Possessions I need to go travel for a year and possessions I leave behind

Tuesday, 20 January, 2009

I've grown up without technology having only bought my first Macintosh (8200!) in 1996. So during my plans to prepare leaving the UK for a year to go to East-Asia, I'm constantly shaking my bemused head at the ease at which you can take technology with you and still maintain aspects of your life (as a digital designer anyway).

Without technology, I'm guessing you pretty much have to close "everything" down and have a cut off point from when you leave one country to the next.

Technology rules

But I've been able to move alot of admin online, both personal and business, so that I can continue to do anything necessary to keep things ticking along, but still give myself the freedom to travel. I do most of my work on my laptop, so that can also come along with me.

Although I want to have a cut off point for project work, taking my laptop simply means that I don't have to spend more time tying up other loose ends like admin, particularly as some aspects are beyond my control.

So packing to go seems straight forward. What else is there?

In contrast with the clarity I place on things to take with me, I've found its more challenging to organise the things I leave behind.

Possessions I leave behind

I've realised that judging what I need for a year away has forced me to consider the value of my possessions and to take any necessary action. I've not only made decisions to leave particular items behind, but have gone further to judge whether I need them at all.

Organising and curating possessions

For instance, I had a small collection of VHS tapes. The contents were more important that the objects themselves, so I simply spent time digitising them and then I could throw out the physical tapes without concern.

I also have a collection of sketch books, but these items are of immense sentimental value to me, so I actually boxed them up more carefully to protect them for the foreseeable future.

In a different way, I continue to hold a host of business papers, simply as it is advisable to keep paperwork for a number of years, or because the documents are important for legal issues.

The end result

I've found that the process is very much about uncluttering, filtering and organising my possessions and finding some sense of structure in the results.

I still have a couple of weeks left to sort, but the idea is that I have peace of mind and a sense of control when I finally leave for Hong Kong.

This entry posted in : Travel.

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British Chinese, Digital Design Consultant. Web Geek, Technologist, Blogger and Careful Entrepreneur. Budding Photo Journalist.

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