Becoming a Minimalist Traveler

Have you ever thought of being a minimalist traveler? A traveler who strips his luggage down to the essentials? Just imagine how exciting traveling will be without overburdening yourself with many belongings or seeing an officer chasing you to pay extra weight taxes. Turn your imagination into reality with these tricks and tips that will make you feel like a flying bird from one country to another.

Change Your Mindset.

Recently, the material possessions have become the main element that determines one’s identity as people are deceived by appearances and luxury. The same idea is also applied to people who travel not to experience the pleasure of traveling itself or to get out of their bubble, but for other reasons related to bragging, which double the amount of luggage they will pack. However, you have to march to the beat of your own drum and let people know who you are away from your possessions. Thus distinguishing between what you want and what you really need is one of the core steps you should take to enter the world of minimalist traveling. Be decisive and decide that you will only take what is useful and break the shackles that make you a slave to your materials.

Make a Small Suitcase Your Travel Companion.

One of the best ways to narrow your belongings down is to choose a small suitcase and force yourself to use this suitcase only. In case you opt a bigger bag and have a little extra space, the wicked thoughts will start swinging in your mind to add another piece of clothing or toiletries; hence, all you have to do is to select a smaller bag to ditch this temptation. Can you imagine a suitcase with drawers? Yes, that is not impossible. The packing cubes actually function as the travelers’ drawers in which they can compress their belongings in an organized way and access to them easily, and what is more important is that these cubes only occupy a little space in your suitcase. Furthermore, the way you choose to put your clothing in the luggage makes a difference. Instead of putting them over each other, you can roll them, which will save space and enable you to see them at a glance. Keep in mind that you do not have to zip your suitcase, as that will take you one step back from accomplishing minimalist traveling.

Choose Your Packing List Meticulously.

Packing light requires time and great efforts, but it is totally worth every minute spent to achieve it. One of the worst things you might do is packing your luggage a few hours before traveling since you will hold many superfluous belongings. As for the clothing, make sure to pack only two or three pieces of each clothing type, such as shorts, shirts, trousers, etc. In other words, do not take more than one week’s worth of clothing, and I know that you are asking yourself right now, “Will this be enough for me throughout my journey? How?!”. Yes, this will be more than enough if you choose a few pieces with neutral colors that you can wear in all events, and they match each other. Further, you can do laundry out there, which is much better than picking an entire outfit for every single day.

Besides, you can go shopping in the places you travel to, so you should adhere to a rule endorsed by many minimalist travelers that urges you not to pack anything that you will not use daily, and you can buy for less than $20 in less than 20 minutes. For example, you do not have to pack all toiletries. It will be enough if you take your toothbrush, paste, and deodorant without the need to pack the towel, soap, and shampoo as all of them will be available there in addition to the fact that trying something new will be super exhilarating. In brief, make sure that you pack the smaller, versatile, and long-lasting versions of things.

Minimalist traveling goes beyond packing light. It is about having a richer and more inspiring experiences, living the moment, skipping those souvenirs and just investing your time and money in making your trip more unique and meaningful.  Started traveling with a single backpack and never looked back!