Living Clutter Free Forever - decluttering tips,home organizing, minimalist living

What can living nomadically teach you about your belongings? Lessons from an online entrepreneur who decluttered her storage unit after 12 months on the road #155

• Caroline Thor - Professional Organizer - KonMari® Consultant

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What if letting go of clutter could give you more than just a tidy home?

Have you ever gone on holiday and thought, Why can’t my house feel this calm and clear all the time?

In this episode, I’m chatting with Melissa Pruitt—an online entrepreneur who spent a year travelling full-time, taking with her only what could fit in the car she shared with her husband and their dog (yes, really). When they finally opened their storage unit after 12 months on the road, what they found—and what they didn’t miss—sparked a massive declutter.

We’re talking about the real cost of clutter, why we hang onto stuff we don’t need, and what happens when you finally ask: Do I even want this in my life anymore?

Melissa’s journey is packed with powerful reminders—about intentional living, mindful tidying, and how the KonMari method and smart declutter strategies can completely shift how you feel in your space.

If you’re overwhelmed, constantly tidying but never feeling “done,” or just sick of staring at drawers full of stuff you never use—this one’s for you.

Let’s rethink home organization. Let’s simplify. Let’s stop waiting for the “perfect time.”

Press play now and discover how to take back control of your space—without needing to pack up your life and hit the road (unless you want to).
 Ready to feel lighter?

Find out more about Melissa and her online business HERE

I would LOVE to hear from you. Text Message me here.

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Join my online membership Clutter Free Collective
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Speaker 1:

Hi there, I'm Caroline Thor, professional organiser, konmari consultant, teacher and mum of three. I started off my life as a mum feeling overwhelmed, disorganised and desperately trying to carve out some time for me amongst the nappies, chaos and clutter. One day, one small book called the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying changed everything, and I began to learn strategies for making everyday life easier. Today, I have the systems in place that means life can throw almost anything at me, and I want to share them with you. If you're an overwhelmed mum struggling to keep it together, then this is the podcast for you. Grab a coffee and settle in for a quick chat with someone who gets your reality.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to start today's podcast a little bit differently to how I usually do those of you that listen regularly and I'm going to read you something that I saw in a Facebook post back in December of 2024. Back in December of 2024. And this person, melissa, had written. Today we visited our storage unit and got rid of more than half the items we had a hard time letting go of last year. Goodwill hit the jackpot today and we feel so much lighter, feels so freeing. You really don't need a lot of stuff to be happy, and I thought I need this person on my podcast, so welcome to Melissa Pruitt.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here and excited to talk a little bit about this fun journey.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, exactly so. Would you like to explain to everyone why on earth you had started off by needing to get rid of things anyway and why your stuff was in storage?

Speaker 2:

Yes. So my husband, paul and I, we are online business coaches and what's awesome about that is it allows us to travel. It allows us to be location independent. So we made the decision to become location independent and travel and see the United States, which meant that we didn't need to have a whole bunch of stuff anymore. We were basically our plan of action was we'd gotten, we'd gotten rid of a lot of things actually before the pandemic, and then pandemic happened and we settled back in.

Speaker 2:

We'd always wanted to travel full time. We wanted to see the world and see different things, and this was the time to do it. We made the decision that we were going to just really get rid of everything, get on the road. We like to travel, going on Airbnbs, and when we're traveling we don't do RVing, so it's the two of us in our car with our dog and whatever we could fit in that car. That is what we were going to be living with. So we had to really decide what we were taking with us and then what was really worth putting into storage to keep, and then everything else in between of getting rid of the other things.

Speaker 1:

So how did you make the decision about what to take with you? What sort of realizations did you have about your belongings when you could only take with you what you could carry for a year?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that was. It was an evolution, because we started off in spurts and we didn't really go across the country to a little bit later in our travels. So we had a little bit of a test ground for traveling a little bit more in local, regional areas and we really found that we didn't need as much things as we thought in the very beginning. I brought a lot of like extra toiletries, extra clothes, and we just found we really we don't need that and or, if we're in a new place, if we really were in dire need of something, we could buy it. We were traveling US based as well, too. Everything is very easy to access, so that was one of the things.

