Here’s to traveling lighter

Clutter. Even the word sounds annoying – like a noisy car clanking and cluttering and falling apart.  And at least once a month for the past ten years I have been reminded of my tendency to clutter my surroundings. I don’t know how it happens. It’s some self-existing phenomenon that feeds on nothing and grows while I’m gone.

I traveled to Chicago last week and stayed at a local hostel. At least two of the girls in my room were living out of a couple of suitcases. And I was as well – but only for the week. It was kind of relaxing to have life melted down to the bare essentials. It seemed to simplify things. I came home and watched a show on hoarders the next day.  It was interesting to see the whole spectrum within a week. And I wondered why I – why we – have so much stuff.

That’s what it is really – stuff. It doesn’t really do anything for the most part. I don’t even know where half of it is if I needed to find it. And I wonder what it gets me except a cluttered mind and a tendency to feel distracted and unfocused and a tad bit overwhelmed. I don’t know where all of this started – I’ve always loved the thrill of the buy – the fun of finding the next heck of a deal. And it worked great in college – I sold most of it and turned a tidy little profit. And I’m an American – in marketing no less – and we like to buy, buy, buy.

Maybe it makes us feel safer with stuff. We don’t have to think about life or where we’re going. We just have to concentrate on the stuff. We move it from one pile to the other, put it in boxes, stack the boxes, and then move the boxes about. We like our stuff.

I stayed in India a few years ago and noticed that the houses were decidedly different there. The places I stayed were nice and well-furnished. But they lacked – or should I say “did not have” – the typical American array of nick nacks. Or however you spell it.  They didn’t have the piles of unused toys and useless throw pillows.

But we do. We have so much of everything. I think we could furnish an entire house with what most of us get rid of at one yard sale. I wonder what it hides. I wonder what I’d have to focus on if I wasn’t continually picking up stuff. I wonder what would happen if I tried to travel lighter.  If I had enough resources – time and money – to make significant life changes because I hadn’t focused so much of it on stuff. And I’ll bet if I traded half of the extra stuff I didn’t even know I had, I could buy that plane ticket to Ireland.

I think I’ll give it a go – try unloading the distracting uselessness.  Try living with a calmer sense of spirit. And maybe, just maybe, provide enough room and open myself up for something new……(Or, as they say in Ireland – tús as an úire.) Let’s see how it works. I’ll work on changing my embedded social norms and the rest of you keep me away from sales…..here we go 🙂

About kindawilson

Kinda is an author, teacher, speaker, entrepreneur, and hopeless wanderer. Her favorite places in the world include Manarola, Italy, and Gimmelwald, Switzerland. In her free time, you can find her bargain shopping and hanging out at coffee shops.