How to Stay Lightweight
I relish being light weight and being nomad requires it. And I love the stuff I own - I believe in developing empathy with objects and name my special things. I would rather have a long term relationship with stuff than churn through and get more. The art of staying light weight has been a balancing act of having what I truly desire and letting go of what is less than useful. It is not just about letting go of the old, it is simultaneously letting in what nourishes me most.
Every big shift - two to three months in one place - I donate some clothes. That way I create room in the space I have available for stuff and allow something new to come in. I never let go of stuff that is in great condition and still suits my style. I have some items that have been with me for over ten years. I prefer to purchase clothing that is high quality, like silk, wool and cashmere. It lasts, feels good on the skin and is light weight. For anything else I go for cotton and that wears more rapidly. If it is not wear and tear then its because its underused. If I have been carrying something for a long time without putting it on then I let go of it. There is always something to leave behind.
I have a certain amount of bags and what does not fit in does not go with me. Ruya has the largest suitcase. Despite her small size she requires more baggage. This includes the cotton diaper stash, some disposable nappies, clothes, toys, blankets, and her cosmetics. Every big shift I go through her toys and clothes and donate what is no longer in vogue for her. The special items I want to keep for her when she is older I put into our storage unit.
My bag is a medium suitcase which contains all my clothes and some other necessities like the few books I carry, a journal, pens and important files, my essential oils and sandalwood buddha. The carry on has stuff I need while we shift, including tech gear, Miles the portable sound system (Bose), jewellery, diaper bag, Ruya’s cutlery and my cosmetics. The yoga mat always goes where I go and the ney’s. My partner usually fits all he needs into one carry on backpack. When we shift around in the US I have a small crate for our food items, cups (we both like to use ceramic cups made in SA), Apollo the mighty blender and a small icebox. I don’t expand based on stuff, I limit the container space and expand my mobility. This has required exceptional packing skills accrued through experience. Yet, over time I have more and more space in our bags, as I learn what is really needed and find the best possible thing to serve our needs.
Finding the best stuff possible means we own less and use what we have more. I used to carry around so many blankets for Ruya. Now I have two, both bamboo, which adjusts for temperature, lasts and are so soft. I wear what I have with gusto, not saving anything for that special day which never comes. Four pairs of shoes covers all my needs - boots, camper flats, merrel bare feet sneakers and sonuk flip flops. One swiss universal plug, my ergo carrier, wallaroo hat and so on. The more I walk about the more I discover ways to refine.
When it comes to the admin of life I carry three file folders - one for each of us. In it are the crucial documents needed for travel and current important docs. Paper is kept to a minimum. I use dropbox and a compact backup hard drive. When we hit our small storage unit I file any necessary paper in the one folder we have there. All our mail goes to a beloved friend in the US who sorts and scans anything of high importance. We get very little mail. I use Skype for calls outside the US as we seldom put our cell phones on roaming. Email generally suffices for everything.
When we are outside of the US I use flightcar for our vehicle. So far we have tried their monthly program for five months and it went okay. Good enough to do it again with some concerns. Your car is rented out by them so it gets used and in our case had an accident. That was fixed up well but there was wear and tear on the car. I heard they will have a mechanic onsite now and they are very receptive to feedback. We get paid a monthly fee based on mileage, so for some use you get paid to store your car. Plus you get to share an asset while not using it directly, which speaks to our social ethic. Its a great system and they are continually improving their service.
Since we have no permanent base we use a small storage unit for the few things we do not use but do not want to let go. The precious family mementos, crucial files and some top up stuff we only use in the US like camping gear and kitchen stuff. Even this now is getting lessened. It seems the longer we move around the less we feel attached to.
I wonder sometimes about my wandering ways. I always liked to move and never enjoyed having much of anything. But I would say it was my trip to India when I was 22 which cemented my tendencies. The airline lost all my baggage. In those days I did not have a carry on, so I arrived to the intensity of India with the clothes on my back and my money bag pouch. After the initial shock I felt liberated. Within days I had anything I needed, completely local and hardly a bag’s worth. I lived that way for four months and it overturned in me the security of things. It also taught me to honour and embrace the objects that delighted me most. I found a small sandalwood buddha in Mysore and it has been with me ever since.