familiesontheroad.com - that isn't a very active forum, but there is a group with the same name on Facebook that is. Road Rebelles, Fulltime families and Nomadic Mama are also on Facebook. There are lots of others, too, more than I can actually keep up with!
We planned our move to OTR over 3 years, during which we systematically got rid of as much stuff as humanly possible. We sold big things, but gave away TONS of other things. I lost count of how many books we donated to the library. We moved from a 2400 sf house to our 350 sf RV. Big change.
And yet, we STILL KEPT more than I wish we had. My kids watched ME give away MY stuff, including most of my clothes, books, knick knacks, craft supplies, fabric, etc. I gave antiques to other family members and I recycled so much paper-memorabilia. In the end, they gave away a lot of their own things without too much struggle. Each child brought a handful of stuffed animals, and we didn't even try to downsize the rest. I simply put them all in storage. I decided it was not worth the trauma. Of course, each year, we routinely downsize their stuffed animal collection, so it is not too far out of hand.
One thing that we said routinely over the past 6 months is that we were only keeping things that make us happy or were really "needed", and it is ok to want to keep something for that reason. Even though I may never want to live in a house again, I can not make that choice for my children, and to be honest, they aren't very happy with our choice right now! It isn't fair to deny them the right to keep "stuff" just because MY dream is different than theirs. last summer, I opened several boxes that I had packed up 20 years ago, during college when my parents moved. I really, really enjoyed going through those memories. I repacked about half the stuff, and I fully expect to have as much fun looking at them again in another 10 years. I think my kids deserve that opportunity, too.
They heard us, and when the time came to pack up their rooms, I was very impressed with the things they decided not to keep. I think that we will. continue to downsize the amount of stuff we stored, but we just needed to give ourselves permission to keep the "stuff" until we are ready to part with them. If we didn't have our own storage needs, I would have had no qualms asking a friend or relative to keep a box or two for each child.
It will work out, but my best most heartfelt recommendation is to not push the child to get rid of "everything" and not to wait til the last minute.
--janis