October 25, 2023 • 11 mins
Ready to lighten your load, both physically and mentally? In the second installment of the Nomad Newbie Series, we tackle downsizing - the first but often one of the hardest steps to transitioning to a life of freedom.
With the help of two special guests, we share tips and advice for letting go of your possessions. Chris DeCroce, a former Nashville homeowner turned sailboat resident, successfully severed his emotional attachments to material possessions. He discusses the psychological aspects of downsizing and provides a roadmap on where to start, focusing first on the items that carry no emotional weight.
But it's not just about letting go, it's also about embracing a new way of life. Kandace and Justin did just that when they downsized to live full time in their travel trailer. They share their approach which consists of starting early, starting small, and making a plan to transition to this new lifestyle.
Whether you're contemplating a life on the road or the open waves, this episode is for you. Get ready to leave the conventional behind and step towards a life filled with less stuff and more experiences.
Once you’ve downsized, you might be wondering what stuff you actually do need for your new life on the road. Check out my list of van life essentials at https://thewaywardhome.lpages.co/van-life-essentials-podcast/.
Connect with Kristin Hanes and The Wayward Home!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, the first time I moved out of my apartment to
live in a Toyota Prius was acrazy experience.
It was 2015 and I had thisgorgeous Zen-style studio in
Mill Valley, right outside SanFrancisco.
My apartment was full of stuffa bed, a couch, a closet of
clothes, of course, everything Iwould need for cooking and I
had to downsize to live in a carso I could save money on rent
(00:21):
and pay off my debt.
I got a shipping containerstorage unit in downtown
Sausalito where I could storesome of my stuff.
I couldn't let go of my bedpots, pans and a few suitcases
full of luggage.
But since then I've learned alot about downsizing and now
it's really easy for me to givestuff away.
But I know this can be a verychallenging part of Nomad life
for a lot of people.
(00:41):
In this second episode of theNomad Newbie series, we're
diving deep into downsizing forfull-time travel.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let's go.
Welcome to the Wayward Homepodcast.
All about van life, boat lifeand nomadic living.
We'll bring you tips,interviews and stories from the
road and on the water.
Now here's your host, kristenHaynes.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hey there, my name is Kristen Haynes with the
waywardhomecom, and I spend halfthe year in my Sprinter Van and
half on a sailboat in Mexico,and I hope to inspire you to
pursue your nomadic livingdreams.
It's time for the secondepisode of our Nomad Newbie
series, where we've compiledsome of the top tips from our
guests on the hottest topics foraspiring nomads, like how to
make money on the road you cancatch that one on my last
(01:21):
episode, episode 56, how todownsize and how to stay
connected from wherever you are.
If you've been wanting to ditchconventional life to hit the
road or the waves, but you'refeeling overwhelmed by all the
information out there, then theNomad Newbie series is here to
boil it all down for you.
Our topic this week is how todownsize for full-time travel.
Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You get your first job and you go by your BMW.
You know what I mean.
It's like all of a sudden youget this self-worth that's
attached to you know a Guccipurse, a really nice set of
shoes, your first apartment.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
That's Krista Croci, who downsized out of a house in
Nashville to live aboard a smallsailboat in search of a simpler
, more meaningful life.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
We attach this self-worth and maybe our success
to our stuff.
So when it comes time to getrid of that stuff, we have this
huge emotional barrier becausewe feel like, well, if I sell
that BMW, then I'm admittingthat maybe I'm getting rid of my
self-worth.
So the mindset is once you canfigure out how to break that and
(02:22):
say you know what, this BMW hasnothing to do with my
self-worth, it's just a car,then it becomes a lot easier to
make that change.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Chris might be a downsizing expert now.
He's written a book calledDownsizing for a Tiny Life and
has a course by the same name.
But it wasn't always easy forhim and his wife Melody.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It was hard at first because Mel had a bunch of
really nice.
She had a walking closet justfor her shoes and to her it was
exactly that.
She had really busted her buttto accomplish some things on her
own and her shoe collection toher was signified her success,
right, Her independence.
She had the money to buy reallynice shoes and then when it
(03:05):
came time to figure out what shewas going to do with them, she
was thinking I don't know if Ican do this because that's what
I worked for, but we kepttalking about it.
We had hard discussions,difficult discussions and a lot
of tears, and there was a ton offear.
I mean it certainly wasn't easybecause we didn't know what we
(03:26):
were going to do.
