The best tip for moving

Summer is here for some people and right around the corner for many others. Summertime means a lot of activity going on, especially with moving. People moving out of dorms, into apartments, houses, etc - the warm weather months equal lots of outdoors activities and getting the indoors ready for the new space or new season. For some people, moving is stress-free and easy with concise items to fill their spaces. For someone like me though, moving, while I am very fast (Thanks to 32 moves in my 26 years) can be very challenging due to a limit amount of space and an ability to form attachments to my clothes and jewelry. I once had a wardrobe so big it took up two closets and two bureaus. For someone who moves often, it was bad. Really bad.

It's not that I can't let go of things I don't wear anymore, it's that for me a piece of clothing can bring back a memory to a great trip or time in my life, which makes it a very long, drawn-out process for me to donate things that don't fit or I don't wear anymore. Don't get me wrong, I always end up donating, but then I'm left with sadness of never seeing the item again.  Up until about a year ago I would struggle for weeks about what to keep vs. what to give away, until I started a conversation with a woman at Whole Foods during a shopping trip one day. It started innocently enough about the vegan alfredo sauce, but then it turned to moving. Somehow alfredo transitioned into moving and I wound up telling her my problem with forming emotional attachments to clothing. That's when she suggested taking a picture of  the item. The picture would stay on my phone, easy to store with little space taken, and I would be able to look at the item whenever I wanted to, without having to pack and unpack it every time we moved.

Simple enough, and wildly effective. In the last year I've moved twice, and that advice was the best I've ever heard.

For anyone struggling with what to keep and what to give away, whether it's from spring cleaning, moving in with a partner or just moving by yourself, just remember: take it a picture. It'll more than likely last longer than the item itself, and cost waaaay less to move.