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A hoarder of small insignificant objects that with time, became important to my well-being. How did that happen? I was a simple guy with no attachments, travelling most of the time, working, eating, sleeping, travelling. I had no chains to anything, until I suddenly did.

A hoarder’s life is difficult. Don’t underestimate the power of habit. Specially if you’re edging on OCD. It can get out of control in no time. And it did. My friends started realizing that I was collecting certain objects, specially Jukeboxes and Vinyls. I just couldn’t help it, I couldn’t stop myself, and instead of making me realize the excess I had become a victim to, they were offering me more vinyls, and more parts for my jukeboxes. Easy gifts. Friends are lazy.

I lived in a good-size house, where 4 jukeboxes fit nicely, but I was going on my 20th jukebox and I obviously was running out of space.

So here we are, the little ad for Kuboo coming out of this simple story, this is where I went, to Kuboo, this is the only place in town where I felt I was treated like the sensitive person that I am, and the sole place in town where I didn’t worry about my jukeboxes.

So here you go, you make your call when you need self-storage. Make sure you compare in depth all the components of the services you are being offered. Make no mistake, don’t believe self-advertising, don’t fall in the easy trap of companies who claim they’re the best, the most modern, the biggest, the supermen of storage. They’re mostly dishonest in claiming those championship titles without the slightest hint of a proof. Like Dr. House says: Everybody lies.

Don’t rent a warehouse, rent a Kuboo. It’s cleaner, safer, more secure and better conceived. Don’t rent a box, you’ll get stuck inside. Rent a Kuboo. Don’t rent a garage, it’s dirty and humid. Don’t rent a space! Who rents spaces? What’s a space anyways? And certainly don’t rent a basement! How horrible! Be it in Lisbon, or around, it’s a Kuboo you need. I promise you.

Until the next story.

Vasco (35 years old), Lisbon

Just thinking about it makes me tired. Every time I open my closet and see all the clothes I have…

I don’t even know where to start! But let’s go back 21 months. Vânia and I always dreamed of living in a house in the country, making our tailor-made renovations, having our own garden, our little vegetable garden, no neighbors above or below, our own parking space! A sense of simple freedom.

The houses on the market were very expensive, but we went looking, without any hurry. We contacted some Real-estate agencies, we received several offers of houses for sale every day, the agents wouldn’t let us go, but nothing interesting came.

We made so many visits, so many disappointments and desillusions, but no house. And then the meetings with the bank, literally doing the math over and over again. We gathered our money, made credit approvals, simulations, guarantees… see how far we could stretch the rope. And one day, we found the one that was to be our little corner! The location was good, the spaces were well organized, the volumes wide with lots of natural light.

Paperwork done, key in hand, House bought!

But now we had another mission ahead of us: deal with the moving. When do we do it? Should we hire a moving company? We had to do some work in the new house, but the old one was already sold and we had to move out. So what now? We rented a house as we waited, but what about our things?

The solution was simple: KUBOO. We called and they recommended a moving company and took care of everything for us with them. We came to an agreement that they would take all our stuff to the warehouse. And here we are today. Filling the boxes we bought at KUBOO. Some are bigger than others. In my case, and with so many clothes I have, I’d better start with the big boxes. Vânia is more practical and the medium boxes fit her perfectly. It has been 21 months non-stop, our bank account is unrecognizable, but soon better days will come.

New beginnings take time.

Patricia (29 years old), Carnaxide

I’m daddy’s little girl. It’s not something I aspired to be, but I’m an only child and my father always treated me like a princess. He owned a small restaurant in Lisbon. Simple place, traditional food, Fado on weekends, and the best duck rice in the world! My father’s dream was for me to take over his restaurant. When he retired, and to please him, I ended up taking over the place.

The duck rice continued to be among the best in the world. I had everything pretty organized and working, the employees were happy with my management, and that was reflected in the friendliness towards the customers. We were open 7 days a week, and even started taking dinner reservations.

