yard sale

Purging all our belongings is proving to be much more of a daunting task than we expected. This blog seems so materialistic - we are hoping to completely change that tone once we start traveling - so please bear with us. At the end of our recent yard sale, I felt like we had as many things as we started with. Despite the fact that we had made a decent amount of money, we took a lot of 'stuff' back in.

Where did these things come from? I am cursing myself for all of the unnecessary purchases I have made over the years. I am making a vow to myself, when we return, I will not buy that shirt because it's on sale (and never wear it) or that 'too-big' skirt that I can alter (I can't sew) or anything that I don't absolutely need. We'll see how that goes.

Alex and I have set aside some funds so that we are able to buy a house when we are done traveling. We'll have a fairly strict budget while we're on the road so there will not be any frivolous spending and we will definitely not be using any of our savings, RRSPs (kind of like a 401k, for you Americans) or the money allocated for the future house. We admire some travelers who have posted detailed expense spreadsheets on their websites and aspire to have the same sort of commitment.

Although, like many girls, I find pleasure in a pretty dress, it really feels great to be taking a break from the 'work and spend' cycle. I do realize that most of the places that we will be visiting will be industrial nations and capitalist societies and that I will be contributing to their economies - however, I won't be part of the rat race for a little while and that's good enough for me.

- Mina

friday night at the bridge drive-in

There's so much going on lately and the two of us are feeling more than a little overwhelmed. 

Last night, we took a break to hang out at the Bridge Drive-In (BDI), a local retro ice cream parlor.

While parking, we were entertained by this man in the parking lot, cranking out tunes on an accordion:

The BDI is situated on the banks of the Red River. 

The parlor's namesake is a walking bridge over the river that connects to the BDI parking lot.

The bridge opened in 1912 as a vehicular bridge. 

It has since been made into a walking bridge, providing views of passing boats, among other things.

Too many choices:

We got a root beer float and a dipped cone. 

The ice cream was nothing special, but it was a fun distraction from our 'to-do' list before leaving.

looking forward to blue skies and beaches...

we've been getting a little grumpy dealing with all the boring planning.
i need to remember to not get stressed out by insignificant details.

should it stay or should it go? part deux.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful suggestions regarding our previous post about our wii, bikes, and macbook. We are still torn about the bikes, but the other two are definitely 'going'. While we agree with some of the comments that the easiest thing would be to get rid of absolutely everything,  that's easier said than done - especially when it's not your stuff! We have both accumulated some things that are very precious to us andwould really hate to part. We love our drums. Even though the guitar is cheap and old and kind of broken, it has some sentimental value and it's hard to let go.

Well, those are some things we just have to put into storage. Now, here are some more things we're not sure about.

1) our car. (2006 honda civic)



We're fortunate enough to never have had a loan or a lease on this thing, which is why we don't want to sell it. However, even if we were to lend it to someone, cars depreciate incredibly quickly and it may be a better idea to recoup what we can now and at least earn some interest on it in the bank.

2) the iPod(s)

Clearly we have some sort of apple obsession. We are torn about the iPods. I use the shuffle while run ning and won't get rid of it. Alex likes the touch and it is the best one to keep out of the four. So that leaves the video and the nano. They're small - maybe we should just bring them along to have extra movies/music/battery life? Do you think it would just be more of a hassle to have them? We find taking the extra ones on short trips have come in handy, but all around the world...we're not so sure.

We can't wait to hear your thoughts. There's only a month and a half until our projected date for starting our trip. So much to do in so little time.

-Mina

leo mol sculpture garden

Photos from an afternoon at the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and the English Gardens in Assiniboine Park.

more here.

things we'll miss

should it stay or should it go?

We've begun the arduous task of separating our stuff into what we are keeping and what we are selling. We're quite glad to be getting rid of a lot of things, but there are some items that are giving us pause. On the one hand, selling stuff simplifies our lives (less to put in storage) and has the bonus of giving us a little extra cash. On the other hand, it seems silly to sell things that we will want/need to repurchase when we return.

Here are a few examples:

1) Wii (+ Wii Games).

We love the Wii Fit.... does it make sense to throw it into storage for 1 year? We could probably sell it now and get back most of what we paid for it. That may not be the case when we return - and there might be a newer, shinier one out by then.

2) Our Bicyclettes.

Bicycles are kind of an oddly shaped item to put into storage. It's not like we would put them in a box. Bikes are something we would definitely buy upon our return.

3) Mina's Macbook.

This thing is a beast. There's no way it's being lugged around in a backpack. Therefore, the same question applies in this case: should it be sold or go into storage? There are arguments for both. I guess the biggest concern is that a laptop will be needed when we get back, and again, the resale value vs. storage costs vs. price to pay when we're back is the issue here. We should note that we will be purchasing a smaller, lighter laptop for the trip.

We know that some of you have done extensive traveling and that some of you may just have inventive solutions, so, what are your thoughts and what would you do?

P.S. We have toyed with the option of lending these items to friends or family members and we think that these are all things that everyone already has or wouldn't want. We don't want to harass people by asking them to store all of our things.