appropriate
Yet another pair of shorts. I’d call these sleeping shorts
A tan tank top
A multi-colored striped tank top — What’s up with me and stripes?
Little black tank top
Sleeveless zip-up hoodie– adds a hood to any outfit, I really appreciate this
4 socks (one thigh high wool set, a super warm sport sock & two athletic tiny socks)
3 bras, one strapless
Underwears
Rainbow neon one-piece swimsuit
Fingerless gloves
Neon arm warmers — No excuses, they just look cool

OK. Fine. For anyone that claims to be a minimalist, this is a lot of clothes, I know. I’m sure I could do without a few of these items, and they will probably fall away as time goes on, but for the time being, it all fits in the bag, so I’m not feeling too much pressure. I stuff the lot of it into a waterproof compression sac (1 item) which may, in fact, be the most useful thing I have. It makes all those clothes look more like this…

…. I keep the larger & warmer pieces outside the compression sac for easy access.

Camp Stuff aka. I Can Sleep Anywhere (7 items)

I really appreciate being self-sufficient in this respect. It allows me stay in amazing locations and saves tons of money. Honestly though, If I didn’t have camping stuff, there would be almost nothing in my backpack.

I don’t have everything you need while camping, but still have enough to be comfortable living outdoors. Which leaves me with the following:

Pretty decent sized one woman tent
Sleep pad — its the short kind this time, much better
Sleeping Bag (30 degrees)
Compression sac for sleeping bag
A folding knife
Headlamp + batteries

Toiletries and the Like (11 items)

I’m not really one for primping & beautifying, so don’t be surprised that I have so few items in this sections. Last time I wrote about this, my mother was pleased to find that I was actually bringing a hair brush with me. Yeah, I’m just that bad…

Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Loofa
Small Dr. Bronner’s soap
First Aid Kit (band-aids, gauze, pain killers, disinfectant, etc.)
Nail Clippers
Tiny hairbrush
A bag for the high-use toiletries
The bag from the front of my bike to hold it all
A camp towel

Technology Stuff aka. How I Make all this Magic Happen (9 items)

Solar Charger — yes, it works & yes, it is awesome
iPad + keyboard/case hybrid
iPhone + charger
Hot pink iPhone protector. Yup.
Data Storage device
Some practically useless Apple converter piece to plug into the iPad
Earbuds

Rock Climbing Things (7 items)

Yes, I know. I need way more than this to be a savage rock climber, but I have to start somewhere so this will have to do…

One set of super sticky rock climbing shoes
A harness
The Belay device
Chalk bag & accompanying chalk
A carabiner
This mesh bag that carries it all

Other Things–Random or Not–That I Need Need Need (9 items)

Passport
Bank Cards, etc.
One pair of Teva sandals
One pair of all purpose tennis shoes
A pretty pink pepper spray
A lighter
A notebook + pen
Sleeping pad repair kit
And finally… A GoLite backpack–which may actually be made of magic

That’s it. That’s the whole of it. That is everything that I own, well, excuse the emergency bag & mementos left in Portland. 80 total items. So much better than last time!

There are, however, a few things that I would like to add to my haul…

Travel mug and/or waterbottle. It would be cool if it had a lid & I could heat it up. I may just settle on a mason jar.
A set of chopsticks
A book. I just need a new one
Some quickdraws for rock climbing
An amazing rope–I know I can’t really carry it around, but I can still want it. Right?

“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are.When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

-Lao Tzu

Sigh. OK. I’m working on it…

The Packing Saga….

Yard Sale & Moving Out (Adventures in Minimalism)
Moving into a Smaller Space (Sweating tthe Small Stuff)
Downsizing: Round III (Adventures in Minimalism)
Indecision Paralysis (Obsessively Compulsive Dilemmma)
The Final Countdown (Hurry Up & Panic)
Bike Tour Gear (A Minimalist Goes Mobile)

Blast From The Past: The Great Escape

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Amy

I know what its like to need to travel. That’s why I’m here. I needed to “travel.” Not everyone needs nor wants the same thing, and I don’t blame them in the least. The comforts of home are incredibly alluring. For example, I am currently missing very much my golden cross country running shoes. I mean, honestly, they were gold, and they made me run like the wind. Also, I had a kimono thing that I could really appreciate every once and a while around here. However, the fact of the matter is, I wouldn’t really be missing those things if I hadn’t been in the same place long enough to notice that they were missing. It takes a bit of settling to recall the luxuries of a silk robe and golden running shoes. Ya hear me?