But then the damn Covid arrived. I was prepared for everything except to see the restaurant closed, the clients not leaving their homes, my employees with families to feed, the Fado singers in silence… At first we lived in fear of catching the virus. But the money started running out and my main fear became having to close the restaurant. Desperate months followed, I couldn’t even sleep! I had a team of employees to take care of and the responsibility to save the restaurant that once belonged to my father.

Later, the restaurants reopened, but with limited access. That’s when I made the best decision. The dining space was small and to make it more profitable, I converted one of the storage rooms into a restaurant area. We gained more space, and therefore more diners. And where did the storage things end up? Simple: I took everything to KUBOO Self-Storage in Carnaxide, a big and modern facility with mini-warehouses for everyone and every circumstance. I rented a Unit (or Kuboo as they call it) and stored everything on shelves that went from wall to wall.

It was only a 15 minute drive from the restaurant!

Even during the pandemic, the rental process was easy, simple and fast. In less than 10 minutes, I had my Kuboo and paperwork ready. KUBOO also provides an app that allows me to open all access gates from my mobile phone without touching any of the keypads, to help ensure total safety.

Fortunately my decision on renting a storage box at KUBOO was well worth it: the once small restaurant was now able to accommodate more customers, even with the restrictions imposed. The restaurant was saved, as well as all the people who lived off the restaurant. And I kept my father’s dream alive. KUBOO says they have the best coffee in the world, I have the best duck rice in the world. But we both value the happiness of our employees.

It took some time. But new beginnings do take time.

THE TOTAL END

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, stress is a “pressure or worry caused by the problems in someone’s life.” But what is a problem for me may not be for others. However, some events in our lives affect and impact us more than others.

4 of the events that can cause the most stressful situations in a person’s life are:
– The loss of a loved one;
– Divorce;
– Moving (or radical change in general);
– Work situation.

These are situations that cause a rupture in our routine, our life takes a different direction. There is no way to erase these events from our memory, but there are solutions that help us move forward with our lives. We bring you 4 cases that reflect some stressful situations, and how KUBOO helped to soothe those moments.

Lídia (43 years old), Lisbon

Today is Sunday, meaning family lunch day at our parents’ house. A tradition since we the children left home. We’re all at the table, mum, dad and siblings, reliving old stories in that house that brings back memories of our childhood and youth, the smell of old wood, the ticking of the wall clock, the vintage tableware, the family photos on the wall… how time has passed!

And then comes the day that you never wanted to come, the day when it’s all over, when our parents are not there anymore. It hurts, it really does! There’s not a day in our lives we don’t think about them. But life has to go on. And what do we do about the things in the house, our inheritance? Our parents worked their whole lives, they took care of that house like a child, the antique furniture, the porcelain, the turntable and radio cabinet, the coins and stamps collections, etc. Some things deserve a second chance.

But now, we’re 3 heirs of the family, how do we divide things up? Fortunately, nobody wants any hassle. But if we sell or throw them away, then there is no going back. Then why not keep it at KUBOO? We take things out of the house, put them in a secure place, in our new kuboo, exemplarily clean just like our parents’ house always was, and over time we will decide what to do with all those items.

New beginnings take time.

Bruno (31 years old), Cascais

I always thought marriage was for life. We celebrate our relationship with all our friends and family and swear oaths of love. “I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. I will love you and honor you all the days of my life”. This vow is universal. But let’s be realistic: in Portugal, in 2018 alone there were 58.7 divorces per 100 marriages!

And if a marriage takes months to organize, a divorce can drag on for years! And if there are children involved, the separation becomes even more complicated. The (still) spouses must decide whether to divorce by mutual consent or contested divorce. Lawyers come in, family mediation is requested, you think about your future. In my case, we had no children. But we had a house. And furniture I brought in from my old apartment, appliances she brought in from hers, and all the things we bought when we were already married.

