The Ruthless Art of Moving Abroad

The part of moving abroad Instagram never prepares you for.

Stacks of boxes on a moving truck

There’s nothing quite like a move to make you get brutally honest about things you should’ve gotten rid of long ago.

One of the less fun parts of moving abroad is deciding what to keep, what to sell, and what to toss.

Years of memories – both remembered and forgotten face you head-on. And you can’t move everything. (Well, you can, but then you get a whole set of other problems when you get to the other side of the ocean.) What you have in your U.S. home probably won’t work exactly the same way in a Spanish apartment – and let’s not even get into the expense of moving all of your “stuff” abroad.

Let the sorting begin.

Your carefully curated bedroom decor?

Kiss it goodbye. Spanish bedrooms are smaller, and that king-sized bed outfitted with a Purple mattress won’t fit.

That beloved KitchenAid mixer sitting on your kitchen counter?

It’s history. U.S. voltage isn’t compatible with Europe’s, and even with a converter, there’s a good chance you’ll fry it on day one.

These are the decisions you’re going to have to make – and you’ll make a lot of them.

I’m not picky about much, but I am particular about my kitchen. Going through those cabinets and deciding what to toss, what to store, and what might actually survive life in a Spanish apartment? Brutal.

Still, Marie Kondo would’ve been proud. I wasn’t sentimental about most of it. The hard part wasn’t letting go. It was the nonstop decision-making. That part was the killer.

Fiesta dishes? Store.

Silverware? Store.

Slow cooker? Sell.

Ninja oven? Sell.

Dutch oven? Store.

Ruthlessness wasn’t just a personality trait anymore. It became my whole personality.

That was just the kitchen. Now imagine doing that in every. room. of. your. house.

Holiday decor stored in an attic

Next up? The Christmas decor.

You know how you have things like Christmas wreaths tucked away, and you buy another one the next year because you forgot about the one already living its best life in the attic?

Mmm-hmm.

You know where this is going. Sorting holiday decor is like taking a masterclass in admitting how much junk you’ve accumulated, most of which you probably didn’t need in the first place.

Outdoor lights? Give away or donate.

Wreaths? Donate.

Vintage ornaments from my childhood? Store.

Kids’ handmade ornaments and decorations? Store.

Personalized Christmas stockings? Store.

Like Santa Claus, I was making a list and checking it twice. If it couldn’t fit into a checked suitcase, it wasn’t going to make the trip. The downside? Sometimes you leave behind something you actually needed.

After a room or two, everything starts to blur together — less painful and purely something you have to get done.

By the end, we condensed a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house down to nine checked suitcases, eight personal items, and one very large dog crate.

I took a couple of lessons away from this experience. They’re both worth noting.

1. Choose carefully what you leave behind. I still miss those Christmas stockings. They’re getting reclaimed on our next trip back to the U.S.

2. You won’t miss 95% of the rest. Really.

We spend years collecting things, and it turns out most of it is incredibly easy to let go of when you have to. Which is how we ended up with a storage unit mostly full of “stuff” we should’ve sold in the first place.

You don’t miss the things. You just miss the few you should’ve packed.

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