Now that we decided to live in Hawaii full-time, we headed back to the mainland to sell our house in middle America and disperse of all of our belongings. Imagine if you will, moving to a place and the only items you can take must fit into a suitcase or mailable box. What would you take?
I began this overwhelming task by starting with items I knew we were not going to use. They were then sold or given away. I didn't want to empty the house too soon since it was on the market to be sold, but we were lucky enough to have two offers within the first 10 days.
Next I checked with our three grown children to see what items they could use in their own homes. After that I made a list of items we needed to pack up and mail to Hawaii. Because we had already lived in a condo for seven months we had most of the household items we needed. This time around we packed some winter clothing for when we travel and my beloved sewing machine which I double boxed and sent through the mail. It arrived in perfect condition. We also mailed two sets of golf clubs. They too arrived in great condition. Be sure to check the prices of the different companies available for mailing. The prices vary greatly!!
The remaining items which were many, went into my garage sale pile. I had exactly 3 weekends before handing over the house to the new owner. Luckily all three weekends we were blessed with good weather and good crowds. The majority of our items sold and the rest were donated. Our friends were lucky to score all of the food items, plastic wrap and random kitchenware that we could not take with us.
Of course there were some sentimental treasures that I wasn't sure I could part with. Luckily we rented a climate controlled storage unit for our youngest daughter who was finishing her last year of college. We stored all the furniture and kitchen items she might need for her first apartment after she graduated. This also gave me an excuse to save some keepsakes – at least for another year.
When she headed back to college in August, we once again had a one-way ticket to paradise waiting for us. It was an action-packed summer preparing our house to sell, downsizing to four suitcases and three mailed boxes. On top of all that our other daughter got married and I made the cake. Luckily retired people have time for all of this. I couldn't imagine working full-time while attempting to sell a house and move thousands of miles away.
When we landed in Honolulu it felt good to be home. It's a new chapter in our lives and I like the way this story is going.
Next time – Hawaii is not for you if…
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