She kept the house, I didn’t care. But we had to come to a property settlement agreement. We made a list of owned property and joint property and came to an agreement. It was over. Months of no sleep, antidepressants, therapies… I wanted to move on with my life! I put all my stuff at KUBOO while I looked for a place to live. And when I found that place, I continued to leave my stuff in KUBOO. The only place right now where I feel my belongings are safe. And everytime I go there, I bring back a box with me, and little by little I reintroduce those items into my life.

New beginnings take time.

END OF PART I

With my retirement approaching, I can say that this sentence has defined my path from the moment I decided to be a teacher. During the years I taught, in addition to memories, I also kept all the teaching books, gifts, drawings or even small messages written on paper that my students would give me.

With a career of almost 45 years as an elementary school teacher in Portugal, there were many memories that accumulated in the rooms that my daughters left when they became independent.

Without school, without my students, and with my daughters and grandchildren living in Lisbon, I decided to move closer to them, leaving behind the land where I grew up and lived and taking those memories with me. Looking for a house became more complicated than I expected because a house with a garage or a storage room, in Lisbon, Cascais or Oeiras is too expensive for the pockets of a retiring elementary school teacher.

When I shared the issue with friends and family, most of them advised me to rent a mini-warehouse or a self-storage where I could store all the memories of a lifetime. During my search for mini-warehouses in Lisbon several options came up, but since I don’t know anything about the concept of self-storage I asked my daughter if she knew of a safe, quality and hygienic space where I could store my belongings.

My daughter told me about a self-storage called KUBOO where a friend of hers had been renting a locker for over a year and that the friendliness of the staff, the accessibility and most importantly the safety made KUBOO a kind of a complement for her home. I decided to visit the space on the same weekend that I was visiting houses in Lisbon and in the Cascais area. It could be that the choice of the ideal house would become easier knowing that I had a space available that would offer me the feeling of enough trus to keep the memories of a lifetime.

I decided to visit the space on Saturday morning and then I would see some houses in the afternoon. I was amazed at how easy it was to get to KUBOO. Both Aboboda and Carnaxide.

Of course I was very well received with a coffee and a guided tour where I was amazed at the hygiene and safety of the place. From there we went to the facilities in Abóboda where once again it was very easy to get to. This one was closer to Cascais and suited me more.

Thanks to KUBOO, choosing a better house was much easier. I chose to live in Cascais and rent a space at KUBOO Abóboda. I went back to the facilities to make a reservation and to ask some questions about the best way to store my books, papers, gifts and photographs that I have kept over the years.

Since the hygiene of the facilities was something I could easily see, I did not worry about the possible entry of any kind of pests into the cardboard boxes that could destroy the material I was going to store there. But since it’s better to be safe than sorry, I preferred to ask the opinion of those who know what they are doing. That’s how I found out that they have a superior pest control program, 4 times a year!

Due to the great emotional value I have for the drawings, messages on small crumpled sheets, thousands of photographs, and because they are more fragile, they advised me to use double corrugated cardboard boxes, with a size very close to the merchandise, to prevent it from rocking and causing the boxes to burst. In addition, they recommended insulating all possible openings of the box with tape (at least two layers) or reinforcing the box externally with transparent film to give greater protection, solidity and resistance. I bought all the material at KUBOO, from cardboard boxes (there were several sizes), bubble wrap, tape, transparent film and markers, without having to worry about travel, queues and stress in another store selling these materials.

The move went wonderfully well, first going to KUBOO in Abóboda to put, in addition to my precious memories, the furniture that did not fit in the new house. KUBOO became an extension of my home and made my move simple and effective.

Now when my grandson asks me: “Grandma, what do you miss most about the times you used to teach?”, I answer: “Get your coat, let’s go to KUBOO!”.

Don’t store your memories anywhere!

My company, like all companies, has a love-hate relationship with archives. We want them out of sight, but close to the heart. They have contracts, minutes, banking information and other important documents that require the originals to be impeccably separated and organized (most often) in wide-brimmed dossiers that in addition to not being the most appreciated decorative object, occupy too much space in the office.

