Old Earth

My version of old earth, the terra firma where our feet are planted, is that the environment became poisoned by humans. That led to space privatization to harvest resources for the human population. One day I plan to write the prequel of what it was like for those first settlers, leaving earth to green colonize a new planet. Do you think they were scared or excited or both? How desperate do you have to be to leave behind all technology? Only twice a year communication? If you have a five by eight plastic container to transport goods to a new planet, what would you pack? Lend me your thoughts…