Long-Term Travel: Emotional Journey of Packing

“You get a strange feeling when you’re about to leave a place, I told him, like you’ll not only miss the people you love but you’ll miss the person you are now at this time and this place, because you’ll never be this way ever again.”

― Azar Nafisi

Packing Up Your Home Before Long-Term Travel – An Emotional Journey

Packing up your home felt like moving – not just from a house, but from an entire life. Especially Mia’s room was a chapter of its own. The walls were covered with posters, pictures, memories, and trinkets of all kinds. I think we ended up with nearly 20 boxes, and it felt like we would never finish packing.

Every room held memories

This process was more than just stuffing things into boxes – it was an emotional journey pulling us between excitement and nostalgia. The walls weren’t just paint and plaster; they held the imprints of a life lived, filled with stories and moments that had shaped us. Every shelf told a tale, every scratch and stain on the walls carried a memory – moments we had laughed at, cherished, or even cried over.

The drawer of forgotten treasures

In the kitchen junk drawer – the one we rarely took time to clean out – we found treasures we didn’t even remember having. An old birthday invitation from ten years ago, a stone from a trip to Tenerife, countless keys to things we no longer recognized. Small, insignificant objects, yet so packed with memories that they made us stop and reflect.

It felt like saying goodbye to a part of ourselves

We knew we would return. This wasn’t a permanent farewell. And yet, it felt like we were leaving a part of ourselves behind. It was heavier than we had imagined. Packing up your home is one thing – packing up an entire chapter of your life is something else entirely.

The kids’ reactions made it even more intense

One of the last nights in the house, our youngest sat on the floor of his almost empty room, surrounded by toy cars, stuffed animals, and his Brann football poster. His eyes were glossy, trying to act as if everything was fine. “It just feels weird. It’s like we’re saying goodbye to everything that makes me… me.” Maybe he wouldn’t like his things anymore when we got back. Maybe he’d outgrow them. Packing up for long-term travel felt like closing a chapter, and it was bittersweet.

Leaving everything behind was harder than we expected

Everything we owned had to go somewhere. And it wasn’t just the packing – the house also demanded its fair share of work. A leak from the chimney had to be fixed, and we had to rip up the entire terrace to repair another leak. Every time we thought we were done, something else popped up that needed fixing. Saying that moving out was exhausting would be an understatement.

But it wasn’t until the house was completely empty, cleaned, and ready for handover that the real panic crept in. It felt unreal to think that someone else would be living in our home for an entire year. They would sit on our couch, watch TV in our living room, cook in our kitchen, and soak in our bathtub. It suddenly felt very strange and uncomfortable – as if we were handing over a piece of ourselves to strangers.

When Luka closed his bedroom door for the last time, he turned around for one final look before we left. “It doesn’t look like my room anymore,” he said.

We stood there, in the emptiness, realizing that this was the final step before our long-term travel adventure truly began. We weren’t just packing up our home – we were packing up our entire daily life, everything we had known until now.

Read also: Bangkok with Kids – Our First Week of Travel

Have you ever packed up an entire chapter of your life?

Share your thoughts in the comments! And if you know someone considering a big life change, send them this post—it might strike a chord. 💙

We’re the Mjaatvedt family, an adventurous group of five who followed our dream, quit our jobs, packed our bags and embarked on a year of backpacking through Asia. With us on the journey are three children aged 10 to 16, home schooling and a passion for exploring new cultures, flavors and places off the beaten track.

Through Asia4five, we share our experiences, travel tips and insights to inspire others to travel more – whether it’s on shorter vacations or bigger adventures. We create personalized travel guides, practical tips and honest blog posts to make your journey easier and more memorable.

Join us on the journey! 🚀🌍

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