I started to live minimal two years ago. I noticed I wasn't happy at all with my life and decided to go travelling the world, something that I always wanted to do, but somehow never did. I gave away almost all my stuff, what I have left is what fits in my backpack.
I have no job, no house and barely any money. I met my girlfriend during my travels and together we've been travelling for 10 months, of which the last 4 we've spent living in a cave on Tenerife and now we're staying for a short while at a friend in The Netherlands to replenish our funds for further travelling.
I own a laptop, 4 pairs of pants (2 long, 2 short), 6 shirts, some underwear, 2 mobile phones, an external hard drive, a dj controller, an e-reader, some cutlery and a bowl, a tent, a sleeping bag and mat, personal hygiene items, one pair of shoes, two warm sweaters, and a guitar.
I never buy things like clothes, as I can find those almost everywhere for free, i.e. free shops or so called freeboxes at (hippie/nomad) communities all over the world. On Tenerife we did a lot of dumpster diving, something that at first required me to overcome some shame, but now I'm amazed to see for example how much perfectly good food supermarkets throw away, just because the date expired, or because there are spots on the banana's, or a whole bag of apples is thrown away because one got crushed during transportation. Two to three times a week we left with a backpack full of tomatoes, sweet pepper, onions, bananas, avocado's, cookies, milk, cheese, etcetera and cooked meals to share with others. In bins around second hand stores or appartment buildings there are often bags full of clothes, and most of the time (in our case) they even smell fresh/washed. For me, going on a 'recycling mission' feels a bit like a lottery :) General tip: don't go through the bags of household garbage, those are disgusting. (Interested? See http://trashwiki.org)
Anyway, this life makes me really happy, as my life is full with experience, adventure, nice people and no worries. My goal for the next years is to become fully self-sustainable, to live without money and to not be dependent on dumpster diving either, as I am aware this would not work if everybody starts doing it. My plan for now is to find a proper place to start an ecovillage, to put my experiences into practice and be completely self-sustainable, not dependent on any other system than the ecosystem.
So for example what would you do if you decided you want to go for a hike one day? You don't own any hiking boots, only a pair of shoes. Does that mean lot of activities aren't possible for you because you want to own as little as possible?
I just did exactly this. There is now ten miles a week of walking in my commute. I wore out three pairs of shoes before spending a bit more for some Doc Martens; they meet exactly this requirement. Not too heavy for "city" walking, although a bit heavier than trainers. No problem in the wet. Durable. The only reason I wouldn't go hillwalking in them is wanting to keep them clean.
(This is almost literally the "Vimes boots theory of poverty" from Pratchett)
I've used the same pair of lightweight waterproof Timberland boots for the last 10 years (in the Spring, Fall, and Winter). It's not a problem at all walking around a city (Boston & NYC) in them, or hiking outdoors. In the summer, I go with my barefoot shoes, but that's a luxury and not necessary.
I've effectively used hiking boots for city-life for years. Yes, they are heavier, and the first week you get tired of walking faster than everyone else, but then it becomes natural.
It all depends on how minimal you want to go. I own three pairs of footwear. An everyday pair that I use for everything from walking to work to mowing, a more formal pair for special occasions, and a pair of work boots I use for a variety of other circumstances--dirty work, times I need waterproof footwear, felling trees, they'd work for hiking but are heavy, if I want something warm in winter (where I put on an extra pair of thick socks). If I was in a different circumstance I might be able to get by with less, but the lesson I take home from the minimalism movement (which I'm not a part of) isn't that I should have the bare minimum of stuff; it's that I should consider having have less stuff and should be more mindful of why I have the things I do.
So if you're hiking a lot and sneakers don't cut it, go ahead and get something that does. But applying the lesson above, if you think about it and you hike only occasionally and it's on easy terrain and sneakers really are good enough, then don't buy the hiking gear that might make those easy hikes 1% better. That 1% comes at a cost of A) the purchase price itself, and B) having more stuff in your life to deal with. Yeah, it's nice to have sweet gear even in those circumstances, but it doesn't really make life appreciably better. Overall, cumulatively, such purchases make life worse.
I get your point but I think a lot of people overestimate the amount of special gear they need to pursue certain activities. Sure, if you're going to be in the wilderness for days, hiking boots and outdoor clothing are a good idea. A few hours walking through the forest, you're fine wearing whatever.
And then the weather turns and you are in deep dodo.
I wonder how many times i have read a news report about some tourist that needed to be rescued because he or she tried to visit some view or other in shorts and loafers.
My shoes are hiking boots :)
I recycled myself some nice Teva sandals in October, but after 4 months in the rough landscape of Tenerife, they were ruined so I threw them away. If I need new shoes, I know I will find them somewhere, most likely in a freeshop.
I'm considering doing exactly this sometime next year, and I have a lot of questions, if you're interested in having an American pen pal! Let me know and I'll give you my email.
I once started a photo blog on soup.io, but as there are sometimes months where I'm rarely online, I have neglected this big time.
It is definitely a wish for me to write down what I do and what happens to me, but I haven't spent too much time yet considering what exactly to write (what do people want to read/know about?), and the transition from full time IT professional to a nomadic lifestyle has taken up a lot of my time. For instance, during my first year I ended up in a very laid back community, where I really indulged in doing basically nothing for a long time except hanging out with people. Of course, I needed this rest, but it started to make me lazy after a while as well. I realized then that this kind of life is not sustainable and wouldn't work if everyone would do this. So now my quest is to find that way of life that anyone could adapt to and is fulfilling, and mold this into a framework that I can write down and publish.
Your question reminds me that I should indeed start a blog and as I will be living in a house with internet for a while, I shall set myself up to exploring this possibility :)
Hey man, are you by any chance still staying in The Netherlands in the meantime? would love to hear more of your story! FYI, I live in Amsterdam currently.
I have no job, no house and barely any money. I met my girlfriend during my travels and together we've been travelling for 10 months, of which the last 4 we've spent living in a cave on Tenerife and now we're staying for a short while at a friend in The Netherlands to replenish our funds for further travelling.
I own a laptop, 4 pairs of pants (2 long, 2 short), 6 shirts, some underwear, 2 mobile phones, an external hard drive, a dj controller, an e-reader, some cutlery and a bowl, a tent, a sleeping bag and mat, personal hygiene items, one pair of shoes, two warm sweaters, and a guitar.
I never buy things like clothes, as I can find those almost everywhere for free, i.e. free shops or so called freeboxes at (hippie/nomad) communities all over the world. On Tenerife we did a lot of dumpster diving, something that at first required me to overcome some shame, but now I'm amazed to see for example how much perfectly good food supermarkets throw away, just because the date expired, or because there are spots on the banana's, or a whole bag of apples is thrown away because one got crushed during transportation. Two to three times a week we left with a backpack full of tomatoes, sweet pepper, onions, bananas, avocado's, cookies, milk, cheese, etcetera and cooked meals to share with others. In bins around second hand stores or appartment buildings there are often bags full of clothes, and most of the time (in our case) they even smell fresh/washed. For me, going on a 'recycling mission' feels a bit like a lottery :) General tip: don't go through the bags of household garbage, those are disgusting. (Interested? See http://trashwiki.org)
Anyway, this life makes me really happy, as my life is full with experience, adventure, nice people and no worries. My goal for the next years is to become fully self-sustainable, to live without money and to not be dependent on dumpster diving either, as I am aware this would not work if everybody starts doing it. My plan for now is to find a proper place to start an ecovillage, to put my experiences into practice and be completely self-sustainable, not dependent on any other system than the ecosystem.