One of the pains of becoming a “location independent” traveler is figuring out what to do with all your stuff. At some point you’ll have to make some sacrifices and sell off or giveaway pretty much everything you own but what do you do with those remaining things that are either too important or to practical to get rid of? Some travelers have the benefit of a friend or family members house or garage, but in our case the only choice we had was to find a long term self storage unit. We wanted to share our experience with you and share our tips for finding and packing a long term storage unit.
Step 1 Finding Self Storage Units
The first step in the process is to find self storage places in your area that are going to be cost effective for you. In my experience, living in large cities, you are typically best off finding a self storage unit that is both off a major highway (for easy access later when you need it) and as far away from the city center as possible. Being off a major highway will help you in the future when you need to return to your storage unit to either trade out clothing, access supplies, or add a few more items that you’ve collected in your travels. Going outside of the city does one key thing for you; save you money. Property is cheaper in rural areas so the rent for the storage unit will be cheaper as well.
Step 2 Getting Rid of it All
Once you’ve found the location and size of your storage unit you have to get rid of everything that won’t fit in it. For that you need a 3-pronged approach. Firstly sell all your large pieces of furniture and high value items on Craigslist. I don’t personally like Ebay very much as they charge you a lot of fees, and shipping can be difficult and cut down on your profits. Secondly, have a yard sale, a BIG one, and don’t be stingy. Your goal here is to sell everything so don’t be cheap and get what you can for your stuff. Thirdly, donate, donate, donate. Look for a Goodwill or Salvation Army in your area and donate the rest of your stuff. Don’t forget to ask for a receipt to take advantage of the tax write-off.
Step 3 Packing it all up
Once you’ve gotten rid of everything you don’t want it’s time to pack up everything that you have left. The key here is to do a really good job sorting and labeling. That way, when you have to go back into storage later you can quickly and easily find what you need. For us, we packed our clothing and supplies that we would need ( like winter and camping gear) in easy access plastic tubs or suitcases, and put everything else in boxes.
Step 4 Moving it all in
The last step is moving it all into a self storage unit and packing it properly. The key to being able to use all of the space in a unit is to pack boxes all the way to the ceiling. If you don’t, you’ll find that you won’t get the best bang for your buck. Also, make sure to pack the things you wont’t need to access in the back corners of the unit. Put the largest and heaviest boxes on the bottom to form a base, and use the small boxes for stacking. Make sure to leave the space in front for your suitcases and tubs of clothing for easy access. When you’re all done it should look like this picture!
Hopefully these tips will help you set up your self storage unit quickly and easily when you start planning for your location independent lifestyle. It’s important to try to start this process about 2 months before your leaving date to make sure you have enough time to get it all done. This was the hardest part of our big change and was also the most impactful and fulfilling. We’d love to hear from you in the comments, and until next post, happy rambling!
If these Tips for Finding and Packing a Self Storage Unit for Long Term Travel were helpful to you, you may want to check out these other long term travel tips.
Planning a Road Trip “Rambler Style”
How to Prepare Your Car for a Long Term Road Trip
When we quit our jobs to go traveling we thought that paying for a storage unit wasn’t worth the stuff we had so instead we sold what we could and gave the rest to charity. The whole process was quite stressful mainly because we left it till the very last days, such a mistake! As you suggested it’s better to start way in advance.
Franca, We sold almost everything we owned :) We kept a 5×5 storage unit for our momentos and some extra clothes. Everything else, we sold or donated as well.
Thanks for sharing this! I will probably be doing this exact thing in a few weeks. We are planning on cleaning our home, and we decided that it would be easiest if we had stuff in a storage unit while we cleaned. That way, we can have the best results with our spring cleaning.
Getting rid of things is really hard because for whatever reason I develop a connection to the smallest items. Despite this, however, I really appreciated your second step to get rid of it all. I liked the idea of selling your large items on the internet and then having a big yard sell to get rid of the rest. This idea helps you part with your things easier because you know they are going to someone who will use it, but also, you are making a bit of profit too. Thanks for your tips on packing and moving to make it a lot easier.
For me, the most daunting task is always the first: finding the right self storage place in my area. Your tip to strategically select a place located by a major highway is genius, though! It would make those inevitable trips back and forth so much less of a hassle. I am going to keep this in mind for my next move. Thanks for the insight!
These tips for packing my things away in storage will help make moving a little easier. Your tips for finding an affordable storage unit will be useful to know while I’m looking for one that I can use. I’ll be sure to rent a unit that’s located off the freeway and away from the city to find a cheaper unit. Thanks for the tips!
The hardest part of the process seems like step number two: getting rid of everything that won’t fit. I am starting to worry about the size of a self storage unit for an upcoming move. However, it is comforting to know that I can sell bulky items that are replaceable (like furniture) on Craigslist. I’m sure that will help me get everything to fit.
This is some great information, and I appreciate your suggestion to pack things you won’t need in the back. My husband and I are wanting to make some changes to the shop in our backyard, and we need to take a lot our stuff we’re storing there and move it. We’re looking into getting a storage unit for that, and we’ll be sure to put the things we don’t need access to in the back corners. Thanks for the great post!
Cool post! I learned a lot about self-storage units by reading this article! Thank you for explaining that “being off a major highway will help you in the future when you need to return to your storage unit.” I have never rented out a storage unit before so it is good to know where the best place to rent one would be.
This has some great tips for effectively using a storage unit. I think finding the right self storage unit is the hardest part, balancing size, price, and location. However, finding the right unit is definitely worth the search.
This is some really good information about storage units. I like that you talked about how it might be a good idea to look for a storage unit off of a highway. That way you can have easy access to it.
I think when moving things into storage it is a great time to find things you don’t need or want to get rid of. I like the idea of having a yard sale, and then donating what you don’t sell. My wife and I are moving this summer and are looking forward to cleaning and getting rid of junk.
I like that you mentioned trying to sell everything that you don’t need or can’t fit early. This can help cover some of the moving costs and help get a little extra cash. Once you have all that you want to store, I would be sure and label everything.