It's all good in theory that we should not be required to come back halfway through a break just to get our stuff back, but the reality is that keeping the data around for all characters like this would bog the servers down more than we think. The Calamity Salvager is merely the cache for the housing system in this case - you have to eventually empty that cache for the game to keep running smoothly, just like a regular computer. The resources SE allocates to FFXIV are finite here & need to be closely maintained.

Housing has basically turned into a whirlpool: it looks great & spectacular, but you have to put forth the effort to stay out of the tunnel once you're in motion (logging in regularly) or else you're gonna get sucked to the bottom and possibly die/get maimed (lose all your stuff due to inactivity).