So that’s where I am right now. Stationary enough to miss things, but mobile enough not to acquire new ones. It’s fulfilling, yet lacking — effective for my purposes, but not quite traveling. But after this weekend, the subtle nagging ennui that inevitably creeps over me in times of repetition shall be quelched. I am embarking on a road trip adventure! One of my favorite friends, Ashley is swinging through in her station wagon o’ fun to tourista our way through even more of California. You guys, I’m going to get to see Yosemite! and I don’t have to bike there!

So, in searching for the inspiration to speak to ya’ll despite my non-traveling state, I looked to that dusty old secret blog from five years ago when I lived in the mountains in an abandoned miner’s cabin with no running water or electricity. Um, yeah more on that here: Blast from the Past: 20 Things I Learned Living in the Woods.

It was with nearly the same amount of stationariness that I wrote the following bit about my great escape from a very different small town USA.

The Great Escape (Friday, August 27th 2007)

We had to get out. Living in a little box canyon 45 minutes from the next tiny town can really get to your head.

So last Sunday….we escaped.

We rented a car and made a big ol’ carbon footprint on Mother Earth. I don’t regret it either. My sanity was coming into question and I think Jeremiah would have stabbed someone with his homemade trident if they so much as uttered the namesake of this village.

We have been bobbing up and down as to whether to stay here. We were offered a cheap rent-controlled apartment, end of season bonuses, free ski passes and easy livin’. The possibility danced around in our heads like children wondering whether or not to go run in that warm summer lightening storm. The town is practically begging for us to stay, “please stay here. work for me. we promise were not that crazy.”

Needless to say, we needed to escape.

We have been living in the woods for over two months now, and it really starts to get to you after a while. There isn’t nearly as much to distract you from your own wandering thoughts, and unless you are content at being oblivious… the end of the world doesn’t seem so far off.

We contemplate compulsive consumerism, global warming, resource wars, peak oil, Hummer driving mother fuckers, apathetic TV watchers, the failure of the media or the crisis concerning the coral reefs.

It can really bring ya down.

On top of that, once we come out of our off-grid wonderland, we enter this new surreal bubble. This tiny tiny rich town where people are so wrapped up in their cocaine, PBR and real estate that they forgot what its like to be a human.

So, needless to say, we escaped.

With only my purse in hand we headed off onto the open road. We went to a hot spring… no swimsuit… where I bravely bared my naked body to the world.

We slept in the car. When we woke up from out uncomfortable sleep we couldn’t bear the idea of returning to our teeny box canyon. So we threw caution (and our bank accounts) to the the wind and rented the car for one more night and got the cheapest hotel room in a nearby corporate town.

I laid in bed for hours and watched television. I learned about something amazing, which I wouldn’t doubt if a similar idea appeared in my near future.

We numbed ourselves for two days straight. We ate at an eerily quiet Chinese buffet. Cheap Chinese food is our mutual guilty pleasure. We went to a dollar store and bought stuff made in China, and even entered a Wal-Mart staffed and stocked by China.

It felt so god damn American.

But now I’m back. Working the night shift at my fancy hotel. I’m thinking about stealing a condo tonight. No one will ever know. This is why you can’t trust the homeless to work at hotels.

It doesn’t matter though. I’m leaving in a week. Shhhh…don’t tell my work. They’ll figure it out when I pull the ol’ “no call, no show.”

I can’t wait.

————————–

So, it sounds like right after that I was going to get on a plane and fly from Denver to Madison to surprise my mother before my trip to Guatemala. It should be noted that despite hating on “Hummer driving mother fuckers” in this entry that very next week, on my way out of that tiny town a Hummer driving mother fucker ended up giving us a ride and eventually a Mazda 3 with a full tank of gas so that I could make my flight home. It’s a great story really, but perhaps for another time.

As for now? Now, I prepare for yet another great escape. Isn’t it funny how history tends to repeat itself?

A Minimalist Goes Mobile: What I Pack for an Endless Bike Tour

Posted on June 20, 2012 by Amy

He approached me with an & jubilance unmatched by any cyclist I’ve met so far. He was tall & thin, much thinner than his oversized waterproof outfit implied. When he started talking, I could feel my eyes get squinty and my head cocking to the side. He had an accent, but I couldn’t quite place it. This made it difficult for me to understand him, but I listened intently as if I was to decode his words and solve some sort of pressing mystery.

