A weekly dose of possibility and grounded action from Michelle & Kent of the Frenchitivity Family
✨ Opening Quote
“The things we make space for become part of the life we’re creating.”
— Michelle FrenchThis Week's Direction
What Deserves the Space?
Have you ever heard the idea that we should act like we're moving at least once a year?
I suppose it's great in theory—giving ourselves an opportunity to thoughtfully go through what we own and ask:
What still belongs? What gets to take up space?
But life gets busy.
Things come into our homes without always having a clear path out. And many of those things become attached to a memory or a season of life, creating an even more difficult set of circumstances when we think about letting them go.
And so it goes, year after year.
When we decided to travel around the world for 10 months—and rent out our home while we were gone—the art and science of decluttering, storing and eventually packing became a fascination for me.
I became incredibly curious about what we had—and why we had it.
The hardest things for me to sort through were our young daughter's belongings. So many of them held a memory.
That little outfit. That piece of artwork. That toy from a particular stage.
It became a personal quest to figure out how I could preserve those sweet memories while significantly reducing the number of things we owned.
A few practices helped me along the way:
- Doing the deeper work of reminding myself that the memory lives in me, not in the item.
- Finding creative ways to preserve artwork and keepsakes through photos and digital frames.
- Recognizing when a piece of clothing represented a version or season of my life that had already passed.
- Donating things to people who could genuinely use them now.
- Selling selectively—without getting caught in the trap of trying to extract value from every single thing.
And then, after deciding what not to keep, we had an entirely different challenge:
What were we actually going to take with us for 10 months around the world?
We embraced the idea of a capsule wardrobe—fewer, versatile pieces that could be mixed and matched in different ways—along with a few creature comforts and things we thought might be difficult to find along the way.
This week's podcast dives into all of those practical packing details.
But reflecting on the experience now, I think the bigger lesson for me wasn't really about packing at all.
It was about becoming more conscious of what deserves space.
I think our environments matter. The things we choose to own ask something of us.
They need a place.
They need to be organized.
Cleaned.
Stored.
Maintained.
Sometimes worried about.
They require a little bit of our energy.
And perhaps that's another interesting way to think about what deserves to stay.
Not simply:
“Do I want this?”
But:
“Am I willing to give some of my energy to this?”
Being aware of the ways our belongings can hold memories—and sometimes hold us—can become its own process of curiosity and evaluation.
Here's to more meaningful moments, less stuff...
or, at the very least, more intentional stuff.
With Gratitude,
Michelle
Frenchitivity
🎙️In Conversation
🎧 The Frenchitivity Podcast: How we packed for 10 months around the world.
How do you pack for 10 months around the world? 🧳🌎
It’s one of the questions we’re asked most—and as we discovered, the answer starts long before the suitcases come out.
In Episode 31, Kent and Michelle share how they went from decluttering and storing the contents of their home to figuring out what their family actually needed for nearly a year on the road. They talk capsule wardrobes, different climates, overweight luggage, things they regretted bringing, things they shipped home—and, yes, the infamous “Suitcase of Doom.” 😂
Some things worked brilliantly. Others...not so much.
But after 10 months of living out of suitcases, one lesson became pretty clear:
You probably need less than you think.
👉 Listen to the episode here: Episode 31: How we packed for 10 months around the world
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🧳 Ready to Start Packing?
If you're planning extended family travel—or simply wondering how you could possibly fit your life into a few suitcases—we created a new guide to help.
How to Pack for a Year of World Travel Guide brings together what we learned from preparing for and living out of suitcases for 10 months around the world—including the strategies that worked, the things we wish we'd done differently, and what we learned we really needed along the way.
Because after all that packing, unpacking and repacking...
you probably need less than you think.
👉FREE How to Pack for a Year of World Travel Guide
🧭Compass Shift
This week's reflection:
This week, simply notice what you’re giving space to.
The things around us don’t just take up physical space. They can also ask for our attention, care and energy.
So as you move through your week, consider:
“Is this worth the energy I’m giving it?”
No need to immediately change anything.
Maybe the shift begins simply by noticing.
✨ Closing
Thank you for being here.
We're grateful to be sharing this journey with you.
Michelle & Kent
—
Be bold with your one precious life.
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