Since I am not a person to cross my arms and sit tight, I decided to look for a solution, because this work from home business became an extension of the company and my world began to be in black and white, just like the files that haunt me.

The solution came in shades of yellow, like a beautiful summer day!

When asking around, the idea of self-storage kept coming back. For me it was not a totally unknown concept but I never imagined it as storage for important documentation.

Security has always been one of my biggest concerns, what kind of documentation can I safely store in a warehouse? Can documents be degraded in storage due to humidity? I decided to start my research and get real answers.

Self-storage yielded a bunch of results for Lisbon, and so I got down to contacting all of them.

I started sending emails and making phone calls. I was determined to find the best space for my paperwork. With the search the doubts were accumulating; what size of space do I need to archive everything? Access? Safety? Prices? How about fire concerns? It was all new to me.

After several exchanges of phone calls, there was a company that captured my attention because of the sympathy and the simple way in which they answered my questions. After a friendly invitation to visit the space, I got in the car and when I arrived in the vicinity of the premises, I started seeing yellow signs directing me to what is KUBOO. The ease with which the path was indicated was only overcome with the kindness with which I was received, a smile and an invitation to a coffee.

The time has come to get to know the facilities, from a reception with a fantastic design where I felt at home right away, to clean corridors with a pleasant aroma wherever you walked and with plenty of lighting, they showed me different sizes and set-ups to choose the best option for me.

The security that has always been a problem for me is no longer the case! 24-hour manned security, 75 cameras for video surveillance linked to a central, meaning they’re not just for show, they are for real! And access control on every gate and door! I couldn’t have asked for more!

After choosing the space that best suited my needs, it was time to deal with the paperwork, fast and without much bureaucracy, straight to what matters and with the same sympathy with which they received me.

After storing all my paperwork in boxes at KUBOO, I was received like a hero back at the office. There were no more files and paperwork scattered around the desks, shelves and cabinets, the light finally entered through the windows and the work flowed. While enjoying every pat on the back and every thank you, I was interrupted by my boss: “I need the contracts made in 2016”, I stood up, smiled and said “Let’s go then consult our files, we don’t need to bring coins, coffee is on KUBOO!”

When I was about six years old when I started my first tag collection. I kept tags of all kinds. Square tags, round tags, colored, with and without relief, shiny or not. What fascinated me about these objects was the fact that they identified a particular item. That’s how we are, we like to put tags on things. We like to know the other person’s name, what’s the name of that song we can’t stop listening to, what’s the name of that person whose smile we remember?

And we like to arrange all these things in boxes. We need to know the exact location of our car keys, where that great friend who we haven’t seen in years is currently living, which place we find ourselves in when we feel at home. I started by keeping my tags in small plastic bags. As the collection grew I needed more space and started keeping them in old shoe boxes.

Time went on and before I knew it I no longer collected tags. But I had many other things that I carefully kept.
Our homes work like museums that some of us carefully curates (of objects, of people, of memories). I had an incredible collection of books; some were bought and most of them inherited from relatives. The little trinkets I was given over the years were also piling up. Meanwhile, the family grew. It was no longer just me and my collections. There was also a life partner, a dog and a cat. It was no longer just my own selfish memories. The objects doubled and so did the love. We now had bicycles at home that we used for our Saturday rides, a collection of old cameras, and a beautiful dining table to replace my small side table.

We needed to find a balance for storing all these memories. Putting everything in its proper place, choosing what had to stay and what deserved a new home. This is when the word “attachment” comes up. Everything seemed important to us. Every object was a story, a lived experience that we held dear. We couldn’t choose. We first thought about renting a garage but it seemed unsafe and humid, and after all, we wanted to make sure our memories were secure and safe.

So we scoured Lisbon looking for a warehouse that could be an extension of our home. A place where our things could stay indefinitely and that would guarantee its safety. In this search, we discovered the concept of self-storage and we couldn’t have been more excited with the idea. Renting a warehouse where we could easily access our things; a safe place for what was so dear to us. We visited several spaces but we always had the impression they were impersonal warehouses. There was always the feeling that our memories would be forgotten in cold and distant spaces with floors I wouldn’t put my carpet on.

