One of the keys to Trisha and I being able to up and leave our "old" life behind and travel has been the ability to let our stuff go. I've talked a little bit about the 100 things challenge before and the concept of a minimalist lifestyle. I think living a simple life is one of the keys to being happy. Think about it, if you learn to get by with less and enjoy it, then you don't need as much money, so you can have more time to pursue what you really want to, and so on.
Another key to us being able to take off has been the elimination of most of our debts, specifically credit cards and car payments. Without having to pay for stuff on credit and then fighting to pay it off every month, we've been able to get out and follow some of our dreams.
So, with these two things in mind, I was happy to see an interview by Baker of Man vs. Debt fame (who is about to embark on an RV journey of his own) of Dave Bruno who started the whole 100 things challenge a few years back.
It's a great interview and touches on a lot of points that I think are valuable to cruisers, RV'rs, and pretty much anyone who wants to be able to cut down on the amount of stuff they have. So check it out if you have about 15 minutes to spare:
100 Things Challenge Interview
If you haven't yet made any resolutions for the New Year, this would be a great one.
I was just thinking about the 100 things challenge and how we're a lot closer to 100 things than I would have assumed. That said, I know that we're significantly over that number and don't feel worse for it. I think that sometimes minimalism becomes too much of an obsession for people and that once the 'ultimate' in minimalism has been achieved, that zen feeling that people are hoping for isn't necessarily there. (Maybe instead it's: "Damn. I want to play chess outside and wish I hadn't given that set away!")
ReplyDeleteThat said, we've experienced great benefit in getting rid of lots and lots of our stuff. There's lots of room in the RV and it's not even close to full, yet there are things that I'm noticing go unused. We really want and need a lot less than we think.
True, there is no need to obsess over the number 100. It's more the mind frame of living with less that I have found helpful. Just getting ourselves out of the consumerist state of mind that it's so easy to fall into: "buying more will make me happy". It really makes me evaluate a purchase much more now, which in turn helps with overall expenditures and debt load.
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