We didn't even know if we wouldlike living on a boat.
I mean, I was an avid sailor,but she hadn't sailed that much
and she certainly hadn't livedon a boat, and neither had I.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
But they decided to trust the process.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
We started donating a lot of stuff to like needy
families and stuff.
And that was really the gamechanger for us.
We were like, wow, look at whatthis little crockpot did for
this single mom down the street.
Like she was totally jacked upand so psyched for it.
So now we got like five.
Then we got fired up and wejust we set goals financially,
(03:59):
like if we sell this, we want tohave this much money.
Let's try to make this muchmoney from the stuff we can sell
and then let's try to donate toveterans group or needy
families in the area.
So we turned the whole thinginto a game, which made it a
little easier, but it's still.
It's never easy.
I don't think it's ever easy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
For a while, chris had a hard time himself with a
few particular items his belovedmusic gear.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I had attached a bunch of my memories to my
musical gear and I thought if Igot rid of the gear then the
memory would go with it too.
And that's really one of thebiggest psychological things
that I talk about when I do atalk about downsizing it's the
memory doesn't go with the item,it goes with the memories, with
you.
The item is just the item.
(04:45):
So that's the hardest part.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So you've decided to downsize.
It all sounds great to live alife without stuff, but first
you have to get there.
If you have tons of stuff, thiscan all feel really
overwhelming, If not impossible.
Where should you even start?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I always say like, start with the junk.
Like easy, low-hanging fruit.
All the stuff that doesn't haveany emotion to it shouldn't
have any emotion to it.
That's where you start yourjunk drawer.
It's like chopsticks, menus,batteries, old keys.
You have no idea what they goto Like.
That stuff is all where youstart Really low-hanging fruit
that doesn't have any emotion toit.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Chris says also it's really important to know your
why.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Because then, when you get really frustrated or
scared or panicked oroverwhelmed, you can say okay,
why are we doing this?
Well, we want to downsize thehouse, we want to get out from
this four-bedroom house the kidsare gone or I want to quit my
job and live in a van.
Like you, I want to travel andstart my own blog and I want to
be independent.
So this is why I'm doing this,and that's when it gets really
(05:46):
tough, that's what you're gonnarely on.
You're gonna be like oh crap,why am I doing this again?
Well, this is why you're goingthrough all this pain and
hardship because you want tocreate a different life and then
little, tiny bites and just bepersistent.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Starting out with downsizing is hard, but once you
start doing it, you won't beable to stop.
Trust me.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
It's like a snowball rolling downhill.
And that's why I say start withthe really easy junk stuff,
that like the burnt down candles, the broken remotes, because
there's no emotion there.
And then, once you start to getrid of that really easy stuff,
the longer you do it and themore you do it the better you'll
get at it and the less emotionthat you'll have until you get
(06:26):
to the point where the reallyheavy stuff like your
grandparents, your parents, keepsick.
When you get to that pointyou'll have developed the muscle
a little bit more and you don'twant to jump right in the first
day and start downsizing yourattic with all your parents keep
sick.
That's the worst possible thingyou could do, if you're even
thinking about it.
Start now, take an hour on aSunday and go into the garage
(06:49):
and start small, take smallbites and by the time you're
done you'll be leaving yourhouse in a van.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So today we're talking about quitting
everything and jumping into theNomad life.
I'm really excited to talkabout this because we all start
there somewhere, and today wehave Justin and Candace here on
the show and they did just thatthey left everything to go
travel in a travel trailer.
So I'm really glad to betalking to you guys today.
Thanks for joining the WaywardHome podcast.
(07:17):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, thank you for adding us, Kristen.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
A lot of my readers write me and that's one of their
biggest concerns is how do Idownsize all this stuff?
And they're so worried about it.
But you guys, how did you just,how did you tackle it?
Do you have a tip or two forpeople on tackling that much
stuff?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
It's overwhelming.
It's overwhelming.
So start at first.
So you start a little bit at atime.
I did it in phases.
So I had 75 pairs of jeans andthen I went to half, and then I
went to half again and then halfagain, so that's an easier way
to tackle it.
(07:54):
And then, looking at aroundthat, what do you really really
use daily and need?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yeah, there's stuff that sits in storage units for
years.
You're like I obviously don'tneed it if it's been there for
two or three years, right?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And also for me.
I like thinking about it thatthis could go to someone who
uses it.
