The Stuff We Left Behind When We Moved Abroad

During our most recent trip home to the US, one of the things Chris and I looked forward to doing was rummaging through the boxes of stuff we left behind when we moved abroad. So what did we end up putting into storage before our move and why?

Our stash, which was split up among the attic and basement guestroom of my parent’s house, contained belongings from our previous nine-to-five life that hadn’t been sold, donated, tossed, or otherwise meticulously chosen to take with us and flown over several continents to Thailand.

Going through the stuff we left behind when we moved abroad would be interesting, right? We were quite curious to see what we had considered important 2+ years ago and if it was still worthy by our standards today. On the flip side, it’d be entertaining to see if there was anything we kept that made us go, “What were we thinking?”

Perhaps the real reason for doing this (as silly as it is to admit this) was that we I had big plans to go “shopping” through our belongings and bring back a few things on our return trip to Thailand, most notably kitchen items. Yes, we traveled halfway around the world to bring back with us pots and pans…

We went up into the attic expecting to pull out two boxes of kitchen stuff. As it turned out, we left five boxes of kitchen paraphernalia and another two boxes filled with old college engineering books, personal training guides, and a slew of books and magazines related to cooking. We swear we got rid of all that stuff!

If you can tell from the boxes, we could basically stock an entire kitchen if we ever came back.

In retrospect that’s not a bad thing. It’s not like crock pots and dishware go out of style in a few years. Decades, yes, but that a ways away.

At least we correctly guessed that we had left only two under-the-bed clothing storage containers.

Chris didn’t quite remember what he had saved but he knew what he hadn’t packed. He proudly pointed out that there was not a single item of office clothing. In fact, before we left he made it a point to toss his work slacks, button-up dress shirts, and ties because he vowed never again to work in a cubicle.

He pulled out almost exclusively T-shirts and shorts and one by one held them up to his body.

“Look. Can you believe this?”

There he was, holding a pair of plaid shorts up to his body Weight Watchers style. The shorts were so wide, as were the shirts he was unfolding. It turns out that Chris is now nearly 30 lbs lighter than he had been when we first left America and nothing fit.

So much for bringing back any clothes! They promptly went into a donation pile.

The one exception was a few pairs of ankle socks. “These are fancy! It’s like I bought some brand new socks but said, naahh, I’m wearing flip fops in Thailand instead.”

I had a bit more variety in my box including:

• Peacoat and ski jacket
• Five scarves, a cold weather Russian hat, gloves
• Two sweaters, four tops, summer dress
• Two pairs of jeans, three pencil work skirts
• Black dress heels, Toms shoes, waterproof galoshes, leather boots
• Two purses

I may have no use for a Russian ear hat or high heels in Thailand, but I could use my Shun knives again!

Most of what I left behind was cold weather clothing. I figured I’d rather have a heavy coat on hand if we ever visited in the winter.

The only thing I was a little baffled at was the number of scarves I kept. Really, I needed five? I will admit that I got a bit nostalgic looking at my black heels, comfy jeans, and leather boots. And I definitely missed my fancy wine glasses!

As planned, I grabbed a few things to put in my checked luggage for our return trip to Thailand. Some clothes, Chris’s socks, my pair of Toms, and some kitchen stuff including a garlic press, a strainer, and two of my favorite knives.

Now it’s time to crack open a much needed bottle of wine and drink from those fancy goblets that have been neglected the past two years.