How one realisation changed my life...
(Keep reading for my top tips for travelling as a minimalist!)
I am just back in the office after travelling up to Yorkshire for work last week. As I was unpacking, it made me think of a realisation that changed my life and I wanted to share this with you today….
It got to a point where I didn’t actually like wearing makeup and buying new clothes. I questioned why I was even doing it.
The answer I came up with - I was trying to show up in a way I thought I ‘should’ be rather than who I truly am.
My lightbulb moment came when I realised and I said out loud ‘I’m happiest with: my camera in hand, a laptop and a suitcase full of comfy clothes’, while chatting on a road trip around Iceland one day.
While the chat continued, that sentence just kept repeating in my head. It was the biggest a-ha awakening and marks the moment I decided to make changes.
I started to rid myself of belongings that fundamentally didn’t meet two questions:
Does this bring me value?
Does this bring abundance?
They cut through the fluff and get straight to the point of making decisions.
I have become both more intentional and more conscious in how I was living. This brought a radical awareness of what I was doing, what I was buying and where I was buying it from.
This also impacted the way I was travelling. The destination, duration, type of accommodation and mode of transportation. Because we get to be the change.
If you’re wanting to make some tweaks and changes, here are 6 tips to help travel as a minimalist:
- Have an evergreen packing list: I bloody love a spreadsheet and have a master one I tweak for each trip. It lists clothes, toiletries, camera kit, documents etc that I need to pack. This way I don’t forget anything and have to make random purchases of something I already have at home.
- Don’t pack ‘just in case’ items: the likelihood is you won’t use these items or need an extra top or pair of shoes ‘just in case we go out for dinner’ - you’re on holiday, no one will care if you wear the same things a few times.
- Choose accommodation carefully: pick somewhere that is located in the centre of things you want to experience. I prefer simple places where you can easily see your things so you don’t forget anything when you check out. If you can find somewhere that has a washing machine, the reduction in clothes packing if you can wash 3-4 days of clothes and just keep cycling these for your trip is significant!
- Stay organised: there are some great apps on our phones now that mean we don’t need to carry any physical tickets or booking confirmations for most situations. It's a great way to cut down on things you’re carrying.
- Focus on experiences, not things: I totally value experiences over possessions and don’t need to pick up loads of ‘tourist tatt’ to evidence to myself that I’ve been to a place. For me, photos and memories are the richest souvenirs you could wish to cherish.
- Take reusable water bottles & cups: A double win for the eco-minimalists - you can take empty reusable water bottles and coffee cups through duty free and then when you’re travelling you can keep them filled up and reduce waste that you create if you were to get single use items each time.
These are just some of the ways I’ve evolved how I travel, and it just makes it all feel so simple and easy now. I’d love to know any tips you have!
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