Well, I’ve written some blog articles on how to move towards minimalism as a traveller, and while I admire the principles behind it, I doubt it’s for me.
As I grow older, I am aware of the clutter around me and how downsizing and eliminating things makes more sense for everybody, particularly those who will have to deal with my state after I’m gone.
But let’s face it. It’s easier said than done. After returning from living overseas for 15 years, it took us 4 1/2 years to downsize from three lockers 10 x 15‘.
I can’t believe how much we sold on the marketplace, gave away, and donated to charities, and it still took that long.
If you plan on becoming a nomad, a minimalist lifestyle makes a lot of sense. We like to keep our home and travel as much as possible, balancing between having covers at home and the cost of traveling.
We still like to buy very small items on our trips as a reminder of those places. Consequently, over the many years of traveling to the far reaches of the world, we have a lot of stuff. Some might call it junk, but as I sit in my living room chair in the curio cabinet and the pictures on the wall, I am reminded of memories and good times.
That is not to say that the principles could be easily incorporated into our lifestyle. A good place to start for every new piece is that at least one has to go to charity. The kitchen is another area. Let's face it: Most utensils are rarely used.
I mean, seriously, we have a dishwasher, so do we also need a 16-piece dinnerware set?
We had a lovely eight-piece set of Royal Daulton china that we only use at Christmas because it couldn’t go in the dishwasher. Do we really need it? Of course not. I just can’t bear to part with it. Those things are going to be our children who won't want them.
Books, oh how I love books
It’s not just about reading from a hard copy. It’s the actual ownership of books that I’ve loved over the years. I have been successful and resolving that. Before I went overseas 20 years ago, I had a book party where I invited all my friends to take whatever they wanted. Depending on the type of book, they paid one or two dollars each, took what they wanted, and I took the money to charity. It was a great success
Now we have two bookcases filled. Three shelves are filled with travel books, which I believe will never go out of style, although many are dated. Again, it is just another wonderful reminder.
Oh yes, towels and sheets. That’s pretty easy and challenging; we have accumulated too many pillows and cushions unnecessarily. What helped downsize was moving into a space that was half the space we were used to.
- We have a rule that when we bring in a new piece of clothing, one goes out to charity, which works most of the time.
- We have been so busy, but we do need to tackle the kitchen and books next.
- We still have a long way to go.