Speaker 2:

There were a couple of things that you know that I love that I considered non-negotiables. Like, I love a good cup of coffee, so I had my favorite, an espresso coffee maker, and that had to come with us. We travel with an air fryer as well, because that's one of just the easiest ways to cook, and some of the Airbnbs that we go to don't have those things. But we really decided because we were going into Airbnbs where most of them were furnished and had just the different utensils and things like that, that we could pretty much go from Airbnb and utilize what they had. They had furniture, they had pots and pans and things like that and it really just was the things that we felt like we absolutely couldn't live without, as well as clothing items too. And then narrowing that down to what clothing items were essential and then figuring out okay, do I really need to have 10 different dresses Like I? Here's like my, one or two that I really love, and I learned how to style it differently using the items that I had in our suitcase.

Speaker 1:

So I've had people in my membership go away on holiday and they've sent photos to the membership from their Airbnb or from their holiday home or even from their hotel room, going, oh, this is so relaxing, there's not much stuff here. Or opening the cleaning cupboard and going, look, there's only one bottle of cleaner in here. It's just like you don't need all this stuff in order to survive. So did you start to realize that about, for example, your toiletries, that you didn't need all of these products that at the start you thought you did need, that you were taking with you?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. Yeah, it was one of those things that I totally realized that along the way and along the way, because we traveled from place to place we got rid of even in during our travels, so we'd put things in storage unit, but during our travels we'd gotten rid of even more stuff. During our travels there were clothing items. It's one of those things like I think it's when, I don't know, my parents grew up where they saved everything and then that was something that in our household even though it's funny because we laugh we will have meals and there'll be like one little bit of leftover yet and left and my mom will put it like in a jar and just save every little bit. And it's one of those things like, really, if you don't need it, can you donate it, Can you throw it out? It's just extra weight and we got rid of other things along the way and it was very freeing to not carry a bunch of things with us and really just have the essentials with us and we didn't miss it.

Speaker 1:

No, and it's amazing, I think, when you do that, how much money you save. Yes, because you're buying stuff almost for the sake of buying it, like I need to have that product and I need to have that product to go with it, especially when it comes to face creams and all that sort of stuff, and you start to realize, no, I only need the one product, I don't need all this other stuff that goes with it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it changes too. When you travel A lot of times, like if you go to new places, we don't get a lot of souvenirs as well either. It Travel a lot of times like if you go to new places, we don't get a lot of souvenirs as well either. It's one of those things we love experiences, so you're not grabbing the extra trinkety things. We love to go window shopping and look at things, but we don't acquire things along the way because we know we don't have a place for it, and it's more about the experiences, enjoying the experiences too, you need to make sure, at the end of the day, you've got room for the dog in the car when you set off for the next destination.

Speaker 1:

That's quite important, that's right. That's right. And then you've got the stuff for the dog as well. It's amazing how much pets bring with them. Did did the dog downsize? Did the dog get toys and?

Speaker 2:

stuff he did. He had his essential little toys that he likes, he had the bed and he slept in. But when we even too, just packing and traveling, we got some of the travel bowls for him that collapsed down so they were easier to travel with. We learned again some things that we needed, but it's oh, can we do this in a different way? So, like, instead of getting traditional dog bowls, we got the ones that collapsed down? He took just a couple of toys and he loved the toys that he had. He didn't need tons and tons more, yeah.

Speaker 1:

One of my dogs would be the same. She has one toy and she's only interested in that one toy, so she would be easy to travel with it. It would be good. Is there anything that you found that actually you missed that I would find interesting to know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was interesting, Not a lot, but just a couple of just random things that you wouldn't even think. Like there was in the unit that we had left a sweatshirt that I really just loved and even though I had like long sleeves and whatnot, I just really missed that. I missed that sweatshirt. It was more of a sentimental way. I got it at a concert and I loved it and I loved the way it was just really comfortable. So actually, when we had circled back to visit family, at one point I did grab that out of the unit because that was one of the things I left there.