I don't use it, I haven't usedit.
I would like someone to have itthat will use it.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Yeah, and one of the other things that Candace always
brings up is all right, youspend $50 on this item, but
you're also spending $50 or $100or whatever it is to store it
in a unit.
Right, If you are storing yourexcess stuff somewhere and it's
like over two or three years,how much more are you paying for
that thing that you're notusing?
(08:39):
Yeah, you could rebuy it.
So that's another way to thinkabout it.
You can just rebuy it after theyear.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
if you really want it , you can just rebuy it after
the year.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, those are all like totally amazing tips and I
think they'll definitely helppeople because that is a big
struggle, so I'm glad you sharedthat stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
We started a year in advance.
I think that's important forpeople too.
Don't leave it to the lastmonth.
Yeah, start way in advance.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
It'll be overwhelming otherwise.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And then you may never do it.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Totally yeah, that's what happens to people.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, their stuff.
Their stuff stops them fromdoing and living the life they
really want to live.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So you guys did that got rid of your stuff downsides,
got in the trailer and startedyour journey.
So what was the biggestadjustment you had to make
between the house and living inthe trailer full-time?
Speaker 4 (09:24):
So we kind of did that in stages too, which was a
nice transition.
After Candace sold her condo,we moved into a 450 square foot
like a in-law unit and we livedthere for four or five months
before we left.
So we went from 1,100 squarefeet, 1,200 square feet to 450
(09:45):
to then whatever the camper is,I don't know 100 square feet.
So that adjustment was done instages and helped us.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Anything else you guys wanted to say to people
considering this or about yourexperiences that we missed?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Just do it.
You only live once.
Do it.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So that's the winged mentality.
I'd say put some planning intoit, do the research, listen to
podcasts, but it is a freeingexperience and if you have the
savings and even if you don't,there are people like you.
We're going to make it work.
Who work?
There's the working pneumaticlifestyle.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And I think so many people say I can't do that.
I can't do that, you can.
You actually can, right, if youput your mind to it and you pay
off your debt and you put somesavings away, and then you
boondock or you stay in stateparks.
You know there are ways to doit.
You just have to drasticallychange your life and your
(10:41):
spending habits.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And you have to want it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, you have to have that desire to change your
life.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Nomad Newbie
series.
If you want to learn more aboutthe van life essentials, I
recommend I created a multi-pagechecklist for you with links to
all my favorite things.
You can download that checklistat thewaywardhomecom forward
slash checklist or click thelink in the show notes.
Thanks so much for listening tothe second episode of our Nomad
(11:08):
Newbie series on the WaywardHome Podcast.
I'll see you next time.
Well, the first time I moved out of my apartment to
live in a Toyota Prius was acrazy experience.
It was 2015 and I had thisgorgeous Zen-style studio in
Mill Valley, right outside SanFrancisco.
My apartment was full of stuffa bed, a couch, a closet of
clothes, of course, everything Iwould need for cooking and I
had to downsize to live in a carso I could save money on rent
(00:21):
and pay off my debt.
I got a shipping containerstorage unit in downtown
Sausalito where I could storesome of my stuff.
I couldn't let go of my bedpots, pans and a few suitcases
full of luggage.
But since then I've learned alot about downsizing and now
it's really easy for me to givestuff away.
But I know this can be a verychallenging part of Nomad life
for a lot of people.
(00:41):
In this second episode of theNomad Newbie series, we're
diving deep into downsizing forfull-time travel.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Let's go.
Welcome to the Wayward Homepodcast.
All about van life, boat lifeand nomadic living.
We'll bring you tips,interviews and stories from the
road and on the water.
Now here's your host, kristenHaynes.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Hey there, my name is Kristen Haynes with the
waywardhomecom, and I spend halfthe year in my Sprinter Van and
half on a sailboat in Mexico,and I hope to inspire you to
pursue your nomadic livingdreams.
It's time for the secondepisode of our Nomad Newbie
series, where we've compiledsome of the top tips from our
guests on the hottest topics foraspiring nomads, like how to
make money on the road you cancatch that one on my last
(01:21):
episode, episode 56, how todownsize and how to stay
connected from wherever you are.
If you've been wanting to ditchconventional life to hit the
road or the waves, but you'refeeling overwhelmed by all the
information out there, then theNomad Newbie series is here to
boil it all down for you.
Our topic this week is how todownsize for full-time travel.
