Packing Predicament
For the past few years now I've been working on simplifying my life, materialistically to start. I believe that having fewer belongings allows for more meaningful (and spontaneous) experiences. I go through phases of being motivated, and being not so motivated about this. I do admit I'm not super great at practicing it consistently in my life yet. Hopefully moving to Alaska will force this to happen.
A few weeks ago I ordered 5 Rubbermaid and had them delivered to the Walmart in White Plains, which I picked up on the way home from school. After talking to coworkers next year who have previously moved to Alaska, I decided the easiest and most efficient way to ship the bins out would be to drill holes along the top and zip tie the lids shut.
The bins ended up sitting around either in my car or in my kitchen for quite a few days as I asked every one I knew if they had a drill I could borrow. After coming up empty handed, I took them along with me as I visited my grandparents in Lafayette for a Father's Day BBQ. Dad drilled holes in the bins for me after we found a drill in the garage. Well actually, most of the family ended up in the garage "helping" too.
(My dad's the best).
This one was exceptionally helpful:
After arriving back in Nyack, I managed to pack everything into those 5 bins and mail them out in three days. Three days! I'm going to take a minute and say that I am very impressed with myself for making that happen during the last week of school, after losing my entire wallet while in Lafayette, and before my flight out to Spain at the end of the week. (The wallet and Spain stories will have to be for another day).
Inside the bins I packed things like: bedding, towels, my mattress topper (it's so comfy I couldn't just leave it behind!), winter clothes and shoes, my keurig, a few mugs (please don't break!), a few pictures I had on my walls, shampoo etc., and some left over classroom supplies from this past year. As long as your name is not Peter Woolschlager (the most organized, compact, and minimalistic packer I'll ever know), I know you're thinking, Oh, not a lot. Just the necessities and a few extras. At least, those were my thoughts as I chose what to pack. But, those bins are JAM-PACKED. I physically sat on most of them just to close them. During the process of squashing the lids on and squeezing the zip ties as tight as possible, it occurred to me that I may potentially have a small problem getting them off again... But we'll cross that bridge when we get there; for now, they are good to go!
They were also unexpectedly super expensive to ship! I don't have any better suggestions for cheaper shipping if you're at all interested in moving to northern Alaska with me, but I was in shock at the post office at how much it cost me to ship them. Also, whoever decided to build the three flights of stairs in the front of the Nyack post office was clearly not considering 21 year old women lugging bins up them, as they should most definitely have been. But, I may have also been hauling the bins up these stairs on one of the hottest afternoons in June. Oops.
After all of that, the bins are shipped and expected to arrive in Brevig Mission around July 13, and hopefully contain everything I'll need to get settled when I finally arrive in early August.
First of the 5:
In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying Spain with the Potsdam CFC crew as we spend a few weeks here working with and teaching English to elementary kids and teens at a local church in Alhaurin de la Torre near Malaga. I promise to post a million pictures and tell you all about my plans to move to southern Spain after my Alaskan years in my next post!
Sneak peek (panoramic view from the balcony at the house we're staying at):
(Check out my Facebook page or Instagram account for pictures I've posted already!)
Adios por ahora!
A few weeks ago I ordered 5 Rubbermaid and had them delivered to the Walmart in White Plains, which I picked up on the way home from school. After talking to coworkers next year who have previously moved to Alaska, I decided the easiest and most efficient way to ship the bins out would be to drill holes along the top and zip tie the lids shut.
The bins ended up sitting around either in my car or in my kitchen for quite a few days as I asked every one I knew if they had a drill I could borrow. After coming up empty handed, I took them along with me as I visited my grandparents in Lafayette for a Father's Day BBQ. Dad drilled holes in the bins for me after we found a drill in the garage. Well actually, most of the family ended up in the garage "helping" too.
(My dad's the best).
This one was exceptionally helpful:
After arriving back in Nyack, I managed to pack everything into those 5 bins and mail them out in three days. Three days! I'm going to take a minute and say that I am very impressed with myself for making that happen during the last week of school, after losing my entire wallet while in Lafayette, and before my flight out to Spain at the end of the week. (The wallet and Spain stories will have to be for another day).
Inside the bins I packed things like: bedding, towels, my mattress topper (it's so comfy I couldn't just leave it behind!), winter clothes and shoes, my keurig, a few mugs (please don't break!), a few pictures I had on my walls, shampoo etc., and some left over classroom supplies from this past year. As long as your name is not Peter Woolschlager (the most organized, compact, and minimalistic packer I'll ever know), I know you're thinking, Oh, not a lot. Just the necessities and a few extras. At least, those were my thoughts as I chose what to pack. But, those bins are JAM-PACKED. I physically sat on most of them just to close them. During the process of squashing the lids on and squeezing the zip ties as tight as possible, it occurred to me that I may potentially have a small problem getting them off again... But we'll cross that bridge when we get there; for now, they are good to go!
They were also unexpectedly super expensive to ship! I don't have any better suggestions for cheaper shipping if you're at all interested in moving to northern Alaska with me, but I was in shock at the post office at how much it cost me to ship them. Also, whoever decided to build the three flights of stairs in the front of the Nyack post office was clearly not considering 21 year old women lugging bins up them, as they should most definitely have been. But, I may have also been hauling the bins up these stairs on one of the hottest afternoons in June. Oops.
After all of that, the bins are shipped and expected to arrive in Brevig Mission around July 13, and hopefully contain everything I'll need to get settled when I finally arrive in early August.
First of the 5:
In the meantime, I'm thoroughly enjoying Spain with the Potsdam CFC crew as we spend a few weeks here working with and teaching English to elementary kids and teens at a local church in Alhaurin de la Torre near Malaga. I promise to post a million pictures and tell you all about my plans to move to southern Spain after my Alaskan years in my next post!
Sneak peek (panoramic view from the balcony at the house we're staying at):
(Check out my Facebook page or Instagram account for pictures I've posted already!)
Adios por ahora!
How silly of Nyack to not have a better way to get those bins to them ;) at least you got a good workout!
ReplyDeleteOh I sure did! ;)
DeleteI love it! You are in our prayers. Have a wonderful trip. I'm so happy to be able to follow along here. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara! <3
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