He was excited to see me, but I wasn’t sure why. I was somewhat excited to see him too, I guess. Everyone else I meet on the road is on some sort of cycling team, be it friends or lovers, and it can be a bit difficult to wiggle your way into their social familiarity.

The lone wolves among us can go for days, even weeks, without actually connecting with anyone. I was approaching my solitude threshold, but still had a few days left in me. I could, however, understand where he was coming from, the fast talking, the excitement, the immediate feeling of fatedness, this man has been alone in the woods for while.

..and he was French! That’s it! French! “Je peux parler un peu de Francais!” I manage. He squealed in excitement.

“You speak French!” his eyes got all wide, and he started to look at me like I was dropped from another planet. “Oh! That is very very good! Many here do not know what I say.”

I nod. I can see why. Lucky for him, I have a fascination with languages, a background in French, and all the time in the world. We continue our conversation in a mostly English sometimes French and a dash of pictionary/charades. We manage to get out the basics of our travels.

Where are you coming from? France. No Canada. No Mexico.
Where are you going? Je ne sais pas. (I don’t know.)
How long have you been biking? Four days, but before that I walked from Mexico. (This was a point of confusion because with a French accent work & walk sound alarmingly similary)
How many miles do you go in a day? When I walk, I go 30-45 miles. I cycle about 80 miles per day.
Are you an illegal immigrant? Haha, how do you say…? Not yet.

The fascinating part about this man was not that he was French or that he walked from Mexico to San Francisco or that he nearly cried with joy after meeting me, but that this man owned almost nothing.

“Would you like to guess how much my pants weigh?” he asks. I look at him confused. “Do you understand grams?” He doesn’t wait for me to answer. “Point zero zero one grams! That is like nothing! Would you like to touch?”

I reach out and feel the fabric between my fingers. Its some sort of ultra light weight waterproof material.

“They are pants for kayak! They were big & wide and went very very high.” He motioned to midway on his chest. “I took needle to them, and when I was done…how is it?… to needle? When I was done with it, many many ask where I buy my pants, but I say ‘I do not know. I needled them.’”

He was so proud, every gram accounted for, “People sometimes look at me strange for my bicycling outfit, but it is very good, weighs very little.”

It carried on like this for a while. He had only two small panniers, and I was to learn that one only contained food.

I’d ask questions, and he’d answer with either the weight of the item he owned or the way in which he lived without it.

So no clothes? I have my bicycling outfit and my hiking outfit. All very light.
Tent? I have one tarp with rope. Its less than a kilo.
How do you sleep? Sleeping bag? A mat? I have a mat. Very light. No sleeping bag, I wear all my clothes at night. If it is very cold, I just keep walking until I am so tired that I must sleep. It works for me.
Do you have a stove? How do you cook food? I eat food that does not need to cook. For 40 days now I have had dry mashed potatoes with olive oil & tuna. It is very good. I like it very much.
Do you have anything to entertain yourself? Music? Book? I have not. Just my thoughts, it can get hard, yes. It’s true.

I was in awe. This is what happens when a mega-hiker turns to biking, a sleek, fast, ultra-light minimalist on the move. Anything he didn’t have, he just forced himself not to need. Suddenly, my two-pannier + backpack combo was just another clunky overloaded bicycle.

We stayed together until nightfall. He knocked on my tent in the middle of the night to tell me that he really liked me, and wanted to get to know me better. I told him that that was very nice, but he scared the shit out of me.

He apologized and told me that he really liked what I was doing, and that I should never give up. I thanked him and wished him a good night.

He was gone by the time I woke up.

Enough About Him, Let’s Talk About Me

As you can imagine, I have a close inventory on nearly everything I own by now. I’ve got this camping thing down to a science. Each bag contains it category of supplies, and can be easily transformed into a tiny wilderness sanctuary at a moments notice.

In the backpack, the most accesible bag once I stop moving, is my tent & sleeping bag. The tent is set-up first, followed my the rolled up sleeping mat that sits independently below my bike seat. From there, I unpack my sleeping bag, and put the backpack & panniers on the far side of the tent away from the door. Shoes and anything wet goes at the bottom of the tent and my most immediate needs including, my fanny pack, snacks, prized electronics and my book go near the door by my head. If anything is out of place it can take me an incalculable amount of time to try and find it. However, at this point the location of each item is so carefully mapped the instances are few and far between.

