How we pack our lives in 30 seconds
We’ve become masters of unpacking and packing our lives as we’ve trekked around the world with only backpacks to call our own. It’s actually been pretty exhausting to be living out of a bag but we can’t complain given the opportunity to experience the world this way!
On other trips (more like vacations) it’s been really easy to purchase things like clothes, souvenirs and gifts for others. But on this trip we’ve not allowed ourselves to be consumers. (So sorry to all of you who won’t be getting souvenirs, but neither will we.) At times if we want something new we have to REALLY need it, or we receive it as a gift or swap with our fellow travelers.
And it’s not that we haven’t “allowed ourselves” to buy something but we have been completely changing some of our habits and learning the way of minimalism as digital nomads who can do anything as long as we have a wifi signal. Before our trip we were reprogramming our brains and reevaluating what our real “needs” versus “wants” are.
We started our journey to minimalism by renting out our two fully-furnished homes. We moved back in with Paulina’s parents with some must-keep boxes. We had a large garage sale where we sold $800 of material that could have been garbage and wasn’t needed by us. We also downsized from two vehicles to keeping only one and renting the other.
With our backpacks stuffed with clothes for both summer and winter, basic personal hygiene items, camping necessities and a few other essentials, we were set to live comfortably in almost any conditions on the road.
This is a “learn-as-you-go” gig can leave you pulling your hair out. Sometimes you really need that one “thing” but suddenly realize you’re just buying more “stuff.” One of the key luxuries we’ve done away with was the miraculous extension cord. Since the day we got rid of it, we’ve forever wanted and needed it. Or so we thought. It was like many things in our lives which seemed so difficult without certain conveniences. But with this time experiment we are on, we found out that life is really simple if you relax and understand nothing is a big deal and you can do without. It’s like pressing the reset button of attachment. To have an attachment to “things” is a restriction of the human spirit to express its creative side, explore and to keep that child-like curiosity to learn and grow. Find a reset button inside you that will set you back to your factory default.
Although we’ve been on the road over seven months already, we’ve managed to actually decrease the weight of our packs from about 28/23lbs to 19/14lbs (his/her bag). Time on the road has given us comfort to part with some of the things we thought were important.
I’m sure many of you are curious to see what we’ve needed to survive and some of our simple comforts or luxuries. To get a full list of what’s in our bags click here.
So when we go home will we maintain this light lifestyle? Absolutely! Maybe not this light, but we have realized how many things – gadgets, wants, gifts – we have that we don’t really use. There’s many tools you can use and repurpose so that you don’t have to clutter your backpack or home with a new item for every new purpose. You can always keep things fresh by being clever about the things you just happen upon by accident. And by keeping your home less cluttered by “things” you are also not weighing yourself down, you give yourself the ability to be free and to move more easily.
If you’re interested in the concept of minimalism or living more lightly check out these great reads:
“Vagabonding is an attitude—a friendly interest in people, places, and things that makes a person an explorer in the truest, most vivid sense of the word. Vagabonding is not a lifestyle, nor is it a trend. It’s just an uncommon way of looking at life—a value adjustment from which action naturally follows. And, as much as anything, vagabonding is about time—our only real commodity—and how we choose to use it.” – Rolf Potts
The thing is that you actually don’t need anything. If you are clever enough, no matter where you go, you will either find people who have the stuff you need and are willing to share it (which is way more fun). You never know, they might even have something better than what you thought you needed in the first place. The key is always remain open and flexible and ready for anything, no matter how great of a challenge. Travel is just the formal attempt to maintain and control extended periods of freedom.
But with all that said, we’ve also learned on our trip what we MUST have and don’t want to live without, but we’ll save that for another post! Share this post if you’re interested in the minimalist life or taking a gap year. And don’t be shy, comment to us as well!
A big thanks to our travelling lifeprov pals, Jenna and Jesse from Anything is Popsicle, for their wise words and editing this post. These digital nomads are living and breathing a lighter way of life as they search for an improvised lifestyle and the perfect earthship to call their own.
