The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2015

66 JULY-AUGUST 2015 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL It was an arduous process and a serious learning experience for me. Here are some of the insights I gained and a list of point- ers that may be helpful to others undertaking this transition. So Much Stuff Why do Foreign Service members accumulate so much paper? Why do we have such an accretion of unusual artifacts? When did we buy so many duplicates of the same household items? These are the questions I grappled with as I sorted through my things. Paper. When you work for the State Department you attract paper files like lint in a multiple-pet household. Travel vouchers, decades of personnel actions, annual evaluations lauding your superior abilities, letters of appreciation, newspaper articles and references you swore you needed to consult but never did— they’re all accumulating down in those file boxes stashed in the attic or basement or self-storage locker. Souvenirs, artifacts, treasures. You can tell an FSO’s first post of assignment by looking around his or her home. The majority of decorative items tend to be accumulated during one’s first overseas tour. After that there is a geometric decline in acqui- sition. As one progresses in one’s career, the “gifts” begin to accumulate. U.S. government ethics rules preclude acceptance of gifts from foreign governments unless they are under a certain dollar value, so we are not talking about pricey items here. For those of us who have served in less wealthy countries, such gifts are usually handmade items reflecting local culture, often inscribed by the giver with the recipient’s name, which makes them hard to re-gift. Survival equipment for overseas duty in countries lacking a Wal-Mart. I held on to all the items I normally shipped in our air freight to use during that indeterminate period of time spent waiting for our household effects shipment to arrive. My logic was that these would be ideal for starter kitchens when the kids set out on their own, but it turns out that kids heading off to college prefer IKEA to Mom’s basement trove of vintage utensils and appliances. As a result, my aging 220-volt appliances were collecting dust in the basement, right next to the home-canning jars and boiling pots we had needed in Central Asia. Then there were the four pairs of felt-lined boots, dozens of parkas and wool coats, and fur hats and coats I had acquired during multiple tours in Moscow. Start Downsizing Now! If you neglected to take advantage within the stipulated timeframe of the State Department relocation funding to move your household effects to your retirement home (see 14 FAM 584.2-2 for more info on this benefit) like I did, you need to st art downsizing now. I gave myself a full year to accomplish this pro- cess and still ended up moving things to Washington state that I should have jettisoned back in Virginia. Why does it take this long? You could just lock the door, walk away with a suitcase and have the junk man haul it all away. But you would run the risk of identity fraud from all those old docu- ments with your Social Security number blowing around the landfill, or have trouble claiming capital improvements on your personal residence because you no longer have the receipts to prove you made those investments. Or you may need to pro- duce receipts for official travel when audited by the bureau that funded the trip or by the Office of the Inspector General. Have the Right Tools To downsize in a thoughtful manner, you will need the right tools. Here is what I recommend: • A computer with sufficient storage space to hold scanned copies of those documents you need to retain • A back-up electronic storage system to protect your e-files should your computer crash or be stolen • A scanner connected to your computer • A cross-cut shredder to deal with paper with sensitive per- sonal information • A magnifying glass for reading those old documents One wall of reference books and mementos made the cut and are in their place in our new home. COURTESYOFEILEENMALLOY