Finally, we found Kuboo: love at first sight. We immediately realized that our objects were important there and they would have the space they deserved. The staff’s’ warm reception made us feel that they were also part of our story and of our tidying up mission. Today our kuboo works as a house extension. We spend evenings going to the place that is now our storage room and reliving the objects. Some we take home; some we rearrange inside the kuboo; some we simply haven’t decided yet in which space they really belong.

Sometimes we completely lose track of time and spend hours going through boxed-up memories. Open box, close box, now we take the bike, tomorrow we bring your grandmother’s crockery service.

We always return home fuller and with a few boxes less. Our house now has a more fluid and harmonious dynamic. There is nothing that is too much or doesn’t fit into our routine. That said, I sit on the couch, look at the bookshelf and notice that my favorite novel is missing;

I’m going to Kuboo. I’ll be right back!

After a while, when I moved in with her, it was my first time living in the capital. In my early 30s, I was still enjoying the bubbling life a big city has to offer: dinner with friends in local taverns, going out to clubs and bars, tasting different ethnic restaurants, short walking distance from the nearest cinema, visiting all kinds of exhibitions and museums, strolling in big parks. We didn’t even need to take the car, everything was accessible. It felt like we had everything we needed close by.

When the first winter came, the need for extra, cosy, and warm clothes made the alarm sound on for the first time. The apartment was tiny, as most of the affordable apartments in Lisbon are. We only had one bedroom with one closet, a small cute balcony where we had our plants, a bathroom that could not hold more than 2 people at the same time, a living/dining room to which it was impossible to invite more than 3 friends.

The lack of storage space for our clothes was the initial issue. We had no storage space at all! At first, we used our parents’ garages to store our seasonal clothes. It worked… but not for long. We eventually lost control of where our storing boxes were, and every now and then we needed to re-organize our closet. Then, we realized we couldn’t wash and dry all our clothes and linen in our apartment: we had no space to dry clothing or even for a tumble dryer machine. We also needed to take them to our parents’. Eventually, it was not just the clothes, every time we needed to buy something new, we realized we needed to get rid of something in the house. We lived in this apparently controlled situation for 2 years.

And then we got to a moment where so much love between us needed to be expanded if you know what I mean. So we started talking about having a child. The very first thing that came to our mind was: “no way we‘ll live the three of us in this house, impossible!”. Made sense, I mean, we were getting to a point we were so limited space-wise in our house, how could we live with one more human being and with all the complimentary things that come with: all the cloths, breast pump and milk storage containers, nursing pillow, diapers and wipes, baby soaps and creams, infant tub, blankets, crib and mattress, stroller, change table, and still a long list! No way we could fit all that in our tiny apartment.

It was the moment to start looking for a new place to live. Everything was very expensive at the time and we wanted to find the perfect place, the perfect space. But it takes time and energy to find the perfect space. Finally one day, the best news in the universe arrived: we were expecting a baby! We were so excited, we jumped and hugged all morning! And after the emotional start of the day, we realized we haven’t found yet a place to live in! We were the happiest people in the world no doubt about that. But buying a house is a big investment, a huge step, and an important decision to take. And we had a due date now: less than 9 months to find The Place. Along with finding all the previously named products for our baby… Stress and anxiety invited themselves, when this was supposed to be the best moment of our lives.

So that’s when we made the decision. A good friend advised us not to rush into buying a new place. We could rent a slightly bigger apartment for the same price we were paying, and we could leave all our stuff in a self storage unit. At the end of the day, we would be paying practically the same and doubling the available space in the house. Seemed the best thing to be done at that moment, and today, I have no doubt it was indeed the best move. Choosing a self-storage facility didn’t take too much time. We searched online, and after visiting a couple of them, we were over-impressed with KUBOO, the warehouse was sparkling clean and it felt the safest place in the world to leave our belongings. I mean, we were in the process of being parents, clean and safe are some of the most basic needs we want in our lives, and for our child.

