I sometimes think that if you work out how much a storage unit costs over the time you use it (and I have used one in the past) it might be cheaper to give away/sell your stuff and replace it all eventually. When I went back to my storage unit after a year backpacking I’d forgotten what I had…which just shows we don’t need so much ‘stuff’
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Love all of the responses and nomadic lives being lived out there!
For those based in the USA, do you file taxes in the state that your mail is being sent to? Seems like most people have a family or friend for their mail and mailing address. I know everyone’s scenario is different, but it’s a good discussion!
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I agree. We had a shipping container on the family farm for five years. Last year we cleared it out giving most of the working stuff to charity. The sentimental/ important stuff fits into a locked double wardrobe in our rented out flat. Possessions have become less important as the years roll by.
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@eandnhousesit yes, we file taxes, get our driver’s licenses, register our car and vote in the county where our mail servicer is.
We’ve also recently decided to establish relationships with doctors and a dentist there, as we found having “first time patient” appointments with doctors and dentists across the US meant a lot of unneeded lab tests, teeth x-rays and discussions when we really just need periodic blood work, scans or teeth cleaning.
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This is a great resource, thank you!! We are also full-time nomadic currently, so it’s nice to see how others operate in the nomadic community.
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I use my sisters address.
I sold everything Nov 2021 and petsit fulltime, along with my healing businesses. So much fun and freedom!
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That’s amazing and so inspiring. I’m considering taking the big leap myself and am currently donating some of my larger items of furniture so I have less stuff weighing me down. My only concern would be where to go in the interim between sits as it’s not always feasible to stay with friends and family and Airbnb prices appear to have skyrocketed of late. I’d love to hear how folks manage in between sits for their accommodation.
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I think your question has been posed before if you do a search.
I came a cropper when the pandemic hit as had sold most of my furniture (although rented my house out) and when I got back into my house I didn’t have a bed to sleep on! I bought a fabulous king size blow up bed, thinking the pandemic would only be a few months! After 3 months bought a proper bed (which my tenants are now using, having re-rented my house in January this year). I found a sofa in the street which had a sign on for the finder to take, so I did and put a throw on it!
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I house sit full time with no permanent base. I use my sister’s address if I need one. Empty days between any sits I use Air BnB.
Raye, Australia
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@Chatsetchiens - We are a couple which gives us a bit more flexibility. We sometimes overlap our sits by a day or two to avoid and keep the cost down on any gaps in between sits.
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I joined the forum last month so hadn’t realised this question had been asked before. I’ll have a search to see what other people have said.
That was unfortunate timing with the furniture but the sofa was a great find. With a lovely throw over the top, perfect! Part of me thinks I’m crazy for getting rid of so many good quality pieces of furniture but another part of me just has a desire to have far less stuff. It certainly makes a mobile lifestyle more viable I think.
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That’s a good idea if you can do that. Airbnb accommodation certainly mounts up that’s for sure.
I was in Brighton over the Summer and booked an Airbnb for one night as I was between sits. That set me back almost £100 and that was for one of the more budget options. I then went to Croatia and had a beautiful apartment with stunning sea and mountain views for £36/night. Think it actually might work out better to nip over to Croatia between sits than stay in the UK!!! 
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@Chatsetchiens - we did a string of 6 back-to-back sits in Brighton June-Oct - it’s a pity we missed you! We managed the whole time with no gaps.
We had friends come to visit us for a long weekend. They booked a hotel for 4 nights and paid £500!
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That is a shame. I’d have loved to have met up. Likely I’ll be back there again though next year as the sit I did there worked out brilliantly. I’ve definitely got a lot of love for Brighton.
I think you did extremely well over that whole time period to avoid any gaps. That’s pretty impressive!
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@auderary Hats off to you! I travel lighter than the rest of my family, but still need much more than a backpack!
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That’s pretty impressive. I get really restless if I stay in one place for too long. I have eternal wanderlust it seems. That’s why this lifestyle suits me down to the ground. Can I ask which service you use to provide yourself with an address? I had no idea you could even do that so you’ve taught me something I had literally no clue about. If I knew where to look, I may well consider doing that myself down the line!
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I use a mix of paid and this site plus friends and family. I agree Airbnb can be expensive. I have found some shared spaces and hostels that are reasonable. For me, it’s 1 to 3 day max, and I’m looking forward to hit Iceland, Ireland, Scotland and Europe Spring 2023!
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We only do mid-long terms jobs and have a change of address for each place. We also use a friend’s address for mail that is time sensitive. It has worked for 20 months now.
Following my journey as an (almost) lifelong expat I began full-time traveling in Jan 2015. Sold my 2 homes and am today technically homeless.
Before joining THS 11 months ago I had spent every single night in (predominantly) hotels, and a few Airbnb:s for the 7+ years. It was thanks to Airbnb:s that I joined THS as they helped me to warm up to the idea of staying in someone else´s home.
My smail is practically nonexistent, and the (few and far between) official correspondence (e.g. with tax authorities) is handled by the electronic mailbox.
With an exception of a few winter clothes and some personal inherited small items which are currently stored at my son´s, I completely freed myself from all the chains, headaches & fear of cluttering my kids’ life with my stuff (should anything happen), and sold/gave away all my other belongings.
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completely freed myself from all the chains, headaches & fear of cluttering my kids’ life with my stuff (should anything happen), and sold/gave away all my other belongings.
and that feeling is priceless.
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