Letting Go: The Quiet Work of Leaving

Letting Go: The Quiet Work of Leaving

The work of leaving begins long before the wheels lift off the tarmac. For me, it started with three simple categories: Keep, Store, and Discard.

Keep what I’ll carry into the next chapter. Store what I may want later if I choose to settle. Discard — donate or trash — what no longer serves the life I’m building.

Coffee table made from a recycled shipping box from the Boeing scrap yard

For me, letting go isn’t about rushing away. It’s all about taking time to sort through my things, make decisions, and pause to reflect on items I thought I could never part with. Each piece — photography gear, books, jackets, or framed prints — holds a special memory, a moment, or a version of myself. But as I look ahead, I realize I want to keep things light and not carry the whole museum of my past.

What I’m doing now is both practical and heartfelt. I’m going through my belongings with the carefulness of a traveler and the nostalgia of someone who’s spent 75 years creating a life full of experiences. I’ve made some hard decisions about what I’ve sold off so far — a beautiful framed Isfahan rug, my coffee table made from a recycled shipping box from the Boeing scrap yard, and many others.

But not everything I’m letting go of can be boxed.

This past month, I’ve started saying goodbye—not just to things but to people. Some goodbyes are clear and spoken with a handshake or a hug. Others are quiet, like a last wave to a neighbor or a final lunch with a friend who doesn’t know when we will see each other again. What’s strange is how normal these moments feel. There’s no big music playing in the background—just life is going on, even as mine prepares to change.

I’m not disappearing. In this era of texts, video calls, and countless digital connections, we don’t lose touch like we used to. However, I realize that some relationships may fade—not due to neglect but simply because of the realities of time zones, distance, and different life paths. This is also part of the process of letting go; it’s not a loss but rather a gentle release.

I’m not retreating or running away. Instead, I’m stepping into something new — something I can’t quite name yet. There isn’t a fixed destination or a retirement village waiting for me. There’s only the next place and the one after that. I’ve traded stability for potential.

Letting go isn’t a dramatic act. It doesn’t involve grand gestures. It’s a quiet process in the spaces between cardboard boxes, during long pauses, and when someone says, “I hope you come back.”

I might return. But not anytime soon.

I still have things to figure out how to handle.

I have some proof prints of Harper’s Bizarre magazine covers from 1903 to 1906,

Harper’s Bazar, January 1906

my DC-3 propeller blade sculpture,

DC-3 propeller blade sculpture

my Criterion Collection boxed set of AK 100: 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa 25 DVD Set

AK 100 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa

These are the last of the big things I need to find a new home for.

Tools I’ve Built to Help Others

I’m not just doing this for myself — I’ve created two AI tools to help others who are thinking about retiring abroad or exploring international travel:

1. **Public Retire Overseas GPT — Evaluates any destination on 12 key criteria**, from healthcare and safety to expat life and visa requirements. Just put in a specific destination, and it will evaluate it based on 12 key criteria. All you need to do is enter a destination you would like to evaluate, be it a country, a region, or a city, and it will publish an evaluation using 12 criteria.
2. **Vacation Planner AI** — A personalized and conversational intelligent assistant to help plan your next trip or long-term stay.

These tools are free, easy to use, and built for real-life needs. However, they do require a paid subscription to ChatGPT.

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