After almost 3 years of our move-in to KUBOO, we now have our own new house!. And you know what, we still have our stuff at KUBOO. After 3 years, we realized that it was not a temporary need in our life. We feel that those 10m2 rented storage are ours. They feel like home. And instead of going every week to our parents to pick up clean clothes, we now go every week to have lunch with them, they play with the baby, and we have some proper family time. And they got their garage back! Things have changed in our life from the time we started having more space for our belongings and stopped worrying about where to store them.

In our particular case, self-storage was not only a benefit for us as a couple. It was also great for our precious baby. Now we have a shelf for things that were given to the baby and are too early for him to use or things that he has used already and doesn’t need anymore. Eventually, we’ll offer those things to a friend or someone in need, but in the meanwhile, they’re all safely stored in the same space.

We still live in Lisbon. There are plenty of storage spaces in the city, of all colours, but none is even close to KUBOO. Not by the quality of its installations, or its security and safety, and especially by the excellence and kindness of its team made of Kuboodistas.

By far the most secure, the best designed, with 20% more lighting than anything you can find on the market, a bigger and finer reception than all the rest, safer by miles, more comfortable than a hotel, and with the kindest nicest most affable and educated staff in the industry, worldwide. By centuries. And it’s very easy to realize, just drop by anywhere else then drop by Kuboo.

Then, as usual, we surpassed ourselves. We built the Queen of self-storage in Lisbon. An awesome companion to the Princess. Bigger, better, and all of it touch-less in this new age we are all living together. She is Kuboo Aboboda! She is designed like a Boutique Hotel, yet one of the biggest facilities in Portugal. Even her WCs are touch-less! Her disinfectant dispensers, touch-less, her doors, touch-less! You basically don’t have to touch anything to store at Kuboo. And this adds to the overall already top of industry safety we pride ourselves with.

Anyone looking for a space and overlooking Kuboo Aboboda is missing out on a lot. Nothing compares! Nothing! If you are looking for Citystorage or out of city storage, a garage that you thought would be good enough, a box that you thought would be as good as a Kuboo, or any other denomination of a space that you heard someone saying, in any colour or shape. If you don’t end up staying at Kuboo Aboboda you have missed on the pleasure, on the ease, on the safety, on the security, on the cleanliness and on meeting some of the nicest people around to help you get what you need.

At Kuboo we only help. We don’t sell. And by helping we manage to make a good living. We don’t need to be aggressive like some others, we don’t need to run the streets naked calling out we’re the best, the leaders, the biggest. Only those who aren’t usually do that. We sit quietly, working hard every hour of every day to make every person’s experience the absolute best it can be. Our reviews and feedback speak for it. Take a closer look and we won’t need to convince you.

If Kuboo Carnaxide is the Princess of Self-storage in Lisbon, then Kuboo Aboboda is the Queen. The absolute Queen! No Queen has ever been more elegant or more pampered. We pamper every detail of Kuboo because this is where you will store your things, your furniture, your house, your office, and sometimes your life. We take it at heart to relieve your stress. We understand, deeply, the stress of moving and storing, we have done it multiple times in our own lives. And we cater to it, that is to you, before and above we do anything else. You come first, as a human being, as a client, as a tenant, we make sure your needs are well taken care of, then come your belongings that we protect better than anyone.

In Lisbon, moving is not always an easy endeavour. Moving and storing worldwide is not an easy experience. It remains one of the 5 most stressful things in life. And nobody understands that more than Kuboo. We really profoundly understand that at Kuboo. We’ve been repeating it over and over again and we stand by it.

No one comes close. Everyone copies.
But copying can only work on the surface of things. It’s not sustainable.

Don’t put your things in a box, don’t put them in a garage, don’t put them in a space. That’s not Citystorage, it’s bad storage. Don’t put your things in an anonymous space, even if they seem coloured. And certainly don’t put your things in a ‘box’! If you want things to go smoothly you must put your things in a Kuboo, at KUBOO.

