Parting with …stuff

I hoard things – especially clothes, books, magazines. There’s just too much of everything and I have no idea what to do with it all. You see, what makes all this so difficult and time urgent is that I’m moving back home to Australia in March, and I have no idea what I should take with me, what to give away, what to sell and what to throw out because it’s simply won’t see the light of day.

Parting with books is something I can’t handle. I’ve already been very selective and have decided to sell half the pile but the other half are a mixture of reference books, cookbooks, some non-fiction and a bit of fiction which I’m sure I’ll reread at some point and have to take with me. A few books shall stay behind for when I visit.

Running gear. Well that’s a no brainer, of course I’ll be taking my running shoes (only one pair), shorts (about four pairs) and tops (about three) with me. I’ll also be leaving a set here just in case. Plus my grandma tells me that if you leave something behind you’re bound to go back sooner or later. I’m not sure if there’s any truth in that but hey maybe there’s something there.

Then there’s the issue of clothes. I’m almost certain that I’m never going to wear half the items in my wardrobe. The problem is I’m not sure which half. I’m leaving a set of winter clothes here just in case I visit over the Christmas holidays at some point. But the summer/spring/autumn items, well, I just can’t decide. Sure, the temperature in Australia is warm for most of the year but that doesn’t make my choice any easier.

Finally there’s my triathlon bike which has been gathering dust in the basement of my grandparents house. I can count on my fingers how many times I’ve taken it out over the past eighteen months which is really sad as I enjoy cycling and want to do some more triathlons when I get back to Australia. Hopefully the airlines will let me take it on the plane as registered baggage.

Finally, I have to send a package because everything won’t fit in the luggage limit of 20kg. The worst bit of it all is that the postal service only allows a maximum of 20kg for a package travelling via ship which takes about two months and priority post (10 days) is a bit over my budget considering that I may end up having 2 x 20kg packages unless I can somehow dispose of 80% of my stuff.

Any ideas?