I was heading somewhere by bus the other day and two backpackers boarded wearing their huge packs, as well as sporting a smaller one on their fronts. It brought back a sea of memories for me of having backpacked through Europe with a friend when I was 19 years old. As I looked at these backpackers I remembered that for 6 months all my belongings, my home, my identity, were in that bag and on my back. I vividly recall first setting out and struggling with my pack, I couldn’t get it up and on my back (some strangers had to help me hoist it up as my friend was also struggling with hers!) but by the end of the trip it was incredibly easy to throw it on my back and get going. It also got lighter as the trip went on because we’d slowly shed more and more as we realised that some stuff wasn’t important and were just a pain to cart around.
What I found interesting about this flashback is that just that morning I was lamenting over how sick I am of my winter clothes. To be reminded that I wore the same things for 6 months straight made me realise that I can wait out the rest of the winter with what I have. It was really grounding.
Travelling, backpacking especially, has the very humbling ability to bring us back to basics and show us just how little we actually need. This discussion comes up regularly with clients who are working against the space limitations that they have currently. Working with a woman who had moved from a house to an apartment called for some serious perspective shifting. She was stressing out over feeling cramped but kept thinking that the apartment was going to magically produce a walk-in robe or have elastic sides. Tapping into her love of travel, we imagined carrying all that she had in her wardrobe, and questioned if it would be worth the back pain and snail’s pace? Of course, it’s not about having the least amount of stuff, but simply reminding ourselves that often, less is more. We ended up keeping what she loved and shedding the rest of the stuff that in the end wasn’t worth the negative wellbeing.
In a Q & A with Ben Pobjie from the Sydney Morning Herald, actor Peter Rowsthorn spoke about his time on the TV show ‘I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Outta Here!’ and gave the following response to the question “Did you come out of the jungle a changed man?”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“I came out knowing we carry too much junk with us. Life’s just full of stuff we don’t require, we don’t need to eat as much as we eat, we don’t need to think as much as we think, we don’t need to be as busy as we are. Nothing changes if you take everything away, I know that. I enjoyed it, I lost weight, came out feeling great, had a detox, did some things I’d never do and hung out with people I’d probably never meet. It was never on my bucket list to do a safari, but I’d go back in a heartbeat if I wasn’t paying for it.”⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Interesting, hey? ⠀
If you’re packing for a trip or in need of decluttering your wardrobe – I can help. Get in touch and let’s get you organised.
