Editor’s Note: This is a post in the series, Simplicity in Action.
Zoe
I discovered voluntary simplicity at the time in my life when I had the most space–and the most stuff. My husband and I were living in a two-bedroom apartment and my mother had just died, so my stepfather kept bringing over boxes of her possessions: canning jars, craft supplies, and decade-old toiletries. My huge apartment was brimming with stuff, mine and my mother’s, and it was time to do something about it.
With inspiration from Be More With Less and other blogs, I dug in and started getting rid of things, box by box. In the end I only kept two things from my mother: her car and her guitar.
Over the next two years my husband and I moved three times, first into my sister’s attic, then into a room in a shared house, and finally into a studio apartment. With each move we decreased our possessions until it was time to prepare for the biggest transition of all: full-time travel. I drew up a packing list, spent months selling, donating, and occasionally throwing away our last few extraneous possessions, and finally the day was upon us. We loaded up our car with our camping gear and backpacks, stored a few boxes with family members, and hit the road.
After a three-month road trip we moved to the final stage of minimizing: preparing to live out of our 46 liter backpacks. We left our camping gear and a few boxes at my sister’s house and squeezed everything we would carry with us for the next year or two into our backpacks. Amazingly, it fit! As I write this we’re about to finish up a month on Maui and head to Australia and New Zealand. We’ve never felt freer or lighter, and none of this would have been possible without a concentrated effort to live more simply.
Our travel goal was the best motivator to actually get rid of our things, but voluntary simplicity has affected other areas of our lives as well. When I realized how many things I held on to “just in case” I simplified my idea of myself. I decided to focus on one or two hobbies, rather than keep all of my art supplies, massage supplies, musical instruments, and sports equipment that were just taking up space.
Now I focus on writing, which requires no extra supplies. I have no gym, so I run and do bodyweight exercises. My music, movies, books, and photographs are all digitalized. My hairstyle and clothes have become more simple and versatile, and I require only one bath product. My relationship with my husband has become focused on making our dreams come true, and enjoying them together when they do!
No part of my life has been unaffected by my transition to simplicity. And while travel was a huge motivator to downsize, our decluttering and simplifying is also what made our long-term travels possible.
On the road we need less, enjoy more, and do it all on an extremely frugal budget. I am so grateful that I found minimalism and voluntary simplicity, put in the long hours required to transform my life, and can now enjoy the freedom I’ve always longed for. This path may begin with emptying out a box or a drawer, but where it can lead is limited only by your imagination!
Read more from Zoe on her blog, Born Naked.
Loved this thought…”simplify the idea of myself.” That’s a light bulb moment for me. Once when helping my aunt make dinner I asked if she had a salad spinner. My uncle was sitting at the table watching and he looked incredulous and said, “Kathryn, you make everything so complicated.” True. Soon, all these simplifying ideas rumbling around my head are going to take shape, I feel it. Thanks for your help, Zoe! Oh, and I’m impressed you only use one bath product…going to check out your blog.
Thanks, Kathy! This post is pretty outdated – I wrote it almost a year ago. But I still only use Dr. Bronner’s in the shower 🙂
Awesome! I love the way you approached this gradually and how, in the end, simplicity has enriched every aspect of your life.
Thanks, Sandra! It really has enriched every aspect of my life. Even now, when my life looks incredibly different than it did ten months ago at the beginning of our travels, I’ve maintained so many aspects of the simplicity that I created over the past three years. It’s a constant work in progress, as we all know, but the small things count in BIG ways.
I loved reading how you slowly pared down until you were at the bare essentials. I get in these cleaning modes which make me start looking at what makes the most sense for me (like you mentioned the multiple hobbies, etc.) and try to live simple even when staying in one place with a lot of storage. Sometimes I creep back up but when I look back even a year or two, I can see that I’ve decreased my stuff immensely. It’s exciting to read how others do it for themselves and what it gives them.
Thanks, Jennifer! I feel like it all starts with the stuff. I studied/dove into minimalism and voluntary simplicity pretty heavily for about two years before I had my stuff down to the point where it is now. Leaving to go traveling long-term definitely helped. Since I’ve returned to my new/old life, I’ve had to buy a few things again that I originally had let go of, but much less than I would have thought before we left. And I still have so much physical space in my life, which clears the way for mental/emotional space…and helps me create the kind of fulfilling life that I want to be leading. Which is, of course, the whole point 🙂
Wow, Zoe. I loved reading your process – slowly and deliberately. So often, I think people feel that simplicity can happen overnight, but I have yet to encounter someone who has been able to do that! Your story is inspirational and, as I read it, I could feel myself getting lighter and lighter. It was almost as if I could imagine just carrying your backpack. Congratulations to you and your husband for figuring out what truly matters – love and fun!
Thanks, Tammy! The lightness definitely happened…physically and mentally/emotionally. It’s amazing how much we carry around our “stuff” in our heads and in our lives. And I definitely noticed that when I started decluttering my drawers and my rooms, that emotional baggage and attachment would soon follow. It’s all related – our stuff is just the physical manifestation of what’s inside.
Your blog is great, I was wondering why there are no recent posts and whether that’s part of the simplifying! I read it during an hour of pregnancy insomnia so it’s probably a good (and simple!) thing there are not too many posts.
I’m still at the start of my simplifying journey after a lifetime of mild(or more) hoarding, and about to have a baby, thanks for the inspiration. I’m going to think about simplifying my hobbies/myself now, as well as continuing to declutter… diolch!
Thanks, Sue! Some major life changes happened in November, but I am thinking about starting up my blog again. Life looks very different right now than it did back then, and a ton of change and growth happened in the past six months. I think I’m probably ready to start blogging about it again. Having a baby is a big step, and definitely provides a new challenge to simple living–good luck!
Great story, Zoe! I’m a musician, so I love the idea of keeping the instrument. I am looking forward to checking your your blog!
Thanks, Tony! Instruments are definitely essential. I also play piano, which is a much more difficult instrument to haul around. Luckily, the house I’m living in right now has a piano in the living room, so, while I won’t be carrying it around with me, I’m definitely enjoying the practice time!
Traveling was our goal, in simplifying, as well. Minimalism definitely lends it self to easier adventuring. 🙂
Hi Bethany – you’re so right! Living out of a 40-liter backpack for five months was incredibly freeing, and it’s an incredibly valuable experience and feeling to carry forward into my life where I am currently living in one place. My housemates marvel at my lack of stuff and the lack of decoration in my room, but I still think having more things than I can carry might be overkill 🙂
Oh Zoe, your story reads just like our plans for the future. Very inspirational.
I love your last thoughts:
“This path may begin with emptying out a box or a drawer, but where it can lead is limited only by your imagination!”
Simplifying our lives has opened up so many possibilities, and I could not have imagined myself to have the time, or space, to do these things.
Thanks for your inspiration Zoe!
Hi Mark-
I completely agree. Time and space to do the things that matter, that add to my life instead of just taking up space. Thanks!