One interesting thing about going on a long trip is that it forces you to think a lot about stuff. Stuff you own, stuff you want to take with you, stuff you leave behind. And maybe, the role of stuff in your life.
We own a lot of stuff. I knew this already, in the abstract. But the reality of having to clear out our house for tenants made the abstract real. Since moving in almost 15 years ago, we've accumulated so much (along with two kids). So many clothes, shoes, toys, books, electronic devices, kitchen items, etc. Even after filling many bags with trash and donations, I was surprised with how much we had to bring down to store in the basement. I won't go on about the details, but I'll share one photo - a huge bag filled with plugs and power cords for our electronic devices. And this was just the stuff that still seemed essential after throwing away all the ones from ancient cell phones and long-forgotten toys.
We didn't take a lot of stuff with us. Influenced by reading the blogs of full-time travellers who circle the globe for years with only carry-ons, I insisted that we travel as light as possible. We knew that we will be in climates ranging from tropical (coast of Ecuador) to freezing (Bolivian Altiplano), but also that we will be able to do laundry and buy additional necessary items along the way. And given that we are still New Yorkers, we knew that we each have at least one or two respectable outfits -- we won't be going out to hot new restaurants in Lima or Buenos Aires in hiking boots and fleece. We didn't get it down to carry-ons only, but we each have one big internal frame backpack plus a daypack carry-on (plus Ruby's violin in a super-light travel case). And probably only about two-thirds of our stuff is clothes, because we had to leave room for things like a 9 month supply of daily wear contact lenses.
So why the hell do I own eight pairs of jeans?
3 comments:
I'm so impressed that you guys were able to condense down what you wanted to take on the road for these months of travel! It's probably something we should all do - clean out our stuff and figure out what we really need...
Why DO you have 8 pairs of jeans? We'll give a lesson on jean thriftiness when you return to the BK - but only after you throw out some more of that stuff in your basement... xo PZs
We definitely have too much stuff. I view it as a flow problem: It's easy for things to flow into our house (toys, electronics, schoolwork, clothes, ...) but it's more difficult for things to flow out. I think that after a certain point, additional stuff makes you less happy, since it leads to more mess and makes it harder to find what you want. I'll be interested to see how much you accumulate along the way on your trip. - Adam
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