There is something very cathartic about freeing yourself of all your possessions and moving on. I’ve done it a few times in my life. I used to travel from town to town working, and lived out of a hold all bag. Then I had very insecure accommodation and had to move around a lot. Finally, I had a very fractious relationship, which resulted in me packing some basic essentials in my car and starting afresh on more than one occasion. 

To strip yourself back to only what you need to get by: clothes, toothbrush, soap bag, wallet, phone, keys, is sobering. It makes you realise how much stuff we hoard, how pointless most of what we cherish actually is. For example, I don’t have many photos from my younger self, but I do have my memories. Having keepsakes to look back on must be nice, but knowing and understanding how little of the things we want, crave and desire are actually necessary or essential, that’s priceless.