So what exactly does someone, such as yourself, bring on a endless bike trip?

Good question, and lucky for you, one day, a few weeks back, my camp soap spilled over my entire bag, and I was forced to take it all out and wash & reorganize it. It did not, however, force me to categorize, photograph and inventory it, that was my own neuroses at work.

Clothing for all weathers and occasions (38 items)

1 pair of jeans

1 pair of black jeggings

1 pair of gray yoga capris

2 pairs of bike shorts

1 pair of short shorts

1 blue gray T-shirt

2 long tank tops/ short dresses

1 long shirt/ short dress

1 polyester dress

1 partially see-through thermal nonsense

1 2005 RAGBRAI bike jersey

1 gray hoodie tank top zip-up thing

8 pairs of underwear

3 bras (including one nude strapless bra)

7 pairs of socks: many thanks to Sock Dreams. 3 pairs of black bamboo ankle sock, 3 pairs of thigh high wool socks, 1 pair of mid range alpaca wool socks) To see an ultra detailed account of why all these socks are perfect for all my purposes click it.

2 lightweight waterproof jackets

1 windproof bike jacket

1 black sweater

1 rainbow neon one piece swimsuit

3 tank top/undershirts

1 pair of Converse tennis shoes

1 pair of Teva sandals

All of these items, at least all of the clean ones, are scrunched together into this amazing waterproofer compression sack (1 item) which magically becomes my pillow at the end of each night. which is a perfect segue into detailing my sleeping accouterment.

How I lay me down to sleep (4 items)

1 tent (Flight Series)

1 sleeping bag (Cat’s Meow 20* F)

1 sleeping mat — the long kind. I could have gone shorter, but it was an accident and a long story.

1 bottle of Melatonin – I’ve never been one for pills, but these were a gift and have definitely come in handy.

Health & Hygiene aka. Feed Me I’m Dirty (29 items

1 2 toothbrushes + tube o’ toothpaste

1 hairbrush

1 very large camp towel

1 bottle of camp soap

1 tiny conditioner

1 tiny sunscreen

1 tiny lotion

1 deodorant

1 razor

3 ~~four~~ chapsticks

2 things of floss

1 JetBoil Camp stove

1 extra fuel canister

1 sponge

1 spoon

1 wine opener/knife thing

1 aluminum pan/plate

1 pair of nail clippers

First Aid Kit: waterproof bag, bandaids, gauze, various medicines (allergy, tummy, headache, cold & flu), disinfectant, etc.

2 water bottles – though only one should count because one is a 1L Pelligrino bottle that I am refilling

Most of these things live in the panniers with my food stuffs and clothing. Clothing & hygiene on one side and food & misc. on the other. This system seems to be working out quite well for me. Which brings me to another category of items that most cyclists won’t have nearly as much of: The Digital

What?! It’s 2012. Get with the Program! (17 items)

iPad

Keyboard + charger

iPhone + charger

Tiny secret camera for undercover work + charger

Waterproof mount for tiny secret camera

Pin mount for tiny secret camera

2 converter plug things for Apple products

Headlamp

~~Safety Light/ Flashlight/ Rape Whistle/ Party Machine~~ — I am sad to report that this item broke and was left at the last park in Oregon

Mini SD to larger SD storage converter thing

2 varying sized storage cards

Solar Panel that can charge anything I have

~~Disposable Camera~~ — I gave this to Mono Rides to take pictures on his cross-country bike fundraiser

Earbuds

It might strike you as odd that I haven’t actually mentioned anything bike related for this bike journey, fear not. Most bike related things reside in a small triangular pack on my bike (1 item), and I have tools for any bike related problem that I actually know how to fix.

The Bike & Bike Related Gear (10 items)

1981 Fuji America Touring Bike

Back Rack

Kryptonite rope lock

U-Lock

Bike Pump

Patches

2 sets of tire levels

Extra Tube

Bike specific Multitool

So that’s how I get around, and make sure that I keep gettin’ around. Which leaves use with the final photo of my crap. This was stuff that didn’t easily fit in a category.

