The Ecstasy of Unpacking
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When I meet people, I live in fear of people asking me ‘the’ question; but eventually after some small talk, the question always comes.
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“Where do you live?”
It’s an innocent question, but it throws me every time. I normally look at the person and size them up before I answer. I try to determine how deep I can go with them.
- If I don’t think they would understand or be interested in my unconventional tale, I tell them that I live in New York, but travel a lot.
- If I think that they may be interested in travel or world geography, or simply know where SE Asia is, I tell them that the last place I lived was in Vietnam.
- If I think they have a passport that has taken them beyond Mexico or the Caribbean, and they have ever picked up a National Geographic magazine, then I tell them that I live out of a suitcase.
Reactions tend to vary. Some people want to know more and some just go oh, and move on; too much for their brain to comprehend. Or maybe they are just trying to figure out if my answer is the politically correct way to say “I’m a homeless person”.
I have struggled to give my ‘situation’ a name and tried out a few words such as:
Nomad
Vagabond
Hobo (my niece’s personal favorite)
Homeless
House-sitter
Nothing really feels right. However the fact is I don’t have a home. I have an address where my mail is sent, but I don’t live there.
It’s become the norm for me to live out of a few suitcases now for about 3 ½ years. Yes. While living in Vietnam I did have some homes where I actually unpacked and stayed for a few months. But they were always semi-permanent and I never seemed to stay at any apartment or room for longer than about 3 months. I’ve been back in the US for 6 months, yet I’m still moving from place to place every 2 weeks, never staying anywhere long enough to unpack.
Right now everything I’ve been living off of since December fits in 2 suitcases, a small backpack and a purse. In the new ‘green’ terms, I have a small footprint. Overall, I love having the freedom to move around, house-sit and try on different lifestyles. I love not having to shop for home stuff (it saves a bunch of time in your week…think about it). Plus, it’s a good workout lugging suitcases around! However, on the flip side, you never get the joy of hanging your clothes on a hanger…ever. Since I’m normally a guest in people’s (or my family’s) homes, I always have to be the ‘good guest’; never leave things sitting out, always clean up, always make up the bed/air mattress, and never leave your toothbrush on the sink in the bathroom.
The best thing about living out of a suitcase is…
…the complete new appreciation you develop for closets
I currently find myself in a situation that I haven’t been in since August of 2009 – I’m in one place for 6 weeks. I’m in Boston house sitting for a friend who’s in San Diego. I have her beautiful apartment to myself.
Week one in Boston and I’ve practically had orgasmic experiences simply unpacking my entire suitcase and hanging my clothes on hangers. I’ve unpacked my toiletry bag and yes, my toothbrush is sitting on the bathroom counter. My lotion is in a cabinet, my dirty clothes get thrown in a proper bin as opposed to a plastic sack, my shoes are in the closet, and once this week – I didn’t make the bed. Joy!
It’s not just about unpacking, it’s about ‘living’ in a community as opposed to visiting it. I now have a plastic card dangling from my keychain which provides me discounts at the local grocery store. I joined a gym in the neighborhood for 2 months. I have a bus pass.
I’m ‘normal’…well….at least for 6 weeks!
Let’s here from you world travelers out there – what’s the best thing about living out of a suitcase?
Sherry, I’ve been thinking about you this week in Barcelona. I think we just moved around too much (for me) this past year, because although I’ve really enjoyed this beautiful city I am ready to go HOME. I want to see what my garden is doing. I want to see my puppy. And yes, I want to hang my clothes on hangers in my closet. I DON’T want to clean the house, but I guess that’s part of it too…:)
I wouldn’t want to do what you do, but I love reading about it!
The best thing about living out of one backpack for me is that I’m completely free to take off to a new destination at any time.
A good example is my recent 8 month stay in Mexico. For the first time in 9 years I was able to unpack as I moved into my own apartment. However, when I suddenly and unexpectedly had to return to the US on a day’s notice, I only needed about 30 minutes to pack up and be ready!
Enjoy your six weeks. I know how you feel about the question of where do you live. We haven’t been on the road as long as you, but just returned home for one week until we are off again. My high school reunion fell on this week and everyone’s first question was where am I living. I had no idea how to answer it,I just said that we travel and yes, I used the phrase..”well I am basically homeless.” It is a strange and wonderful world to live in being a traveler, but it is a little confusing when trying to explain it to people.
LMAO!! I always feel the ecstasy of unpacking after a trip that lasts longer than 3 weeks. I can’t imagine what it would be like after 3 and a half YEARS. Oi.
I love to travel but I have to admit, living out of a suitcase gets tiring after a while. I promise to clear some closet space and hangers for you before your arrive! 🙂
I’m not good at living out of a suitcase, especially when I’m traveling to a different location each night or two. However, when I’m finally home, that suitcase might stay packed for a week or two. I’m a terrible procrastinator about unpacking.
I love having few physical things to worry about and enjoy the unpacking process and sprawl when I get the chance. Feeling like the backpack gets to breathe 🙂
I’m not exactly in your situation (3 mos. on the road vs. over 3 yrs.) but I find myself in the same predicament saying “Well I was last living in Columbia and I was a designer.” I sort of skirt the current situation but occasionally I face the facts and tell people I’m a bum: unemployed and homeless!
We should just start making up stuff like “I was a backup dancer for a traveling Broadway show”…yet with my body I don’t think I could pull that off!
Well, when I fill out the forms at the hotels and it asks you to list your Occupation, I put something new every time. “Acrobat” “Synchronized swimmer” “Scientist”. Writing something outlandish at least keeps things interesting 🙂
Ah, Sherry…as we both have learned…our ‘realities’ had so much in common…until i unpacked last month! Sigh.
It is bittersweet. I do love the fact that I’ve unpacked and have all these clothes hanging that i can choose from. But, at the same time, I miss the simplicity of not even worrying about what to wear…and throwing on one of only a few combinations of outfits (this tank with these shorts or this t-shirt with these jeans–they’ve been worn half a dozen times..time to wash??). 🙂 I feel we were so lucky to experience such simplicity and really ‘see’ and enjoy life for what it is…not for all the superficial materialism that clouds our vision.
Great post. See you in a few days!! Can’t wait.
LL
Yikes! Have I ever been struggling with this as I traveled arund Mexico. The question is always: “Where are you from?” I answer, “The United States.” Oh yes, they say, but where in the US. Umm, ummmm, uhhhhhhh. What to say?That I am homeless.My legal residence is still Florida, but I don’t live there any more. I just travel these days. People don’t understand it. It is beyond their ability to grasp the concept of being a perpetual traveler. I’m thinking of just saying “Chicago” since that is where I was born. I can certainly relate!
Oh, how we relate! This is our fifth year on the road, and we’re homeless too with two storage units, one in Dubai which we packed 4.5 years ago and one in Sydney which we left in 1998 when we moved to Abu Dhabi.
After 4 years of living out of suitcases and living in hotels, we’re loving setting up home every two weeks for Grantourismo! I have a ritual I go through each time we arrive – AFTER Terence takes photos of each place – which includes everything from unpacking toiletries to lighting incense, and I love it.
But I dread leaving at the end, because it’s not like moving to another hotel, but like moving home – without the storage units of course.