I have learned many things in the past 10 days which started with us packing up our spacious home in Lethbridge Alberta (Canada), driving from Lethbridge to Abilene Texas and unpacking a portion or our possessions into a tiny apartment and finally putting the rest of our possession into storage. The experience has made me realize that:
- We have TOO much stuff–even though we trimmed down and sold or gave away many things we still have enough stuff to fill a small 2 bedroom apartment and a 10X30 storage container. We have a hard time letting go of most things. Even though we watched the Story of Stuff, we (our family) still have a ways to go to learn how to live with less.
- Moving to the US isn’t that difficult and crossing the border was really very simple–the border guards didn’t even check our Uhaul or our van–so we didn’t have to use our highly detailed inventory.
- The challenge with moving is getting a new home, insurance, drivers license, registration, credit, electrical hookup, cable, phone and so many of the things that we use daily and take for granted–these are the big items that prevent many people from making the move from country to county.
- States like Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas are very empty. Even the northern part of Texas is sparsely populated. There were times that we drove hundreds of miles without seeing a person or much of anything else.
- The great plains are not as flat as one assumes. It wasn’t until we hit the bottom half of Kansas before the terrain flattened out enough to allow us to finally get up to highway speeds in the Uhaul.
- There are much more corn fields then there are wheat fields, so my idealistic image of Kansas was complete changed. Actually my thinking about the central states in general has changed because I have not only driven through them I have stopped at small and larger centers and have met a wide assortment of people. Knowing what is, is alway better then assuming.
- Perhaps I was fortunate, but the only bad thing that happened with the Uhaul truck that we rented was that the air conditioning quick about three hours out of Abilene. While I could easily turn this into a much bigger deal I didn’t experience anything like many of the ” Uhaul horror stories” I had heard about prior to leaving. What I did learn from this was that my heightened state of awareness (as result of the horror stories) was that I checked the oil more often, did a full walk around and paid attention to all the warning lights that blinked.
Biggest lesson was that the move from one country to the next is really not that difficult and I would definitely do it again (not that I am planning to anytime soon)–the difference is the preparation and one’s attitude.
