2024W12: Travel as an Experiment in Minimalism
I’ve always loved the fantasy of living a whole life in a hotel room. Me and my bare necessities in 400 sq ft of living space — what a rush! The minimalist mindset this fantasy inspired will probably last the rest of my life, but the practice started in adjusting my travel habits the past few years, even before the pandemic.
Today, I travel for most 3-4 day trips with one carry-on and one personal item, a large weekender type bag. The current keys to making this work, even in winter?
If I can’t fly home the night after the work is complete, I wear the same outfit home that I wore flying out.
Maximum pairs of shoes to pack are two: one dressier and one more comfy. And then there are the shoes I am wearing to travel as well.
I’ll only pack extra undergarments — no more overpacking clothes!
I use my personal item / weekender as my daily carry bag when I work. It’s larger than it needs to be for daily use, but it keeps me from having to pack an extra bag.
I wear the same color neutral to travel as I do on work days. It used to be all black. For the last 4-5 years, it’s been all navy. This means even the clothes and accessories I travel in can be mixed and matched with the clothes I pack, if necessary.
All this is harder for me to do in winter, with thicker layers and more of them required. But summertime? No problem! How about you? Are you a minimalist packer or a maximalist packer? Or somewhere in between?
2024W3: Annual Intention(s) 🔦
Annual intentions appeal to me over daily goals that last the whole year. It’s kind of like the difference between setting an intention of showing up and being fully present throughout the year, versus a “perfect attendance” goal at school or work. Intentions are about staying true to desired change; daily goals for an entire year can result in going through the motions for a gold star.
In 2024 I intend to declutter — more and in new ways. I’m proud of some major milestones so far:
In 2021, I moved homes and got rid of about half my stuff. HALF! I had a lot of stuff.
In 2022, I experimented with minimalism in travel. It makes travel so much less stressful for me.
In 2023, I focused on home systems for work and life to keep me organized. It’s made a huge difference in my productivity (even before that I was already in the top 5% most productive people you know LOL)!
I made this progress doing what made sense in the moment. This year, I am looking for a more structured approach to decluttering, so I signed up for an online class called Uncluttered. It’s a 3-month class with weekly lessons and homework. It started today!
Our first assignment was to identify our why — our motivation for undertaking this decluttering journey. And for me, it’s about making space.
Mental space for more ideas.
Emotional space with a house that’s easier to keep clean, with only items I enjoy and bring beauty to my days.
Physical space to host the people I love most, and to do the things that bring me the most joy.
I’m more excited than intimidated, which is probably the best place to be. Let’s see what Week 2 brings!