All that Other Stuff that Somehow Made it Into My Bags (19 items)

2 books – Hyperspace by Michio Kaku & To Hellholes and Back by Chuck Thompson

4 Lighters – yeah, I dunno. That’s how many I found when I moved out

Map of Oregon’s Coastal Bike route which has been replaced by a Northern California map

1 large notebook + 1 tiny notebook

Checkbook

Pepper Spray

Adjustable Belt

Rope chunk

2 bungees to attach my backpack to my bike rack

Metal card case + various cards

Passport

Batteries

OK, I lied. There are two more categories that have not been photographed, but I definitely have.

Absolute Esstentials (7 items)

Neon yellow fanny pack
Helmet
Sunglasses
2 panniers
Lightweight Backpack (frameless daypack)
Knife

Stuff Given to me Last Week by Mono Rides (6 items)

2 Quicky dry shammies, like those kind swimmers use
2 safety sticks
A set of brakes
extra patch kit
Lots o’ food

That’s it. That’s the lot of it. If you’re counting, like I am, that’s 135 items not including food.

However, if you’re counting like other minimalists on the internet are, underwear counts as one item (down to 125 items), socks count as one item (119 items), same with my first aid kit, lighters, bungies, shammies, floss, safety sticks & panniers (107 items), and I don’t need to count a recyclable bottle, I mean, com’n! (106 items). I can accept that number. That’s where I’ll settle. I guess I have to finish reading one of my books…

The Packing Saga….

Yard Sale & Moving Out (Adventures in Minimalism)
Moving into a Smaller Space (Sweating tthe Small Stuff)
Downsizing: Round III (Adventures in Minimalism)
Indecision Paralysis (Obsessively Compulsive Dilemmma)
The Final Countdown (Hurry Up & Panic)

Downsizing: Adventures in Minmalism (Part III)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Amy

For me, it’s easy to imagine a life without my stuff—unencumbered, light, free. I have slick back hair in my fantasy…and a one piece body suit. Whatever. But as I carry on my wayward, I’m finding it more and more difficult to part with the last of my collection. Each item seems to represent something outside of itself. Ya know? from that time I went that one place and so on.

Thankfully, I’ve been able to derive inspiration from one of my favorite people, Julia from Today I threw Away… She had been getting rid of five things a day for about a year, but then she took a break. But now? She’s back! Admittedly, I’m quite glad she started this project last year, when I was first thinking about this whole adventure. It made me want to acquire less stuff and scale down for the future. Counterintuitive, huh?

And so it follows, now seems like a good time for an update on the whole downsizing thing. I will once again be ‘floating,” and need to disappear for about a week. So I’ve organized all my stuff. It only seems fitting.

I managed to sort everything in three piles. First, is the stuff that I will donate or “gift.” I have it sitting in the basement ready for departure.

Here’s the helpful infographic to outline the stuff that I’m leaving in the closet. There is still so much to get rid of:

Ok, maybe that’s not all that helpful. Doesn’t it seem like I have more stuff than last time? I’m not sure how that happened, but this is the honest to god last of it—blankets and all. OK fine, I still have one bike… and this stuff, that I’m taking with me:

I swear, the next time that I do one of these downsizing entries I’ll be a lean mean travelin’ machine, or maybe not. This is hard er than it looks…

PS. I had this entry ready to go last week when I began my houseless wanderings, but my transient lifestyle has made it difficult to simultaneously find electricity & internet that my 2005 DELL Inspiron can connect to–she’s finicky. I’m going to need to level up my hardware if I’m ever going to become the digital nomad of my dreams.

Introduction to Houselessness

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Amy

These past five days or so, I’ve been…”floating.” I don’t really want to call it “homeless,” because I feel like I have many homes in lieu of the traditional one. I don’t, however, have a place that is all mine and that houses all my stuff– now, I’m saying “stuff” like someone punched me in the stomach, stuuuuff. Oooof.

Well, I don’t have one of these places. I don’t have a place that isn’t occupied by the man that actually owns the the place. You see, the guy whose room I’m currently subletting is back from tour, and needs a place to rest his weary head while he is in our beautiful city of roses. Therefore, I needed to do my best to disappear.

my homeless house circa 2007

I’ve been houseless before. About a five years ago, I ended up in the woods of Colorado. Its a long story, but essentially I was squatting in an abandoned miner’s cabin without electricity or running water, 10,000 feet above sea level for several months after college. I even held a job in fancy hotel a mere two mile hike away.

