So the last few months travel and all my grand plans have kind of taken a back seat and the hum-drum day to day actives have taken the front seat. Working a regular job, paying off the rest of my bills, and just forgetting about my dreams. I guess that’s what happens and before you know it you’re middle aged and forgot about what you wanted to do.
That’s why I’ve taken the next step in my minimalist world travel plans and have brewed up my version of a minimalist round the world travel packing list. This is list of items is mainly geared toward warmer to slightly chilly at night type of climate. I don’t plan on hiking over the Alps with what I have listed. I also tried to make sure everything fit into my 40 litre carry on backpack.
I’ll break things down into a few different categories.
ELECTRONICS
Netbook & Charger (MSI Wind)
500GB external hard drive for storing media. IE: Pictures and HD Videos
Olympus digital camera/Charger & USB cable with an extra memory card
Kitchen timer for an alarm clock.
Mini Flash light or Head lamp (for reading or night time exploration)
Universal Power Converter
Cell Phone/Charger (has built in WiFi for quick email/blog updates)
CLOTHING
Swim Trunks
1 Pair of long Smart Wool Socks
2 Pair of short Smart Wool Socks
2 Pair of regular shorts (I’ll be wearing on pair)
1 Pair of long pants
2 T-Shirts (I’ll be wearing one)
1 Button up REI quick dry shirt
2-3 Pairs of Exofficio boxers
1 Belt (Wearing at most times)
1 Long sleeve shirt
1 REI packable rain jacket (black)
1 Pair of trail hiking shoes (low top)
1 Pair of Five Finger shoes
Sunglasses
1 Pair of Athletic shorts (for exercise)
TOILETRIES\MISC
2 Pairs of Ear Plugs
Microfiber Towel
Toothbrush
Toothpaste (mini container)
Floss
1 Disposable razor
2-3 Zip lock bags (for misc items)
Ibuprofen
Deodorant
Journal/Pens (notebook)
Paper work (Passport, Drivers License, Debit Card, etc)
2-3 Family pictures (more of a conversational piece)
This will all fit into my 40 litre backpack with a rain cover and compression straps. The rain cover and compression straps make for a nice package when traveling via plane, train, or automobile.
Total weight = Appx 20lbs
I’m not worried about bringing any kind of soap because you should be able to find that anywhere. I also have short hair so washing what little hair I have with bar soap isn’t a problem. I can also do my laundry with the soap in the sink. I may had a small clothes line to the list but am unsure at this point. I also have room for a pair of flip flops to use while in showers or bathrooms but again, not 100% sure since I have my awesome Five Fingers.
I also know that I’m a bit heavy on the electronic gear but I love taking pictures and video and I would love the have the laptop with me to stay in touch with friends and family. I also would like to keep up my blog with new posts and pictures. I could do away with the cell phone if needed but it’s fairly light and makes for a great mini computer for updating twitter or checking email. Sure beats busting out the laptop every time.
Feel free to make any suggestions for adding or subtracting something. I’m always open to ideas!
The backpack I’ll be using is an REI Venturi 40 (men’s large) and so far it seems to be an awesome pack. Plenty of pockets for organization which for me is a life saver.
Here it is! My free to all short and sweet ebook about minimalism.
Read it, know it, share it, love it!
If you read this and are able to get something out of it, please comment below! I love hearing from people and I’m always more than happy to answer any questions.
Also, please feel free to share this as much as you like. Email, Twitter, Buzz, etc to anyone that might benefit from this.
It’s free for all!
You can download the book from my downloads page here:
As the days and weeks go on, the storage unit continues to shrink little by little.
This time I was able to get rid of some larger items.
DONATED:
2 boxes of spare computer parts
1 box of misc items
1 Old school 26″ tv
GAVE AWAY:
2 Desks (1 set)
1 Box of glassware
2 Fishing Poles
1 Small box of misc items
1 Plastic chair mat
I was able to make a decent sized dent in the storage unit this weekend. I still have little ways to go but it’s shaping up nicely.
I’m still trying to sell my single speed mountain bike, those huge speakers you see in the pictures, and a few other items. I am however, guilty of breaking one of my rules…kinda. I’m planning on buying a new bike once mine sells. The bike will serve multiple purposes and I will use it more than I use my mountain bike now. In that aspect, I’m not really breaking my rules.
That’s right! The past few days I’ve been putting together an ebook. I thought I might as well hop on the band wagon and join the ranks of the ebook club.
