Emigrating abroad made us minimalist

There is a lot to consider when emigrating abroad. One of the biggest tasks is sorting out your entire belongings and seeing what you want to take with you and what you don't want to take with you. What has (emotional) value, what will you use in your new home and, above all, how will you take all this with you? 

My introduction to minimalism

My husband and I were lucky. We still lived with our parents before we left for America together. We may not have had large furniture, but we did have a lot of clothes, books and other things. In our early twenties we didn't have the money to rent a container, so we decided to pack our belongings into four suitcases, two carry-on suitcases and two backpacks. A job that finally succeeded after weeks of deliberation.

How I wish I had known how to tidy up my belongings at the time. I only came into contact with minimalism two years too late. A friend pointed me to the Netflix documentary Minimalism . Getting rid of stuff should clear my head and create space for new feelings and experiences. That's what I needed! I went through the house like a whirlwind. My 2.5 meter long wardrobe in particular was overflowing. I brought clothes with me under the guise of 'it will probably come in handy someday,' but deep down we all know that is not the case. Everything I hadn't worn for a year or more went straight into the trash bag. I donated bags full of clothes, shoes and belongings to a local foundation. What was left were virtually empty cupboards and indeed peace in my mind.

A new look at buying things

Minimalism is different for everyone. Some are stricter than others. We think it is especially important to think about what makes us happy. If we looked honestly, we weren't actually that happy with a lot of things, but we were happy with doing fun things together and making memories. We also enjoy our hobbies or extra elaborate cooking. We decided to stop buying new stuff haphazardly. We first thought about whether they were useful and whether they would enrich our lives in some way. If not, we kept walking. Certainly not easy if you like nice things! But it resulted in more time together and more money in the bank account.

A new look at buying things. Do you like minimalist design? Then take a look at the MOEBE collection at maison KOOS .

Emigration and minimalism go hand in hand

Four years after our move, we moved again. This time all the way to Singapore and for this the packing nightmare started again. I decided to take a different approach: A few months before departure, I started sorting out one cupboard every week. Not that we had so much stuff, but to find out what really needed to be taken with us. By taking a fresh look at your things every now and then, you will slowly find out whether it really has the value you think it has. Spoiler : a lot of stuff isn't that valuable at all.

I packed everything in two days. That gave me so much peace, especially for me as a packer. A task that initially cost me weeks and a lot of stress. The suitcases even had so much space and weight left that we could also take other things with us, such as health products and the pillows that slept so well. No, the suitcases were not full of clothes, photo albums and unnecessary frills, but rather with things that we really needed in our new place to live. 

Apply minimalism in your daily life

Of course, you don't have to emigrate to live a more minimalist lifestyle. You can also develop such a lifestyle very well at a permanent location. Find out what is important to you and think about how you can organize your life accordingly. For some, this means clearing things out of the closet for more peace of mind or perhaps working one day less so that you have more time for your family. But we can also create more peace online by removing 'friends', quitting social media or spending a day without the phone.

Author - Karin – Emigration coach Kaat Keeps Going
Karin is an emigration coach, content creator and freelance writer for her own company Kaat Keeps Going . She has lived abroad with her husband for 7 years and enjoys helping others realize their emigration dream. With the help of her latest e-book 'Is emigrating really something for me?' you will find out whether emigrating is also something for you. Also follow Karin here on Instagram and Facebook .