Unfortunately, this time I wasn’t quite as prepared. Here are some things I’ve learned during this initial bout of houselessness.

A portable bag of toiletries is extremely beneficial. Be sure to include shampoo.
If you’re staying with friends, cook them dinner. And while you’re at it…do the dishes,.
If you’re sleeping in a car, make sure you go to the bathroom before you settle in.
If you’re staying with men in their twenties remember that they may or may not have clean towels and/or toilet paper. Be self-sufficient.
Always carry a change of underwear. Always.

My expert traveler homeless vagabond self of several years ago would be ashamed that I hadn’t already learned these lessons. However, at this point in my life, I feel no shame admitting my shortcomings and feel even more compelled to write them down, because hell, my memory could go at any moment.

Bear with me.

Sweatin’ the Small Stuff: Adventures in Minimalism (Part II)

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Amy

There is almost no furniture left in the purple room. I have a mattress and lamp on the floor and a small coffee table tucked in the corner. The rest of the floor space is dedicated to The Great Sort.

Everything I’m going to keep or need to look through is in the closet on the left, and everything to donate/give away is in the corner on the right. Granted, there are still a few piles if miscellaneous “goods” scattered about the house, and front lawn (my apologies Courtney), but most of those already have a new place to go–if not only in my mind. I’m finding new homes for everything. every. last. thing.

Since just throwing stuff away is not something that I can do, this process has been a long and tedious one.You can call it being a bleeding heart environmentalist or someone with some sort of compulsive disorder, I really don’t care. I just need to do it better this time around. In order to demonstrate my neurosis in full color, allow me to show you these, shall we say, “infographics”. Here is the stuff to donate and/or give away:

..and this is the stuff that lives to see yet another day under the careful watch of my discerning eye:

In full disclosure, I also have two bikes, a laundry basket & a back pack that are coming with me as well. There is at least one more round of downsizing before I am reduced to the epitome of material efficiency, so I think I can still take some extra supplies with me to the next house. The final sort is not far off though. 2012: The End is Near!

No no, scratch that. 2012: The Beginning is Nearer!

A Second Thought on Downsizing

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Amy

There are way better ways to do this whole get-rid-of-half-your-possessions thing. That is, if you have a bit more forethought, and not a surprise $1000 rent increase and a roommate deciding to go on a last minute cross country rendez-vous.

In my defense, the free box method is a time honored Portland tradition, and probably the reason that I have most of this shit in the first place. However, there comes a point when your free box just becomes some sort of grotesque illegal dumping situation. We were definitely toeing that line for a while there.

And yes, the whole freegan love thing is pretty cool, but donating it somewhere may actually be a better way to go. Goodwill’s an OK option, but should probably only be used as a last resort. I can’t lie though, that is definitely what we did after we let our neighborhood have their pick of it.

What I probably should have done was give it to an organization that could have put more use to it than those craigslist trolls.

Well, shit. In my regret, I’ve decided to mention some of those organizations in my area that do great work with all that non-trash trash out there. I’ll use them for the next half of this inventory reduction. Holla.

The Arc of Multnomah/Washington County - These guys run a resale store to fund their programs. Clients from their programs come and volunteer with me at my work.The have a long list of things that they don’t accept, but definitely worth it to sort out the things they could use.
Volunteers of America - They do a similar thing. Volunteering at the Food Bank every once and a while too. Great things both these programs are doing
SCRAP - an amazing arts and crafts reuse center! They are definitely getting my fabric collection.
The Community Warehouse - They take bigger things like furniture. But remember to keep it classy. Charities don’t want your junk neither.
William Temple House - They run something similar to a Goodwill, and have a social services and emergency assistance piece, but they are a faith-based organization…and I tend to avoid that.
Oregon Food Bank - Lest we forget, cleaning up the kitchen. Oregon Food Bank accepts unopened non-perishable & perishable food items for our neighbors in need.

Anyway, yeah, after its all said and done, and my lackluster Goodwill donation was complete; I am still left with a bit of trash. OK. A lot of trash. There is a random bed, that I don’t know where it came from, and a futon cushion from a futon that I definitely never owned. I snuck it over to my new house in the middle of the night and stuck it behind a truck in the front lawn. Definitely the opposite of classy.

Goddammit, what do I do with that thing?!

I think I’m going to burn it. Yeah, I’ll let you know how that goes.