My free ebook is simple little guide on how I became a minimalist.
The ebook will include 5 to 6 short chapters and 4 to 5 simple rules to follow. I’ve also included a short about me section and a few personal pointers.
Over the next few days I should hopefully be finishing it up and then beings the fun task of editing and proof reading.
I’d say that in the next week or so I’ll release the ebook. It will be released under the Creative Commons license and will be free to share. I only ask that you don’t modify my work and give credit where credit is due.
I will also be including some links to a few other bloggers out there whom I read on a regular basis. Be sure to keep an eye out!
Again, trying out the video skills. The last video blog had mixed reviews.
This short video I took this morning (-2C) at my storage unit. I stopped by to pick up a few things to take to work and toss into our large garbage bin.
The 5′x8′ unit is starting look even more barren. It’s a far cry from what it was when I first started. Here are a few before/after and what’s going away pictures to help visualize things.
Well another weekend is upon us. I have Sunday and Monday off so that means that I can continue my quest to eliminate my things.
Last weekend was a bust. There were a few issues with my storage unit and I wasn’t able to get in. That really didn’t sit well, but such is life.
This weekend will be different. I have to catch up from missing last week. I hope the weather fairs well and I can get some real work done. Hopefully I can…
Go through 4 boxes
Donate night stands
Donate old TV (since it didn’t sell)
Sell bicycle
Donate at least 1 other large item
That’s what I have planned. Hopefully all will go well. I know that posting my goals really gave me some great motivation to get it done.
Hope everyone has a great weekend and their Football team wins. I’m not much of a fan so I’ll be cleaning.
Do you have any goals for this weekend besides football?
Email is something we all use on a day to day basis but it’s not something that we think about a lot. It has become such a staple of our daily lives that we don’t give it much thought. Kind of like driving or going to work, but it can be a huge time sucker.
Most of my life I have been an I.T. professional. What does that mean in terms of email? It means that I have had a phone with email for many years and it also means that I get A LOT of email. I was used to getting 25 – 75 emails per day. Read the rest of this entry
My goals for this past weekend of mine where as follows.
Sell my old TV (takes up a ton of space)
Go through at least 2-3 boxes of stuff
Organize the storage unit
Donate at least one box of stuff that can’t be sold
Sell LCD monitor
Out of those 5 goals I completed 3.5 of them.
I was able to sell my unused LCD monitor on craigslist and get enough grocery money for the rest of the month and a little extra. I was also able to make it to my storage unit and dig into 4 boxes and clean them out; that’s one more than my goal mind you! Finally I dropped off half a truck load of random stuff that wasn’t needed anymore.
Ohh…what is the half a completed goal for? That is for my old TV. I listed it on craigslist but haven’t been able to sell it yet. I listed my old modded Xbox on craigslist also but haven’t had any luck there yet either.
My plan is to do this once a week and hopefully either totally eliminate the storage unit all together or at least move what ever is left into a 5′x5′ unit. I’d really like to get rid of the $40 a month bill that comes with my current unit.
The two pictures below include…
The current state of the storage unit and the bed of my truck. The cooler and the few items inside are to be sold online and the 3 boxes in the corner have some food and spices as well as items to to be sold and donated. The rest is going to be dropped off at the Good Will.
This weekend is the first weekend that I won’t be extremely busy. The previous weeks I have either been working, out of town, or up at the mountain skiing. The goals for this weekend are get rid of some more stuff from my storage unit. I plan to…
Sell my old TV (takes up a ton of space)
Go through at least 2-3 boxes of stuff
Organize the storage unit
Donate at least one box of stuff that can’t be sold
Sell LCD monitor
I’ll be sure to take some photos of before, after, and what I’m getting rid of.
I’m posting this in hopes of motivating myself to complete at least most of my list for fear of looking like a lazy ass.
On a side note
I was surfing the net reading random blogs about minimalism and ran across a list. The list was about different ways you could eliminate your stuff. The list had the typical donate, throw away, etc, etc. Then I read one that really stuck out in my mind.
Mail one thing to a random person
This I thought was a fantastic idea. It will be something small (since I don’t want to have to pay any more than I have to for shipping) and useful in some way. I haven’t the slightest of what it’s going to be but I’m sure I can find something.
The only downside is that I won’t be there for the discussion between the family members of where this item came from. I can make something up in my head and have it be extremely entertaining though.
