Since our shipping container from Port-au-Prince arrives tomorrow, I thought I’d share a few photos of our Haitian movers boxing up our lives two months ago. These images suggest the scope of what will be delivered to our old Kentucky home tomorrow morning.
And, I might add, these 66 boxes will arrive at a downtown Victorian already full of our pre-Haiti treasures–a home over-flowing with furniture and books and art–the memories of lives well-lived, a globe well-trotted.
The question remains–where, in name of all things packable and not-so-packable, will we put Port-au-Prince in a home filled to over-flowing with India, Afghanistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka. I know the planet is a well-populated place, but do we really need so much of it in our living room?
So, wish us a world of luck over the next several days, as my partner Sara and I sort mountains of memories–66 boxes of passion for Port-au-Prince.
Kathryn M. McCullough 
I can’t help but wonder what the Haitian Moving Guys think as they pack up 66 boxes of stuff from only two people. Your comment “Do we really need so much of it in our living room?”: so funny.
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Oh, but we have two dogs, as well. Think we could blame all the stuff on them? But the fact of the matter is, I often felt self-conscious having so much stuff in Haiti–felt guilty, actually.
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Now is the time to purge. Downsizing can only help when you move around so much. It’s either that, or rent a storage facility.
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Unfortunately, we aren’t ready to downsize. We will hopefully send some things on to our next location, but we are fortunate to be able to keep our home in Lexington for the things we love the most.
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I feel your pain, Kathy…we filled a 26-foot moving van twice with boxes when Jim and I moved to our house (furniture went with professional movers). It’s been almost three years, and some of the boxes are still unopened…
Good luck!
Hugs,
Wendy
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Wow–that was just the boxes? If so you do have a lot of stuff, Wendy! But I can relate to still having some unpacked boxes. Bless your heart!
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Now all you have to do in get all those things into your current home and have enough room to move around. 😉 Good Luck!
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Exactly. The one good thing is that a lot of what we have coming is outdoor furniture–so fortunately, that doesn’t need to come in.
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So hard, and so much work ahead. Doesn’t this move to minimalism sound enticing when faced with such tasks?
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You’d think it would, but I don’t know what we could bear to get rid of. In theory it sounds fabulous, in reality–not so easy.
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Have fun. I know that whatever the two of you choose to keep will continue to make your “abode” welcoming.
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Thanks, Marlene! We can’t wait to see you next weekend! South Georgia, here we come!
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hm…I say, unpack and keep the art…donate the rest…
🙂
purge. purge. Simplify…and then purge. I read a study done by some Danish guy a few years back…that we only use about 8% of EVERYTHING that we have…
that is sad.
blessings, and have fun unpacking. I say, if you didn’t miss it, you don’t need it!
jane
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Wow–8% sounds incredibly low. We will likely get rid of some things, but we have so many memories attached to it all. It’s what makes our house interesting–the story the stuff tells.
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A globe well trotted is exactly right!
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VERY well-trotted!
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I hope you two are not like me and are major procrastinators….. we moved into this house almost 4 years ago….and there are still boxes in the garage that I have yet to unpack! Good luck ladies! 🙂
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Thanks, Mark. We will likely need it!
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Wishing you lots of luck.
Or… you could just leave the boxes packed and ready to move to the next location. 😉
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Thanks, Robin. The only problem is that what stays and what goes are not boxed separately, as the movers did the boxing. Alas——-
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I’ll have my fingers crossed for you both! Marty and I had some boxes in storage that went untouched/unopened/unused for six years… hopefully you and Sara will be more on top of the unpacking thing! 🙂
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I can understand how boxes could stay packed for a long while. Let’s just hope we don’t fall into that same situation. Thanks for wishing us well–so far so good!
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Have you still no idea where you and Sara will be going next?
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No, and believe me–I’m not happy about it! But then again, they won’t want to commit her before the last minute, as they know there could be another massive disaster somewhere in the next month, which would change everything. It’s frustrating!
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