What did you leave behind, that you regret?

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

Goddammit!!!! I've got some days off, so I'm busy dusting everything off to be ebayed and my camera broke

####### ####### #######.

(I suppose I'll have to keep it all instead )

[Ovaltine Jenkins 5]

If you love something and use it for making stuff it´s better that you take it with you If you can´t pack it all try to mail it or store it somewhere and pick it up later if you can. It´s always worth it Sometimes I wanna do something and if I still don´t have that specific gadget here or I never owned it (but if I was in Czech I would know exactly what to buy) I try to find a substitute here but a lot of times a substitute is just a substitute...sometimes way too far from what I actually need.

There are lotsa cool things here too, that you won´t find in your home country and you will love using them too, but if you love something from your home country, better take it with you

Sorry to hear about your camera! It´s like when my printer breaks 3 days before the interview. Not very funny.

[rebeccajo 14]

When Wes came over, we brought irreplacables like family photos and the like. His mother's old cookbook and some irish knitting patterns - things he won't use but wanted to keep 'in the family'. He brought CD's and his PC. He brought favorite books too. I carried some of his mothers china on the plane. We brought over two framed embroidered samplers his mother had done; his father's nursing certificate; several bibles; his christening gown; a boy-size sweater his mother had made him - things like that. )Oh - his two favorite old teddy bears.

There are two huge crates of comic books in his brothers attic yet.

It's funny, I'm not going to get rid of most of my books or DVDs but I have no place in the home for sentimental items. Old teddy bear? Ew! Throw it out! I once dumped every soft toy I'd had since I was born and it felt so good. Unless it has some sort of functional purpose, I don't like to keep it. I think the only exceptions are pieces of framed artwork.

My husband lost his parents nearly twenty-five years ago. They never owned property nor left any inheritence behind - these items are all he has left of his family. He has only one surviving brother and two nieces and one nephew. His aunts and uncles have mostly passed away. What was once a large Irish family is now dwindling.

We felt it was important to preserve as much of the family heritage as possible, even if it was just by bringing over an extra suitcase of sentimental items that track the family lineage.

Maybe it's just my mood this morning, but I actually find your post rather rude.

Ack, sorry, it really wasn't meant to be rude. I didn't mean it to be a reflection on what other people like to keep, it was more of a 'it's interesting how people's tastes differ' kind of thing.

Alex actually has an old bear that he loves and I wouldn't dare make him throw away...I was only commenting on my personal items.

I've always been sentimental but I'm also hugely practical. I am the biggest 'thrower outer' you could ever hope to meet and I can be cold and heartless in my disposal of 'things'. We moved last fall from a large house I had lived in for 28 years to our new much smaller house. I had no trouble discerning what was worth keeping and what wasn't.

But as I've gotten older, I find some of the oddest things to be my most cherished possessions. Recently my grandmother passed away. We did the mandatory sorting of household goods before the bulk of the estate was sold. I found myself drawn to the oddest things - in particular a set of small white coffee mugs that had brightly colored farm animals and an alphabet letter on them. "D is for Donkey" - the white mug with the blue donkey and birdie imprinted on it - was the one I used to drink from as a child. And an old table (not a fine antique mind you) with dropleafs and little drawers on each end with wee glass knobs on them.

My husband left everything he knew to come to America. He'll tell you he also left behind some memories best forgotten, and his occasional 'bad dream' of hooded rifle-toting men tells me what those memories are. The good memories he has - those of summers at the shore with family and weekly trips with his parents to the country - are preserved in a few photos, a couple of tapestries, and an old aran sweater. And oh yes - two teddies - now in a basket in America with two teddies that belonged to me.

A new family and a new life.

Edited May 16, 2008 by rebeccajo

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

RJ -- what a lovely post. You made smile deep in my heart.

Now someone make me laugh before my sentimental soul makes me cry.

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Sometimes I wanna do something and if I still don´t have that specific gadget here or I never owned it (but if I was in Czech I would know exactly what to buy)

I know that problem very well.

Sorry to hear about your camera, Poiteen. I hope it can be repaired quickly.

[Marilyn. 340]

the one thing I wish I could have packed with me is my family

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Maybe it's just my mood this morning, but I actually find your post rather rude.

I take it that it must be your mood indeed because I cannot find anothing rude in Rachel's reply on your post. In my personal views it was a rather funny post, and most likely least meant to be funny as well.

You cannot expect her, or anyone else for that matter, to know all the backgrounds of your life or of that of your SO. Remember that, besides of not knowing other people's backgrounds, that replies here are just textual based and there's no form of body language possible.

