This text was originally published on my former blog typeoneminimalist.com. The website has been offline since 2020. This is an archive version.
Let’s talk about travelling. Not the day-trip type of travelling but the type where you stay in a place for longer – for several weeks or months. In my experience, this type of travelling is a great opportunity to question your needs.
During the past few months, I studied abroad for a semester. My studies took me from my sweet study-town Vienna to Belgium. And let me tell you – the experience was incredible to every extent. If you ever get the chance to go abroad: Do it!
Space is scarce
To get back to the topic – travelling for longer periods of time forces you to fit your life into a suitcase. When I left Vienna 5 months ago, I had to fit everything I needed in my new home into 1,5 suitcases (a big and a small one) and a backpack. Given the fact that 50 per cent of the stuff I carried with me was diabetes-stuff, I was basically left with less than a suitcase for clothing, shaving-tools, bed-sheets, sports-equipment, my camera, my laptop and whatever else I needed to pack.
The process of packing all of this made me question my life a bit. All I could think of was “Okay, how much does a human actually need?”. Trying to fit my life into that suitcase was a bit like trying to park an SUV in a bike rack. I had to choose everything I took with me very precisely. Only my favourite pieces of clothing and expensive items like my camera went into that suitcase.
Sorting out
It was difficult. But also eye-opening. And fun. For every item, I didn’t pack, I questioned myself: “Okay if I don’t need this in Belgium, why do I need it in my life then?”. As a result, packing for my exchange semester ended up in the biggest declutter of my life.
When I eventually left Belgium again just about a few days ago, the exact same thing happened again. I haven’t bought much during my stay but, of course, I bought something. Every extra piece – clothing in my case – filled up my small-sized suitcase more and more. I had already taken the big one with me for Christmas. So space was scarce at this point.
Therefore, I had to sort out some items again. Retrospectively, that was a good thing. When I looked at some of my shirts, for example, I asked myself: “Why on earth did I even bring this?”.
Experiences, not items
Even though sorting out wasn’t easy, it was freeing. Knowing what I needed brought a unique kind of pleasance with it. Also, since I didn’t aim to buy anything new in Belgium, I had a bit more money than usual left in my pocket.
So I took some of that money and spent it on experiences. During my semester, I went on tons of trips. Nearly every weekend, I made it to some new place in Belgium, France or the Netherlands – and it was 100 per cent worth it.
As I see it, we don’t need a lot of stuff to be happy. What we need are experiences. Experiences let us grow as a person like nothing else. I’d rather spend my money on incredible trips, concerts and theatre plays than on anything physical. In our modern, connected society, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Maybe that’s one of the few advantages of our social media addiction. We’re focussing more on what we experience, what we can post instead of quick shopping reliefs.
It’s your turn now
What would you pack if you had to fit your entire life into one suitcase? At least for me, packing was somewhat eye-opening. It made me think about what I owned and what I wanted to do with my life. Which eventually sparked my now minimalist mindset.