Let's get into it.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You get your first job and you go by your BMW.
You know what I mean.
It's like all of a sudden youget this self-worth that's
attached to you know a Guccipurse, a really nice set of
shoes, your first apartment.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
That's Krista Croci, who downsized out of a house in
Nashville to live aboard a smallsailboat in search of a simpler
, more meaningful life.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
We attach this self-worth and maybe our success
to our stuff.
So when it comes time to getrid of that stuff, we have this
huge emotional barrier becausewe feel like, well, if I sell
that BMW, then I'm admittingthat maybe I'm getting rid of my
self-worth.
So the mindset is once you canfigure out how to break that and
(02:22):
say you know what, this BMW hasnothing to do with my
self-worth, it's just a car,then it becomes a lot easier to
make that change.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Chris might be a downsizing expert now.
He's written a book calledDownsizing for a Tiny Life and
has a course by the same name.
But it wasn't always easy forhim and his wife Melody.
Speaker 3 (02:43):
It was hard at first because Mel had a bunch of
really nice.
She had a walking closet justfor her shoes and to her it was
exactly that.
She had really busted her buttto accomplish some things on her
own and her shoe collection toher was signified her success,
right, Her independence.
She had the money to buy reallynice shoes and then when it
(03:05):
came time to figure out what shewas going to do with them, she
was thinking I don't know if Ican do this because that's what
I worked for, but we kepttalking about it.
We had hard discussions,difficult discussions and a lot
of tears, and there was a ton offear.
I mean it certainly wasn't easybecause we didn't know what we
(03:26):
were going to do.
We didn't even know if we wouldlike living on a boat.
I mean, I was an avid sailor,but she hadn't sailed that much
and she certainly hadn't livedon a boat, and neither had I.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
But they decided to trust the process.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
We started donating a lot of stuff to like needy
families and stuff.
And that was really the gamechanger for us.
We were like, wow, look at whatthis little crockpot did for
this single mom down the street.
Like she was totally jacked upand so psyched for it.
So now we got like five.
Then we got fired up and wejust we set goals financially,
(03:59):
like if we sell this, we want tohave this much money.
Let's try to make this muchmoney from the stuff we can sell
and then let's try to donate toveterans group or needy
families in the area.
So we turned the whole thinginto a game, which made it a
little easier, but it's still.
It's never easy.
I don't think it's ever easy.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
For a while, chris had a hard time himself with a
few particular items his belovedmusic gear.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
I had attached a bunch of my memories to my
musical gear and I thought if Igot rid of the gear then the
memory would go with it too.
And that's really one of thebiggest psychological things
that I talk about when I do atalk about downsizing it's the
memory doesn't go with the item,it goes with the memories, with
you.
The item is just the item.
(04:45):
So that's the hardest part.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
So you've decided to downsize.
It all sounds great to live alife without stuff, but first
you have to get there.
If you have tons of stuff, thiscan all feel really
overwhelming, If not impossible.
Where should you even start?
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I always say like, start with the junk.
Like easy, low-hanging fruit.
All the stuff that doesn't haveany emotion to it shouldn't
have any emotion to it.
That's where you start yourjunk drawer.
It's like chopsticks, menus,batteries, old keys.
You have no idea what they goto Like.
That stuff is all where youstart Really low-hanging fruit
that doesn't have any emotion toit.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
Chris says also it's really important to know your
why.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Because then, when you get really frustrated or
scared or panicked oroverwhelmed, you can say okay,
why are we doing this?
Well, we want to downsize thehouse, we want to get out from
this four-bedroom house the kidsare gone or I want to quit my
job and live in a van.
Like you, I want to travel andstart my own blog and I want to
be independent.
So this is why I'm doing this,and that's when it gets really
(05:46):
tough, that's what you're gonnarely on.
You're gonna be like oh crap,why am I doing this again?
Well, this is why you're goingthrough all this pain and
hardship because you want tocreate a different life and then
little, tiny bites and just bepersistent.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Starting out with downsizing is hard, but once you
start doing it, you won't beable to stop.
Trust me.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
It's like a snowball rolling downhill.
And that's why I say start withthe really easy junk stuff,
that like the burnt down candles, the broken remotes, because
there's no emotion there.
And then, once you start to getrid of that really easy stuff,
the longer you do it and themore you do it the better you'll
get at it and the less emotionthat you'll have until you get
(06:26):
to the point where the reallyheavy stuff like your
grandparents, your parents, keepsick.
