On Stuff: Seven More Things We Don’t Own Now (and Three We Bought)

Leaving Oslo was a little sad for us. That is because we loved it there. And also, because we turned out to still have too much stuff. For most people, that is a minor inconvenience, but for us it is a serious problem. We try to take public transportation or walk as part of our city-leaving ritual, which gives us immediate feedback about what we own. We didn’t think we’d bought anything, really, but somehow it had all gained weight. There was some serious schlepping and cursing this time around (we are sorry, moms with their kids!). Laurel even pulled muscles in her neck and shoulder: oy with the heavy. Aren’t we lucky that we are now in sauna-land?

Everything fit into the two big suitcases, but we were uncomfortably close to the airline’s weight limit, and our carry-on bags were VERY HEAVY. So in between gorging ourselves with pastries in Stockholm and going to museums, we’ve had a stuff-reckoning. This is a little bit like a religious revival, but it doesn’t happen in a tent and there is often alcohol involved. We take out everything and bare our souls to each other. Sometimes there are tears, but never any preaching.

Stuff That Went:

• Dress clothes: we had more than we needed; we’ve found that even at fancy restaurants nobody dresses up any more.
• Portable keyboard: it turns out we don’t spend as much time on the computer as we used to, so we no longer get wrist strain! We had two and now have one. The second one might go too.
• Corkscrew/bottle opener: heavy, and the Swiss army knife has a workable corkscrew. Why have two when you only need one?
• Trousers: we each found at least one pair we hadn’t worn in six months, and not because they weren’t seasonally appropriate.
• Sweaters: again, we each had four or five and only wore one or two. We’ve kept the thickest ones (bulky but not heavy) but freed ourselves of some duplicate weights.
• Laurel’s giant carry-on ‘purse‘ – it only encouraged us to accumulate stuff, which kept getting lost in there.
• An Italian textbook: we’ve worked our way through it and feel molto bene about our progress to date. Especially if it’s true that Italians don’t use the subjunctive very much…

Stuff We Bought:

• Tiny little kitchen tongs; a blog reader recommended them, and we’d been missing something of the kind. We found some in Oslo, very light, surprisingly cheap.
• Laurel bought a waffle-y dressing gown, just like they have in hotels. It’s light but bulky, which is ok by us.
• John has taken up running again, so bought some good shoes.

We still fantasize about having so little stuff we can put it all into carry-on luggage, like we did when we were only on the road for a month. But that means no scissors and no oven thermometer. And we’re happy with our weight. For now…