When I walk into a suburb mid-century house Together with my sister we are looking for treasures that will make our customers happy – but we also like to be amazed by the extensive wallpaper in the bathroom.
We now have time to search the junk drawers and bookshelves in the basement. In recent years we both were dismissed of our jobs as writers and editors. As we continue to throw our resumes in the ring, we dabble in estate sales and thrift shopping.
We come from a family of savers and estate sale enthusiasts; our mother was an avid collector with an eye for beautiful and valuable antiques. She taught her three daughters how to find treasure in the junk: what to look for, how to bargain, and which cleaning potions work best to restore things to their former glory.
I’ve always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt, but I never thought we could turn our shared love of vintage into a small business.
My sister and I were fired
I felt a wave of layoffs coming in digital media before it happened. A strange mix of optimism and despair coursed through me as I tried to regroup. I quickly got a new job, but was fired from that role a year later.
Meanwhile, my younger sister had lost her job due to mass layoffs at a major company. We were both reeling as we mourned the loss of our mother and now cared for our elderly father in our family home.
With the threatening threat of AIthe labor market looked bleak.
Layoffs disrupt and disorient. It’s hard to know how to spend your time when there’s so much at once. It’s easy to sit on the couch and think that your new job will just involve taking showers and watching every episode of “Love Island.”
Faced with job loss—and the grief of losing both of our parents within six years—my younger sister and I first checked our mother’s epic collection for items we could sell. We also started attending estate sales, thrift stores, antique malls, and garage sales more often.
Starting a company together was the solution
As we collected more goods, I decided to make it official and founded Travel Far Now Vintage, a Etsy storein 2023.
I manage most aspects of the business – packaging, shipping and accounting – and I rely on the keen curatorial eye of my younger sister, who can walk into any estate sale or thrift store and score the most unusual vintage items hidden in the stacks.
Together we found unexpected joy during some of the most challenging years of our lives.
The sisters are always looking for vintage items. Thanks to Amanda Leigh Lichtenstein
There is no shortage of tasks to fill the time – from purchasing to cleaning, inventory to packaging, shipping to accounting, posting and connecting with new customers – the company keeps us energized against the lethargy of layoffs.
Consistency is key. While we continue to search for meaningful full-time rolesRunning a vintage business keeps us alert, active and curious about the objects we collect within an ever-changing market.
Fortunately, no two days are the same. There is always someone looking for that one vintage object that connects him or her with the past.
The company also helped us heal
Running a vintage business is the ultimate crash course in grief, with lessons about letting go at every moment.
There is an alchemy in this work. By giving abandoned objects a second chance, I have developed a deeper appreciation for the transience of time.
I’ve come to see myself as a ‘memory merchant’, trading in nostalgia through vintage objects and the stories they tell about our lives.
When a customer contacts me about a Sunbeam analog timer for sale, it’s not just about the timer, it’s about connecting to a core memory from their childhood kitchen. Hearing these stories helps me connect with my own memories and make peace with the past.
Our vintage store is an ode to our mother – the ultimate thrifter and sifter – who taught us the trade. When we are shopping, we always hear our mother’s voice in the aisles.
“Do you know what this is?” she asks with a twinkle in her eye. “Yes mom, we know,” we reply, and continue to search the shelves for more unique treasures.
Running this small vintage business with my sister has strengthened our bond as we remember our mother together. The search alone is therapeutic, but it is also enormously healing to know that we can breathe new life into old things.