Speaker 2:

But other than that, not really there really wasn't anything because along the way, like I said, we had taken really the essentials that we wanted, we needed. I didn't really miss a lot of things and we got rid of more stuff along the way. And it was funny too, because throughout the year we would go out and we ventured from East Coast to West Coast and then when we came back to East Coast we revisited the unit and opened it up and we'd already downsized and got rid of tons and when we opened it back up again it was, oh my gosh, what's even in here that we've been holding on to. That began the process of just getting rid of. Even We've been slow, just getting rid of more, getting rid of more, getting rid of more, getting rid of more, getting rid of more, because we really just didn't miss it, we really didn't, we didn't need it.

Speaker 1:

There's what's in there now is more sentimental things like our wedding album and photos and things like that, but it's really narrowed down, and I think very often we make the mistake when we're trying to decide what to let go of, hang on to that, just in case I might need it. And then, when you have this experience of going off for the year and then coming back again and then being faced with the things in the storage unit, you're like I didn't need that. I never once thought, oh, I wish I had that spatula.

Speaker 2:

Exactly and, like I said, for us we were traveling mostly US based, so everything is pretty accessible for us. And along the way there were a couple of things we acquired, like I think I acquired another set of, but I replaced I actually didn't add on, but I replaced like a set of sheets because I wanted a nicer set of sheets to travel with. But really we're in the time and age if you really need something, you can upload it, but you can donate what you have and get something else new. You can throw it out. The throwing out sometimes the throwing out.

Speaker 2:

I know a lot of times along the way when we travel we acquire a lot of those little travel-sized toiletries and how many of those that we just have and we stick in the bag, and we stick in the bag with a good intention to use, but then we end up with this huge bag but with all these little bottles that we never use. So there was things like that that I either donated, if it made sense, or just simply threw out, which in the past I've been really hard because I would feel super, super wasteful. But again, it's things that you just don't need to carry on and hold on to that you can release you can get rid of.

Speaker 1:

I love how you explain that, because you're very right in that when we hold on to things and hold on to things and hold on to things because of the guilt, perhaps, of it's wasteful to get rid of this, or if it's an item that we spent lots of money on, actually it's just weighing us down, and when we can let it go, that freedom that you spoke about in your facebook post, this feels so freeing. I just, I just love that. That is worth more than having those items with you, this feeling of freedom.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. You just feel light, you freeze up space in your brain. And for Paul and I, like I said, we just love experiences. This is the reason why we have a business that allows us to do these things, to travel, and we love experiences. And rather than collect things, we like to, I guess you could say collect experiences, and it's those memories that we'll always have taking experiences, places we get to see, meals, we get to eat and whatnot. You can't, you don't physically have something with you, but you have those experiences that are going to stay with you for a very long time.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that and we've actually started doing that with our kids the last few years that we've gifted on Christmas and birthdays experiences, so we've bought concert tickets and we've all gone to that together and they will have that memory rather than having another thing cluttering up their bedroom which they don't actually need.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, that's so true, so true, so true.

Speaker 2:

You really we found along the way and traveling with each of the Airbnbs you would show up and it's funny because you sometimes at one point I'd think, oh, maybe I need to bring pictures from home and whatnot or any kind of decor, and I really didn't need that because each of the places they were already furnished and you just got used to the setting that you were in and really it was just the little things that you would have to make your life a little bit more comfortable, like I said, the coffee maker, the nice sheets that we liked, but then all of our clothes, setting them up in the closet, and we were good to go and we could just basically use what was around us.

Speaker 2:

We enjoyed the decor that was in the Airbnb for the time being because we would stay anywhere from six weeks to up to three months in a place. We like slow travel along the way where we really got to know an area, really dove into what's in the area and we would just get really used to the area and then, when we would leave, we would just grab our stuff out of there and move on to the next Airbnb and say, oh, here's a new type of kitchen, here's a new type of setting. That was exciting too.