You must think outside the box. And outside the box, is inside a Kuboo.

6 years before that day, we got married. It was a simple marriage outside Evora where she came from. A true Alentejana like you hear about them only in popular culture. Stunningly beautiful, eyes like night, a well-rounded Portuguese pear. I’m not joking.
Strong and determined. Always blaming others, but her charm and beauty covered for it.

It was one of the best days of my life. Only second in my mind now to the day we divorced.

It’s interesting and funny how when a marriage breaks down, suddenly, everyone is talking about furniture, objects, stuff that is mine, stuff that is yours. Take it, keep it, throw it, store it. Find a garage, find a space, movers. Start the countdown! Boxes, pictures, letters. Who gets what?

Greed born out of thin air where previously there was generosity and love. Fights sprout everywhere, in the bathroom, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, at the door, in the car, in the garage, it doesn’t matter the space, if we were less than 3 meters away from each other, we fought. And these fights went on in total absurdity about every single thing down to the most insignificant detail that otherwise was completely invisible to both of us. Interesting.

All of a sudden we discover a long forgotten attachment to things given to us by our mothers and grandmothers, ex-es or friends we haven’t seen in years that are barely friends anymore. -This is mine! My mom gave it to me! -No way! I bought this over Christmas in 2014. You didn’t even like it. -Ah!

It’s a weird kind of emotional negotiation that ends up wearing everyone down, but a necessary process of splitting up. And there’s nothing like material things to jumpstart the split of the rest, the more important aspects.

All this to say that she kept the house. I didn’t mind. I wanted to travel anyways and letting go of the responsibility of the house wasn’t a bad thing at all. I just needed to find a place to store the things I managed to extract from the battle. She didn’t want them in the house or even in the garage that I built myself. And to say the truth, I didn’t want them there either.

So I started frenetically looking for a space to store all the things I was left with. A storage space! I never thought about this before. I would have given everything away if I could, but some, as one can guess, had enormous significance to me, or emotional weight. I didn’t want them to get damaged or stored in a fishy warehouse. Mini-warehouse, large warehouse, I didn’t care. It just didn’t make sense to me to leave my personal stuff somewhere that looks like a warehouse for stuff. A box! A box? I’m not leaving my things in a ‘box’! Not in a million years! I’d rather throw them.

I asked around and no one had any space to take them in. I asked friends and neighbours, family members and even acquaintances, but I had a lot of things, some were big pieces like the TV or the couch, I also had a lot of Art hanging on the walls, and no one had a big enough space or even a garage to fit them all.

This is where the real challenge began. I spent a day calling and checking online for a storage place, and I found a couple right here in Lisbon. I didn’t think this service really existed in Portugal, but hey, sometimes you live in a bubble as the world goes by.

Everywhere I looked, I only found ‘boxes’. The self-storage companies were themselves calling them boxes. That didn’t ring well with me. No. A box is not something I like to imagine my stuff in. Not my couch and not my art work. I needed something else, something more elegant, more careful and more human. Something that didn’t look like a warehouse with a small counter for a reception and one sloppy dude or a vulgar high-heeled woman sitting behind it.

Through my research, I found a different kind of company. They called themselves Kuboo and their spaces, they called them kuboos. Right there, the whole thing felt different. They said they were a boutique hotel for things.

It’s not that they were nice, they were more than that, they were kind. Their facility doesn’t look like the other companies, it really looks like a boutique hotel. Casual, beautifully designed, clean as clean can be, full of light and with kuboos that feel personal.

Then you get the staff. An assemblage of real people, never tried to sell me a thing, listened carefully to my needs and went with me all the way until we found the best solution available. To rent a space at Kuboo, a space called kuboo, seemed way better than to rent a box at a place called space.

My stuff has been there for 2 years now, I’m travelling the world non-stop, and I never give it a thought.

This is what really happened in my short invented story. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.