I paid for a storage unit in Oregon for two years after I moved to Mexico. But that’s only part of the mistake.

Not because I needed the stuff day to day, or because I ever wanted to go back. But because I wasn’t ready to sever that chapter completely. And because I wasn’t sure I was staying in Mexico.

And it turned out to be the most expensive mistake I made.

If you’re thinking of moving to Mexico, or anywhere else really, you may have heard lots of advice from people who’ve done it, like I heard before I left the States. And there are people on both sides: get rid of everything and just buy what you need when you get to where you’re going. And those that say they’d never leave their favorite things behind.

Well, I’ve restarted my life more than once. And every time, I’ve had to rebuild from scratch.

So when I moved to Mexico, I told myself I was being smart. I kept my favorite things in storage. If I had to go back I wouldn’t have to re-buy a bed, kitchen stuff, or my favorite furniture. Storage felt cheaper than replacing. 

And then you can think about all the things that have meant something to you in your life. Your child’s baby pictures. Family heirlooms. Gifts from loved ones. Mementos from travels and relationships. It’s not nothing.

Before I left I did a calculation: how many months of storage fees would it take before I felt like it was a waste of money, or not worth it. And at the time I figured it would be about 2.5 years of storage before I felt like it wasn’t worth it for me. 

That’s actually why, later on, I built my Relocation Clarity Framework. Because I need systems, not just emotions, and when you move countries, the obvious costs are rarely the real ones. It’s the deferred decisions that get expensive. If you’re interested in the workbook I made see the notes below this video.

So it felt like that little room in Oregon was a security blanket with a monthly fee. 

I didn’t know if Mexico would be permanent, but I never wanted to go back to Oregon. And I didn’t want to buy those things again. But keeping them felt like an unfinished departure.

I didn’t want to discard all those things that felt important to me and maybe even my family, but I couldn’t take them with me in the car.

So it was kind of hanging over me for the last two years. Always knowing in the back of my mind that I was going to have to do something about it. 

What made me know I had to make a decision and do something now was buying this house. No more procrastination, no more indecision. I had to end the storage one way or another.

What I didn’t fully consider before was the cost of moving those things to Mexico when I decided the move was permanent. I had no idea it was so expensive!

I talked to several moving companies and heard prices that took my breath away.  Should I Sell it? Meaning I’d have to fly to Oregon, stay in a hotel with a rental car, and figure all that out? Give it away? Abandon it?

Every option hurt. Eventually the bill comes due, and it’s not just financial.

There was also something else. Someone in my family had abandoned a storage unit with years of family possessions in it. And what stayed with me wasn’t the loss of the objects. It was the feeling that our history had been treated as disposable, it left an imprint. so when I faced my own storage unit it wasn’t just about stuff. I didn’t want to repeat that.

What I know now is that you can’t half-move. You can’t start a whole new life in a new country and then hedge your bets by keeping half your life in the place you left. Or you can, but it will cost you dearly. Keeping a storage unit doesn’t just store your belongings. It stores decisions. And two years later, I had to face all of them.

Everyone talks about the cost of living in Mexico. But no one talks about the cost of not fully leaving where you came from. I kept a storage unit in Oregon ‘just in case.’ It seemed practical and responsible. Safe.

The mistake wasn’t keeping it. The mistake was not thinking through the full cost and timeline of resolving it. The mistake wasn’t loving my things, it was postponing the real decision.

Not only was there the monthly fee but there would be the cost of dealing with it, no matter what I decided to do, eventually,  with the things in it.

In the end the storage unit kind of represented a version of my life I never wanted to go back to, AND the best things in my past, AND a safety net that was also a leash. 

So when I finally decided what to do with it something shifted in me: commitment and freedom at the same time. Commitment to my life here in Mexico, and freedom from the nagging bills and indecision of the storage unit.

I stopped preparing for failure and having to go back when I didn’t want to, and at the same time accepted that I was willing to do what it would take, financially, to get my things here, whether that’s objectively rational or not.

So I found a small company that would move my things from Oregon to here in Mexico, and the best thing about them was that they could do it without me even being there. In other words I didn’t have to go to Oregon to sort through all that stuff and pack it into a truck. I didn’t have to drive it down obviously, and I didn’t have to get it through customs at the border.  I decided to go for it. They cut the lock off the door without me. Just not having to go back to Oregon was huge for me emotionally, not to mention physically and financially.

The other day the truck arrived here where I live in Mexico, and after two years I got to see what had taken on ridiculous proportions in my mind. Basically the things I loved most from most of my past life. Furniture, art, old photos, you name it. It’s all here now. Not a big shipment, but a big physical part of my past life. And I’m glad to have it here. And I hope my son will appreciate it whenever I pass it off to him.

Good to have some furniture, linens and kitchen stuff for the casita!

Moving countries is expensive. But unfinished departures are more expensive.

And if you are specifically considering Mexico, there are real financial and bureaucratic realities you need to understand up front. Residency rules. Customs limits. What it actually costs to move belongings across a border.

That’s why I created my Moving to Mexico Guide. Not to sell you on Mexico. But to make sure you understand what you’re committing to before you commit.

If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t keep a storage unit, and I wouldn’t ship a half a house full of furniture. I’d choose my favorite cabinet. A contained space, and in it the pieces that truly mattered. And I’d leave it with my son, and that’s it.

Not as a hedge, just as a keepsake. I would keep one small, intentional container of what matters.  I didn’t need to preserve my entire former life, I just needed to preserve what was irreplaceable.

There was a time in my life when I believed the most evolved thing I could do was walk away from everything and prove I wasn’t attached. Prove I could start over anywhere.

And I did that, more than once.

But what I understand now is that it’s not a weakness to value the physical artifacts of your life. They don’t define you. But they tell the story of who you’ve been.

And when you’re building a new chapter, sometimes it’s grounding to have a few of those things nearby.

We are not our things. You can reinvent yourself anywhere, and I still believe that. But I also understand something now that I didn’t then. These objects aren’t identity, but they hold memory. And memory holds continuity.

I thought detachment meant discarding. Now I see it can also mean choosing deliberately.

If you’re considering keeping a storage unit when you move, don’t just calculate the monthly fee.

Calculate the cost of resolving it later. Financially, Logistically, Emotionally. It’s not the storage fees that get you. It’s the cost and pain of moving it later.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who messaged me or sent an email to check on me and the dogs after recent events in Mexico! We are fine here and truly appreciate your concern.