Storing Stuff and Calming Cats: Resolving the Big Issues Before Roaming

When we first began to prepare to roam, we started with the biggest potential roadblocks (after deciding where we wanted to go of course because that’s the fun part): where do we put our furniture, what do we do with our cars and how do we travel with our cats? We decided to get a storage unit near our apartment where we had friends who could go check on it or get things out of it if needed. I highly recommend putting any belongings you want to keep but are not bringing with you in a location where you have friends or family. We haven’t had to use the advantage of their proximity yet, but it’s really nice knowing they could go check on our stuff if we needed them to.

Our storage unit is indoor and temperature controlled because we didn’t know how long we would need to leave our things there. We managed to fit most of our belongings including furniture from a two bedroom apartment and the hardtop for our Jeep!

Next, we decided to put my car in storage partially because not all Airbnbs have parking for two cars. The other reason for that decision was that we didn’t know how our cats would do in the car, so I wanted to be sure I could be in the passenger seat to tend to them/clean things up if needed on long trips. We were going to store my car at a friend’s house, but just after we left town, they let us know their house construction was making it so that they no longer had room. If you choose to use the home/driveway/other space of someone you know for storage, be sure to sit down with them to discuss your plans and confirm (a few times) that the space your vehicle will be using isn’t something they will need in the near future. We learned that the hard way. We ended up using the storage service called “Neighbor” where you pay a person to “host” your car at their home or other property. This was much cheaper than traditional storage (at least in the Bay Area) and they would start the car for me and take pictures if I asked to check in on it. Overall a great experience. We have since retrieved my car partially because it has better gas mileage for weekend trips and partially because having one car wasn’t going to be as easy in the next places we were headed. We’ve since discovered that we don’t need two cars very often (if ever…) and will likely sell mine soon, but take the time to find out what works best for you.

Now, the third and final looming issue we faced about how to travel with cats will be another article (I will link it here once it’s posted) because of the detail I’d like to go into, but it involved a good bit of research and preparation on our end. All pets react differently to car

rides, but if your pet is young (especially with cats), go ahead and take them with you in the car whenever possible starting with short trips! If you can leash train your cat, absolutely do so. It would be a life saver for us now. Ultimately, your own research and consulting your vet is important, but I’ll give some tips and tricks here too (I will link the tips and tricks article shortly).

After those main questions were answered, we had to figure out what the heck to bring with us and what to leave. How can you possibly know what you might need or what Airbnbs have and don’t have? We just sort of guessed and hoped for the best. However, for anyone looking to begin their journey, we recommend renting your storage unit a month before you leave and slowly move things into it. Spend at least a full week with everything you are not bringing on your journey put away in that storage unit and sit with what you have to see if there’s anything you desperately need.

We have some things we will edit down after 6 months on the road that we thought we couldn’t live without but actually can. For example, I brought a pan (my Always pan that I adore) and cooking utensils with me so I wouldn’t have to cook with garbage equipment, but the places we have picked so far have perfectly fine kitchen equipment, so it’s not necessary. However, my garlic mincer, large cutting knife, and mini blender have been invaluable. Just be prepared to mail some things back or get rid of some things if you pack a lot. I am continuing to learn a lesson about my wardrobe and have been enjoying paring it down as that tends to be an embarrassingly large percentage of what we pack – though I really don’t wear about 60% of it most of the time.

Those are our experiences with some of the tougher challenges of starting this journey, but I’d love to hear about yours too. What have you learned so far on your journey or what questions do you have about big issues I didn’t cover here? Head over the forum to check out some of the advice there or connect with us at contact@liveworkroam.com – we’d love to chat with you!