When you get to that pointyou'll have developed the muscle
a little bit more and you don'twant to jump right in the first
day and start downsizing yourattic with all your parents keep
sick.
That's the worst possible thingyou could do, if you're even
thinking about it.
Start now, take an hour on aSunday and go into the garage
(06:49):
and start small, take smallbites and by the time you're
done you'll be leaving yourhouse in a van.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
So today we're talking about quitting
everything and jumping into theNomad life.
I'm really excited to talkabout this because we all start
there somewhere, and today wehave Justin and Candace here on
the show and they did just thatthey left everything to go
travel in a travel trailer.
So I'm really glad to betalking to you guys today.
Thanks for joining the WaywardHome podcast.
(07:17):
Thank you for having us.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Yeah, thank you for adding us, Kristen.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
A lot of my readers write me and that's one of their
biggest concerns is how do Idownsize all this stuff?
And they're so worried about it.
But you guys, how did you just,how did you tackle it?
Do you have a tip or two forpeople on tackling that much
stuff?
Speaker 2 (07:33):
It's overwhelming.
It's overwhelming.
So start at first.
So you start a little bit at atime.
I did it in phases.
So I had 75 pairs of jeans andthen I went to half, and then I
went to half again and then halfagain, so that's an easier way
to tackle it.
(07:54):
And then, looking at aroundthat, what do you really really
use daily and need?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Yeah, there's stuff that sits in storage units for
years.
You're like I obviously don'tneed it if it's been there for
two or three years, right?
Speaker 2 (08:09):
And also for me.
I like thinking about it thatthis could go to someone who
uses it.
I don't use it, I haven't usedit.
I would like someone to have itthat will use it.
Speaker 4 (08:18):
Yeah, and one of the other things that Candace always
brings up is all right, youspend $50 on this item, but
you're also spending $50 or $100or whatever it is to store it
in a unit.
Right, If you are storing yourexcess stuff somewhere and it's
like over two or three years,how much more are you paying for
that thing that you're notusing?
(08:39):
Yeah, you could rebuy it.
So that's another way to thinkabout it.
You can just rebuy it after theyear.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
if you really want it , you can just rebuy it after
the year.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yeah, those are all like totally amazing tips and I
think they'll definitely helppeople because that is a big
struggle, so I'm glad you sharedthat stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
We started a year in advance.
I think that's important forpeople too.
Don't leave it to the lastmonth.
Yeah, start way in advance.
Speaker 4 (09:03):
It'll be overwhelming otherwise.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
And then you may never do it.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Totally yeah, that's what happens to people.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Yeah, their stuff.
Their stuff stops them fromdoing and living the life they
really want to live.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
So you guys did that got rid of your stuff downsides,
got in the trailer and startedyour journey.
So what was the biggestadjustment you had to make
between the house and living inthe trailer full-time?
Speaker 4 (09:24):
So we kind of did that in stages too, which was a
nice transition.
After Candace sold her condo,we moved into a 450 square foot
like a in-law unit and we livedthere for four or five months
before we left.
So we went from 1,100 squarefeet, 1,200 square feet to 450
(09:45):
to then whatever the camper is,I don't know 100 square feet.
So that adjustment was done instages and helped us.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Anything else you guys wanted to say to people
considering this or about yourexperiences that we missed?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Just do it.
You only live once.
Do it.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
So that's the winged mentality.
I'd say put some planning intoit, do the research, listen to
podcasts, but it is a freeingexperience and if you have the
savings and even if you don't,there are people like you.
We're going to make it work.
Who work?
There's the working pneumaticlifestyle.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
And I think so many people say I can't do that.
I can't do that, you can.
You actually can, right, if youput your mind to it and you pay
off your debt and you put somesavings away, and then you
boondock or you stay in stateparks.
You know there are ways to doit.
You just have to drasticallychange your life and your
(10:41):
spending habits.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And you have to want it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, you have to have that desire to change your
life.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Nomad Newbie
series.
If you want to learn more aboutthe van life essentials, I
recommend I created a multi-pagechecklist for you with links to
all my favorite things.
You can download that checklistat thewaywardhomecom forward
slash checklist or click thelink in the show notes.
Thanks so much for listening tothe second episode of our Nomad
(11:08):
Newbie series on the WaywardHome Podcast.
I'll see you next time.
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