When Less Really Is More

Journey Beyond Borders 🌏 What One Suitcase Taught Me About Life

I've always preferred experiences over stuff. It's not like I woke up one day and decided to become a minimalist, but nomadic life emphasized this approach in ways I didn't expect.

Suddenly I need to fit my entire life into one suitcase and make decisions about what's important enough to take with me. Here are two moments from Melbourne that taught me something about the connection between fewer things and more freedom.

📍 Melbourne, Australia | November 2, 2024

Started Packing My Suitcase, Ended with an Inner Discovery

While I'm getting ready to leave on a journey, I'm learning something about how to pack light. Taking only what I need, and leaving behind not just the heavy stuff, but also all those heavy expectations I tend to load onto every trip.

This approach of taking less opened my eyes. It makes everything in my life appear in high resolution. Every experience becomes richer, emotions stronger, like my life turned into an action movie.

Walking unfamiliar paths has become my metaphor for life. I find myself choosing quiet trails, sometimes uncomfortably quiet. But right there, in that silence, my thoughts echo the strongest.

Choosing less familiar routes reveals hidden treasures of the world. Like getting backstage access. And there I also find parts of myself I didn't know existed.

Patience - a trait I've always had, but only now do I understand how vital it is when venturing into the unknown. I've learned to embrace the pace of every place I arrive at. I've learned to wait, to observe, and to absorb what this place really wants to tell me.

I discovered there are places where all the beauty reveals itself during less popular times. In those gentle moments of the day when most of us are busy looking for the perfect selfie instead of seeing what's actually happening around us.

In an age of instant communication, I understood how important it is to disconnect. I have moments when I leave my phone in my bag and decide that right now I'm not taking photos, not making calls, not on social media. Just here and now, focusing on the landscape in front of me, the sounds around me, absorbing everything inside. Just appreciating.

Every journey reshapes what I think about 'home'. My home hasn't been four walls for a long time. This word has become something much more interesting - it's a collage of the places I live in, the people I've met, and the experiences I collect. All of these together make me feel at home.

Through my journeys, I'm not just exploring the world but also diving deeper into my identity. I discover that the most meaningful journeys are those that lead us inward, challenge what we thought we knew about ourselves, and reveal who we really are.

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📍 Melbourne, Australia | December 5, 2024

The Path to Minimalism

Fewer things, more freedom – my journey into minimalism

Lately, I find myself drawn to the world of minimalism. It's an approach that suggests simplifying life, reducing consumption, and focusing on what really matters.

But what does minimalism actually mean? Does it mean fewer clothes in the closet? Less furniture? Or maybe it's something much bigger?

Minimalism, as I'm starting to learn, isn't just a lifestyle or fashion. It's something philosophical that invites us to think about our choices. It's a call to focus on essence, to appreciate the small things, and to free ourselves from the constant need to accumulate more and more.

I'm still not a minimalism expert and certainly don't implement it completely in my life. But the question 'what is minimalism' and the need to understand the advantages and challenges it offers leads me to deep contemplation about my life.

For instance, minimalism could solve my morning dilemma facing the closet. When I think about reducing the number of clothes to a small selection of items I really love, I understand this could be a way to reduce stress and indecision.

Minimalism teaches me about quality over quantity. It helps me appreciate what I already have more and discover abundance in less. It's a process of self-discovery and aspiration to live more responsibly toward the environment.

I'm still at the beginning of understanding minimalism and how to implement it in a way that suits my life. It's a journey of exploration and learning, where I'm slowly progressing in changing my approach.

During my journeys around the world, I learned to live in a way where everything I need fits into one suitcase. Actually, one and a half suitcases. The choice to reduce my possessions, clothes, and objects to those that are most important was a natural result of nomadic life.

Even though I currently have what you could call a 'base' in Melbourne, most of the time I feel like I'm living out of a suitcase. Every item I choose to take with me needs to be functional, dual-purpose, and especially - meaningful. I chose to focus on quality rather than quantity, every item carefully selected and given a place of honor in my personal and limited space.

The minimalist approach helped me understand that the less I have, the more freedom I have. The freedom to move, to experience, and to be less of a burden on the environment. It's not just a lifestyle but a commitment to simplicity that allows me to focus on experiences rather than objects.

I discovered that the more I travel and accumulate less, the more I enjoy every moment and the places I visit. My suitcase doesn't just symbolize the need to be light and mobile, but also the desire to live in a way that respects the world around us.

I was never the type of person who hoards things. Maybe it stemmed from understanding that nomadic life doesn't allow accumulation, or maybe it's just the way I see the world - as a place where anything that doesn't serve me, I need to pass on to hands that can appreciate and use it.

Today, I have several clothing items that I really love, and I wear them frequently. And I have no problem with that. It's a conscious choice to reduce and streamline, not to accumulate but to choose only what really speaks to me.

Clothes I don't wear for a long period, I quickly donate. It's a habit my mom raised me with from a young age. "You don't throw away clothes, you donate clothes," she always says. It's a phrase that follows me everywhere I go.

Donating clothes is a small but meaningful action that strengthens the community and supports the environment, and it allows me to maintain connection with the principles I live by.

This practice always reminds me that everything has a life cycle, and every item has a chance to continue and make someone else happy. Instead of leaving unused items at the bottom of the closet, I prefer to give them new life elsewhere. This is my way of taking part in the larger circle of sharing, giving, and environmental awareness.

Looking back at these two moments from Melbourne, I see that the search for simplicity isn't just about suitcases and clothes.

It's something much deeper - it's about choosing what really matters to me and not letting everything else hold me back. Now every decision about what to take with me is essentially a decision about who I want to be.

Your support helps me to continue experiencing new worlds and sharing them with you through my words. Sometimes, a single cup of coffee can make a difference.

Thank you for being part of this journey.