Speaker 1:

And also you learn so much about how other people have set things up. I'm sure you've picked up loads of tips and ideas as you've gone along of oh, that's a really good way of doing that. I would never have thought of putting that there.

Speaker 2:

Exactly, Exactly, Exactly. It's seen some ways people decorate or and it was funny some of the things that people bought along the way. So that's interesting. I'm going to grab one of those, just a different type of hand soap. I'm going to get that next time when I'm out of hand soap.

Speaker 1:

Brilliant. And now you mentioned when I'm out of hand soap. That segues very nicely onto this thing of people feeling like they need so much backstock of everything for a I don't know what emergency they're waiting for, but anyway. So I sometimes have watched the home edit because I just think it's fascinating watching how other organizers do it. I'm using the KonMari method, which is very different, but sometimes I will look and they have just got shelves like eight, nine, 10 deep of a certain detergent or a certain cleaning product and you're thinking how long, why, why, why do you need? And I was guilty of product.

Speaker 2:

And you're thinking how long, why, why, why do you need? And I was guilty of that and that was one of the things I learned along the way, because when we first started, I had we travel using suitcases, but we also there's a large Ikea bags, which are nice because they're large, they're flexible, you can throw things. But one of those bags was completely filled with like toiletries and extras, like you said, all that back stock. And Paul was actually the one that said are you really going to need that much soap or deodorant, Like we are traveling in the US and we can grab this.

Speaker 2:

And again that mindset where it's, oh my gosh, if I get rid of it, it's wasteful, but it just being able to. I slowly, I did it slowly where I was able to either throw it out or donate it, and now when we traveled we, I narrowed it down to one small toiletry bag and any back stock that I had. If it fit in there, great, and if it didn't fit in there, it's gone. So I slowly started to do that, rather than carry bags and bags of back stock because you can get it anywhere and just carry that along with you. It's extra weight and extra stress that you don't actually need.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and if you notice your deodorant starting to run out, you put it on the shopping list for that week. Exactly, you need one or the toilet roll. If it's down to the last one, we need to go and buy some toilet roll.

Speaker 2:

Exactly.

Speaker 1:

So you guys have had quite an exciting development after your year of travel. Let everyone know where you are now and where you're living, because I think this is just so cool. Yes.

Speaker 2:

So we did our year of travel. We loved it. It was so fun. We got to see so many things and we had always found our way back down into the Florida area especially in the wintertime with snowboarding from being up north and escaping the snow, and we found ourselves in a town called Celebration Florida. So for those that don't know, celebration Florida is the town that Disney originally built. It was originally supposed to be the original Epcot and it's a beautiful town. It's just a couple minutes away from Disney World and we just fell in love with it and we actually got a place here in Celebration Florida.

Speaker 2:

We still are renting because we like the flexibility. We want to see how this is, but we did decide to take a pause on the full-time travel. We'll still do our little trips and things in between, but we really just found a nice little home base here. We love it. It allows us to go. We're about 12 minutes away that we can go into any of the parks and visit Disney, which is so fun. I love Disney, I'm a big fan and even living here more. It's really amplified my love for Disney and the parks and just experiencing everything like that and we're really loving it down here.

Speaker 1:

It's been really fun so with that move into now somewhere permanent for the foreseeable future. Have you noticed that you're being more intentional about what you buy? Or are you starting to find Ooh, I've got room for that, I could get that Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Actually, it was really interesting because when we got this place, I was actually very cautious on things because we'd gotten so used to not having tons and tons of things so I was really cautious on. Okay, if we're going to purchase something, I really want it to have meaning. And I think that's one of the nice things is, when you do this really clear sweep of getting rid of a lot of things that you really realize that you don't need, then you can be super intentional about what you bring back in. So I can truly honestly say, because we had nothing, we had no furniture like anything for the living room, no bed we'd gotten rid of all of that beforehand.