I know Rachel appologized to you because she feels bad about it but, to be honest, I don't think she should have done that because the above mentioned reasons.

[rebeccajo 14]

Maybe it's just my mood this morning, but I actually find your post rather rude.

I take it that it must be your mood indeed because I cannot find anothing rude in Rachel's reply on your post. In my personal views it was a rather funny post, and most likely least meant to be funny as well.

You cannot expect her, or anyone else for that matter, to know all the backgrounds of your life or of that of your SO. Remember that, besides of not knowing other people's backgrounds, that replies here are just textual based and there's no form of body language possible.

I know Rachel appologized to you because she feels bad about it but, to be honest, I don't think she should have done that because the above mentioned reasons.

As you say, you read it one way and I read it another.

I wasn't sure how Rachel's post was meant. You mentioned we don't get body language - without it sometimes clarification is neccessary. I'm glad she explained it and that's all ok with me - I'm good with it now.

The writer as well as the reader is well reminded that we are all more than 'words on a screen'.

Edited May 16, 2008 by rebeccajo

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

I think people should try and take anything with them they can that they like and has meaning to them, whether it's a potato peeler or a teddy bear or whatever, space and money permitting. With all the upheaval and change it's nice to have familiar things, I've found. I made my husband (who is not particularly sentimental) take things like photos of childhood pets, old postcards and some small toys and I think he appreciated having them around when he got here and was feeling homesick.

I've moved over there and back again and the thing I regret taking with me was books and records - I loaded up on them for one of my trips home when I lived in the UK because I thought I wanted to have them around but wound up selling them/donating to charity when we moved back. I never read them, and if I had wanted to I could have bought new or gone to the library. Although I like owning my books and having them in shelves they are a pain to move around.

[Jeraly 4]

I think for me, while I don't like to think of myself as materialistic, I am - I don't deal with change too well at the best of times (so why am I moving again!?) and I take comfort in knowing I am going to have lots of things that are "me".

The one thing I can't take that I really wish I could is my spider plant I have had for almost 20 years

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Oh, I definitely agree that people should take things that have meaning to them. Anything that helps someone to settle in is good. It's not that I don't attach meanings to things, it's simply that I attach meanings to different types of things. For me there are quite a few books I own that are rare and that I scoured many a second-hand bookshop for, and those will definitely be shipped.

[Krikit 1,164]

I confess.... I have already started filling carboard boxes with Maldon Salt and Coleman's English Mustard...but I have to add these are my USC hubby demands He is worried to death that we won't be able to find any in the US

I've seen Coleman's mustard pretty much everywhere, so you're alright in that department.

[VisaJourneyLady 33]

I've moved over there and back again and the thing I regret taking with me was books and records - I loaded up on them for one of my trips home when I lived in the UK because I thought I wanted to have them around but wound up selling them/donating to charity when we moved back. I never read them, and if I had wanted to I could have bought new or gone to the library. Although I like owning my books and having them in shelves they are a pain to move around.

Actually I'm beginning to feel the same. I've been ebaying stuff, but since my camera broke I decided to do the opposite. Only take off my shelves the stuff that I really want. I was pretty surprised at how little it was. I took my photos out of the albums (that I don't like anyway) just took some CD's that held sentimental value, some books and a few DVD's. That's it. I put a bunch of the left overs on Amazon, and it actually feels great.

I think I'd prefer to keep with me more stuff that I use everyday like mugs and stuff than books that I leave on a shelf and forget about!

[StillThePrettiest 3]

when the removalists came to pack up my stuff in the UK, on April 28, I was quoted 9 to 13 weeks before it reached the States... I've just received an email telling me it will reach Houston on May 27, two scant days after we do

I'm rather excited that I will be able to at least partially furnish the house so quickly :)

[Jeraly 4]

Oh StP - that is awesome!! It will help you settle a bit as well and it will be nice to have your things there so soon I hope mine turns up that quickly!! w00t!!

As for books - I can understand that they are a bit of a pain to move around... but I just can't part with a lot of my fantasy novels... thing is I *do* read them over and again (that is before I bought a ton more that I haven't read yet ) and as I want to have my own library eventually (in the house, not like a public one ) I need some books to start it up - besides, Jeremy wants to write and I am trying to convince him that to write, it helps to read as well - he never used to read and now he borrows all my books So yeah - I don't think I could part with them.

CDs and DVDs on the other hand I am not so bothered about... defo keeping my Iron Maiden limited edition picture disc + bonus cd though