According to the LA times, the average US household has 300,000 things. Even if they are counting every paperclip separately, this seems like an extraordinary amount of stuff. Whatever the precise number is though, most of us can relate to the modern malaise of over-consumption.
Travellers have a unique perspective on stuff because they have to carry it. Emotional baggage in your home becomes actual baggage on the road. Although I started shedding possessions because of my travel plans, many of the lessons I learned are valuable in their own right. I ultimately felt better for cutting down on my stuff and here’s why I think you should do it too:
1) Travel light
“He who would travel happily must travel light.”
Whether you want to backpack around the world or get away for the weekend, owning less will help you with packing less. For extended travel this becomes paramount and forces you to re-appraise what you actually need to live and thrive. Most people also under-estimate what is available at their destination. If you’re visiting a major city in the developing world or practically any city in the developed one, you’re covered for most eventualities.
2) Make money!
“I make myself rich by making my wants few.”
Now you may be thinking your excess stuff is useless old junk, but I bet that with a little effort at least of some of it can be turned into cold hard cash. I recently made over £1,000 on eBay, mainly by selling electronics that I don’t use anymore. If they aren’t part of your life, then owning these items is like having a car sitting idly on your driveway: you aren’t getting anything out of it and it’s losing value all the time. Release the cash and add it to your travel / experience fund. For anything in a usable condition that is tough to sell (e.g. clothes), donating to charity shops is also a great option.
3) Make time
“The more stuff you own, the more your stuff owns you.”
If I were to offer you an extra hour in the day, would you take it? Well, that’s what I’m offering you. Excess stuff is a time suck, eating up your life as you clean, maintain, replace, insure and generally devote yourself to this bunch of inanimate objects. Many of us have so much stuff lying around that we forget what we actually own and have to go trawling through it to dig out the fraction that is useful to us. Get rid of enough and you may even be able to downsize. If you love having lots of room and a manicured lawn, then maybe this isn’t for you. But remember, you’re the one doing the cleaning and the manicure.
4) Jettison emotional baggage
“Minimalism is living with what you need and what you love. That’s it.”
One of the hidden costs of having a lot of possessions is the mental bandwidth consumed worrying about them. If you live in a palace, you are always on the lookout for bandits at the gates. If you live out of a backpack with mostly replaceable items, these fears inevitably recede. Certainly, there is a happy medium to be struck here, and I am not suggesting that you consign every treasured heirloom to the next garbage truck, but it is worth asking which of these items actually bring you joy.
5) Experiences > things
“The best things in life aren’t things.”
In the end, a life rich in memories is greater than a life rich in material possessions. When you are eighty, will you regret that you never visited Patagonia or will you lament not making more trips to Ikea? There is a worryingly pervasive idea in the West that the next pay packet or promotion will finally yield the happiness we seek. In reality, hedonic adaptation teaches us that such pleasurable dopamine rushes are transient. You are much better off finding a journey that you relish for its own sake than spending your life lusting after an illusory and ever-receding utopia.
So, there we have it. Five great reasons to get rid of your stuff. If you’ve got any experiences from clear-outs of your own, let me know in the comments! Or, if I’ve convinced you but you’re wondering where to start, have a read of part 2 here.
Photo credits:
Travel light: South African Tourism <ahref=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/25779097@N08/20350744970″>Arri Raats, Kalahari Khomani San Bushman, Boesmansrus camp, Northern Cape, South Africa</a> via <ahref=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <ahref=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>
Candlelit coins: Tim Pierce <ahref=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/48439369@N00/14196236134″>Hades (135/365)</a> via <ahref=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <ahref=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>
Hourglass: homegets.com <ahref=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/141436406@N04/49005750918″>Close up color countdown hourglass – Credit to https://homegets.com/</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <ahref=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/”>(license)</a>
Baggage: Belinda Fewings <ahref=https://unsplash.com/@bel2000a>
Mountain dusk: Felix Lam <ahref=https://unsplash.com/@feliixlam>