There are steps we have to take to make this expedition possible. Freeing ourselves from the remaining burden of stuff. While packing up and selling the apartment and all the belongings in it, sounds simple, it is not. It is a huge undertaking. Even with a fairly minimalistic lifestyle, it is not until you want ALL of it gone that you realize how much stuff you actually have accumulated!

Our main resource of funding comes from savings and selling off the last few things we own. Big ticket items such as a car and an apartment are of course helpful to make a debt-free fresh start. This gives us a very limited budget for food and gear, a budget that has little room for deviation when you want it to last for years. We are budgeting about 600sek/95nzd on food per week and 20,000sek/3200nzd a year on shoes and gear plus other unforeseen expenses, such as laundry, eating out while in a town, paid accommodation (when needed) and any health or injury expenses.

One thing we are learning is that selling up and getting rid of EVERYTHING, all the way down to a backpack can feel quite overwhelming. The thing is… we actually committed to this expedition giving ourselves no more than a six-week window from when we arrived back in Sweden to boots on the ground on trail! An enormous task! However, it feels amazing! This is what we love to do and we are going to do it damn it!!

The cleansing consists of 3 groups: sell, donate, and dump/recycle.

Stuff is what grounds you, holds you down somewhere and shows that you belong or have your claim. Getting rid of everything is like cutting the cord that’s holding you in place and it can feel a bit like floating off into space. A little scary, maybe a tad risky, and perhaps perceived as being a bit reckless. But for us cutting the cord means freedom!

We don’t want to be trapped and held down by stuff. We don’t thrive in “the safe zone”. We want adventure. The unknown. Challenges! We yearn to experience true emotions and feelings in our lives where our inner selves are congruent with the outer. A life where the rat race no longer exists.

So the choice is easy – everything must go!!!