Speaker 2:

Really, what's left in the storage unit back up north is a couple of sentimentals and I don't even know what else is in there. It's probably going to get culled down and gotten rid of the more things up there we're going to go back up. So we were very super intentional with bringing things in and it's just really a cool feeling because every item I look around the room now I love every single piece here. Every single piece in this home has a purpose now. It's not just random collect, it's just every piece from the couch to the chair to the bedroom set that we have. I have a little organizer now on my counter for some of my toiletries, but it's all super intentional and very well thought out because we really just had a clean slate and we don't just have to acquire things just to acquire things.

Speaker 1:

I love that Marie Kondo would so approve. She would say everything in your environment sparks joy for you. Yes, she would be doing her little ding with her hand up with sparking joy. I think that is so amazing and so much to learn, and what I have loved following your journey is it's really also really inspiring to see how you can grow an online business while not even having a base. You and Paul seem to have just it's all taken off. Do you want to just quickly tell everyone what your business does, in case somebody listening would find it interesting?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely. So we have a coaching program that's called Adaptive Marketing Program and we really help people with marketing and selling and really building, launching and growing memberships, courses and coaching programs. So we have a team of coaches that helps us all around the world, from copywriters to people that are in the tech field, social media, ai experts and Paul and myself as well, and so we really work and our programs are designed to work. We don't work with more than a hundred people, so it's a small, tight knit group of people that we're really working with, people that really want to focus in on their next course or their membership or, if they have a coaching program and making sure it gets out to the right people, building that, growing it and also doing it in a way that is going to build a life and a business that's sustainable and allows them to do fun things like travel or enjoy time with family.

Speaker 2:

That's really important to us. So we'd love to go deeper with fear, with that, and that's the work that we do. And what's nice is because we're coaching and Paul and I have calls twice a week. It allows us to really be flexible with our time and, in between, enjoy life, do things that are important to us. We love being outside. We love walking. Of course, I love going to the parks. I want more time for going to the parks, but in between to it, it just allows us to really serve our members online, and we work with members all over the world, from the US all the way to Singapore.

Speaker 1:

Amazing, and this is how I found out about you and ended up following you on Facebook, because we've been in similar groups, because I also have my online offers as well, so it has been absolutely fascinating talking to you today. I hope everyone listening has been super inspired to know that they can let more stuff go and they won't miss it. You're gonna be okay, guys. So thank you so much for your time today, melissa thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

This was so much fun.

Speaker 1:

You're welcome. Well, I hope you really really enjoyed that conversation. I find it fascinating talking to people who have done something that I haven't done, which is to just literally get rid of everything and live out of a car for a year and only take the things with you that you can really fit in, and I think it's a real indication that we just have too much stuff and it complicates our lives. And I know that a lot of you listening will be thinking I've tried, it doesn't work for me, or I get my house tidied up and in no time at all it's back in a mess again. And you're not in the position that Melissa found herself in, where you can just say, okay, I'm going to get rid of everything and go traveling for a year and sort of impose this on myself.

Speaker 1:

And I want you to know that if it hasn't worked for you yet, you are not lazy, you are not a mess. You just haven't yet found the system that works for you and you haven't yet found a way to use the small pockets of time that you have available to you to help you get the job done. So if you think that having some coaching on mindset and habits, understanding clutter and why it builds up in your home, knowing when enough is enough. So overcoming perfectionism and starting to feel good in your space, having training on how to use 15 minutes in a video to help you understand how you can make the best use of that time to do some quick decluttering and get some quick wins. If you think all of those things would be helpful for you, until the end of today, the day this episode comes out, my amazing offer for just $12, the Clutter Breakthrough Transformation is available, and you can grab it by clicking the link in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

Lots of you have been, and I hope you're finding it super useful. Okay, until next time. If you've enjoyed this episode, please send the link to a friend you know would appreciate it, subscribe and leave a review. I look forward to bringing you more organizing tips next time, but if you can't wait until then, you can go to my website or find me on instagram, at carothor, or on facebook at carolineorganizer. Thanks for listening and I look forward to guiding you on your journey to find your clutter free ever after.