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First Steps to Vagabonding

My first steps on my vagabonding journey began about a year ago. I was out of work and had managed to get myself into a few thousand dollars of debt and tied down with a mortgage. I was in the process of losing my home to foreclosure and there was nothing I could do about it.

I was working side computer jobs here and there but nothing substantial. Only really enough to keep some food on the table. The few months before I had leave my house behind I started selling things to get by and make the minimum payments on my debts. As time went on I sold more and more and lived on less and less. I stumbled on a website discussing a “minimalism lifestyle” which I found very interesting. The main reason being I had found a name for what I had already been doing!

After reading page after page on becoming a minimalist I ramped up my “ditch my personal collection of crap” campaign. I started paying off my debts with the money that was coming from Ebay and Craigslist. Anything that I wasn’t able to sell went into the donation box which of course I was able to write off at the end of the year.

Before long my house was empty and was down to just about the bare minimum. At one point I had 2 of the basics in the kitchen. Two forks, two spoons, plates, glasses, etc. My theory was that if I had a friend come over to eat I would be set. It also forced me to keep up on dishes. I did the same with my clothes. Since I wasn’t working I only needed my street clothes so I keep out 3 sets of clothes. From that I was able to mix and match which made it feel like I had a large wardrobe. I also did the same with my towels, two of each.

Life became a lot less complex.