Casey Space

I’m a big fan of Marie Kondo. I’m all for taking inventory in life and letting go of things that no longer serve me or bring me joy.

This sentiment sounds great until truly faced with processing 40 years of stuff. This type of work requires mental toughness. It is exhausting.

We were working every day for 3 weeks after I left my job. We had help. The week before we left, we had a bit of situation that made everything a lot more challenging. More on that later.

Shortage of Storage

Boise had a population explosion during the pandemic. Rent prices increased by large amounts. People who lived in a place for years were suddenly outpriced in their homes, and trying to find something they could afford, which often times, meant downsizing.

As a result, all the storage units in the Treasure Valley are full, and therefore a hot commodity with high prices. “Oh, you haven’t secured your storage unit yet?!” a friend asked a month before we are supposed to leave.

After many phone calls and online inquiries, we found a 10×12 unit in at a price we were okay with paying for 2 years. The only thing…It was in Caldwell (about 35 min drive), and faced a creek…that floods sometimes…but has never flooded the unit…so far.

Goodbye My Little Diva

The hardest thing for me to let go of was the Mini. I love that car so much. But, cars are meant to be driven, and she can bring joy to someone else.

I put an add on Facebook and got some leads, including someone from Bozeman, MT who was pretty serious about coming to get her.

A friend saw my ad on Facebook and recognized my turquoise house in the background and reached out through text. I’m glad my little diva went to a friend who was looking for what she has to offer.

Other Random Things Sold/Given Away on Facebook: Leopard print high heel chair, solid gold Airdyne bicycle, L-shaped desk, free-to-me-free-to-you-bar-b-que, and four dining room chairs I never liked.

Not pictured that got donated: Gary Fisher bicycle covered in anti-Bush stickers, a half-ton of bags of awesome articles of clothing, home-improvement project leftovers, and boxes never opened since moving from the Gypsy Wagon in 2002.

Things Get Complicated

With a week left to clear our home, Josh and Ryan went on a dump run. They were struck in the Nissan by a front loader in one of the longest and slowest fender benders of all time.

Basically, the tractor kept backing up in a straight line for about 100 feet. Josh and Ryan thought eventually it would turn. However, it did not.

Though the front loader was going slow, the size and weight differential moved the Nissan about 2 feet.

Josh had 5 business days to resolve the vehicle damage as well as personal injury claims with a county government agency, get approval for healthcare from auto insurance agency, and then actually get healthcare.

To our surprise, our local government was able to cut us a check for the truck two days before go time, which ended up being twice what we were going to get for a trade in!

For the personal injury side, we never could get a conversation with our own auto insurance rep before we left to get confirmation the medical bills would be paid if Josh proceeded with recommended assessments like an MRI. That would come many weeks later…and threatened to jeopardize our whole situation in Hanoi.

Part of Josh’s employment requirements was a health check to make sure people are fit to work in Vietnam. Well, when they asked him if he had neck injuries, he honestly answered he didn’t know and showed them these photos.

They ordered him an MRI, and basically his employment was contingent on the results. If the MRI showed he was not fit to work, then he would not be eligible to work in Vietnam. Josh navigated the Vietnamese healthcare system, got an MRI, and got the findings in English to submit to our insurance, and got cleared to work in about 10 days time. That’s the good news.

The bad news is they found some troubling indicators in his neck and referred him to see a Neurologist.

Storage Unit Packed

Have you ever wondered how big of a room you would need to store the entire contents of your house?

We continued to use the truck until the end, as well as a borrowed van (thank you Anna). We also continued to use Josh’s beat up body to pack our things away.

Goodbye Boise

Our house was finally pretty much empty. On the final day, our living room held: 4 large suitcases weighing 50 to 80 lbs, 2 large backpacks, 2 small backpacks, 2 medium sized shipping boxes.

Packed Up

Though I started purging items in March, I underestimated amount of time, physical and mental exertion it would take to pack up my life and exit. Like I kept saying to myself, and sometimes Josh, if it is was easy, everyone would do it.