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In Europe, and I mean literally anywhere in it, renting a van to move, or even just throwing out big useless garbage is a normal thing. You pay a bit but win mu

In Europe, and I mean literally anywhere in it, renting a van to move, or even just throwing out big useless garbage is a normal thing. You pay a bit but win much more (space, freedom etc). Having to do this additional step should not be good enough reason to no throw something out. Its all a burden, on your body but much more on your mind. I understand that it brings back memories, but you shouldn't remember given person by keeping their hoard. And that 1 in 100 items that is actually useful doesn't change any of it. I've seen it done countless times, last time few months ago my parents were cleaning whole apartment after grandparents died. We each picked few small items to keep, and literally everything else went to dumpster. So liberating. Good rule of thumb for anything, anywhere, anybody - if you can buy it with a reasonable sum, item is worthless long term and should be no burden to you. Cherish those things that are not replaceable - photos, gifts handcrafted for you. The rest, whether you have it or not doesn't change anything long term in life. Thus is largely meaningless for your happiness. Thus it can go anytime, no big deal.

ghaff 3y ago
A few things I've learned (mostly) as I've become less of a packrat than I once was. -- You just need to get into a mood sometimes where you go to your attic, garage, or whatever and get rid of the old computers and stuff you're never going to do anything with. Yes, there's some nerdy kid who might want that old laptop but I don't know who they are and I'm not going to waste a lot of time finding out. -- Try not to let things get to the point where even contemplating doing some sorting and winnowing is so painful that you just lie down until the feeling goes away. -- Digitize as much as you can. OK, you're still something of a digital packrat, especially without good metadata, but at least it doesn't take up space. -- I've found leaving some larger objects out by the road with a free sign can be pretty effective. At least where I live, there are junk removal services but that presupposes being organized enough to have a big pile that can be taken away some day. ADDED: It's almost certainly true that people in the US, especially outside of urban cores, do tend to live in larger homes so it can be very tempting to just hang onto stuff rather than going through the work of sorting and disposing.
spidersenses 3y ago
>In Europe, and I mean literally anywhere in it, renting a van to move, or even just throwing out big useless garbage is a normal thing. It doesn't matter how convenient it is to rent a van, when neither you, nor the people inside your social circle, know how to actually drive a van. I've had a regular car driver's license for decades. An EV van is a whole different beast, as I found out the hard way while helping a friend move between apartments.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  The U-Haul vans are made to be easy to drive for regular drivers. I haven't had any trouble with them. For example, they have big side mirrors, so you have an excellent view of where the back corners are.
- nradov 3y ago
  I don't understand. There's nothing special or difficult about driving a regular van or moving truck. I've never had any special training and I just went and did it when necessary since I was 16. We're not talking about a commercial heavy truck here.
  - mixmastamyk 3y ago
    Yes, just make sure to take corners wider than one would in a car.
  - spidersenses 3y ago
    I assume you live in the US. In Europe, streets are usually narrower, parking spots even more so, in urban areas there will be more pedestrians crossing the road randomly, and many people don't even possess a driver's license in the first place, or don't own a car. My original comment was just to point out that getting rid of clutter isn't as easy as "just take a van and dump the clutter in a landfill."

ghaff 3y ago

A few things I've learned (mostly) as I've become less of a packrat than I once was. -- You just need to get into a mood sometimes where you go to your attic, garage, or whatever and get rid of the old computers and stuff you're never going to do anything with. Yes, there's some nerdy kid who might want that old laptop but I don't know who they are and I'm not going to waste a lot of time finding out. -- Try not to let things get to the point where even contemplating doing some sorting and winnowing is so painful that you just lie down until the feeling goes away. -- Digitize as much as you can. OK, you're still something of a digital packrat, especially without good metadata, but at least it doesn't take up space. -- I've found leaving some larger objects out by the road with a free sign can be pretty effective. At least where I live, there are junk removal services but that presupposes being organized enough to have a big pile that can be taken away some day. ADDED: It's almost certainly true that people in the US, especially outside of urban cores, do tend to live in larger homes so it can be very tempting to just hang onto stuff rather than going through the work of sorting and disposing.

spidersenses 3y ago

>In Europe, and I mean literally anywhere in it, renting a van to move, or even just throwing out big useless garbage is a normal thing. It doesn't matter how convenient it is to rent a van, when neither you, nor the people inside your social circle, know how to actually drive a van. I've had a regular car driver's license for decades. An EV van is a whole different beast, as I found out the hard way while helping a friend move between apartments.

WalterBright 3y ago
The U-Haul vans are made to be easy to drive for regular drivers. I haven't had any trouble with them. For example, they have big side mirrors, so you have an excellent view of where the back corners are.
nradov 3y ago
I don't understand. There's nothing special or difficult about driving a regular van or moving truck. I've never had any special training and I just went and did it when necessary since I was 16. We're not talking about a commercial heavy truck here.
- mixmastamyk 3y ago
  Yes, just make sure to take corners wider than one would in a car.
- spidersenses 3y ago
  I assume you live in the US. In Europe, streets are usually narrower, parking spots even more so, in urban areas there will be more pedestrians crossing the road randomly, and many people don't even possess a driver's license in the first place, or don't own a car. My original comment was just to point out that getting rid of clutter isn't as easy as "just take a van and dump the clutter in a landfill."