Selling Up?
 

Hey you lovely people. My wife and I are currently planning to ride South America in 2025. We have a couple of options regarding funding, but what I can’t find on here is what you guys did with all your possessions while you were on the road for long periods of time?

We are planning to take a full year away, so did you sell all your possessions or did you put it in storage, family and friends garages etc? We’d love to know, we have tons of stuff to sort out.

Thanks in Advance.

For my first long trip which was also for a year I sold my flat and nearly everything in it much of which including the flat itself I had no attachment to, my few remaining possessions I stored with various friends and family members, I was young enough then to start again.

For subsequent trips which have been shorter, 3-8 months I have rented out my house and stored my stuff usually somewhere in the house that is not been used by the tenants.

I think it depends partly on your age and your attachment to possessions, some could cost more to store than they are worth if you go the paid storage route so sell and bank the money.

Some of us also come to realise that after a year of on the road with minimal living that you can manage with far fewer possessions in your life and never go back to the cluttered life we had before.

I rented out my flat (and lived partially of that income) while I was travelling. Some of the furniture and some other stuff was stored at a friends house.

I guess it depends - how important are your belongings to you and how can you store them? If your belongings arent very important to you and renting a storage facility is expensive you might be better of selling them. On the other hand if you have some stuff that you would like to keep and you can store them for free or cheap then you do that. But only you know whats best and most conveniant for you…

I think the answer depends largely on "after the trip". If you're not planning on coming back sell the lot, but that's a pretty irrevocable step and you're stuffed if your plans change and you've nothing to come back to. Certainly the prospect of being homeless or forking out thousands for rent in my old age doesn't thrill me. Even furniture costs a lot to replace if you've disposed of it all.

A more flexible scheme, assuming you own your place, is to rent it out while you're away. At worst it'll cover your mortgage and at best you'll have a steady income stream to put towards your day to day travelling expenses. Valuables or heirlooms can usually be stored with a friend or relative, and houses can be rented out furnished. In theory at least, you should tell your mortgage lender, and definitely you should tell your house insurer.