Minimalist Packing, Like the Name Says – Simplifying Expectations

This week in Portland, Oregon we got hit with a whammy of a snow storm. All this snow has given us a lot of indoor time and aside from playing chess with my work schedule (seeing which clients could come in when), sitting by the roaring fire and playing competitive games of Qwirkle we have also been dreaming a lot about our travel plans.

In the planning for our trip, I am taking a lot of notes about some of the subtler areas of preparing for travel that may not be as exciting (although I find it tandilizing) as a destination search but, certainly just as important for a successful trip. Two areas I have been reading about are in the packing and minimalism.

I want to be a better packer in any of my travels. I don’t like spending time worrying that I am missing something and therefore, can’t really tune into my experience. You know what I am talking about; the FOMO (fear of missing out).

I first heard about this at The World Domination Summit that I have attended for four years. An amazing gathering of like-minded individuals that want to live “an exceptional life in a conventional world. I would recommend learning more about this gathering and community here through Chris Guillebeau’s website. I am certain I will write more about his community and work as we go along  but, I digress.

Two things I am excited about are these travel helps aka hacks. Smaller bags and unique packing tools to help one take everything in on a carry on (I have yet to master this) as well as help you find things more easily. Diane Smith of Kid   has some great suggestions in her 8 Hacks in Traveling with Kids. Their website Kidtripster is a fun overall site to visit. Who would have thought the travel cubes would be so helpful! Also, love the silicone liquid carriers.

The other awesome resource is Tsh Oxenreider whose site The Art of Simple has some fun places to poke around in to feed your desire to become more ‘simple’ as well as soothe your travel bug. I really like her list on a packing list for women.

Tsh and her friend Stephanie Langford gave a great presentation at the WDS Academy last summer on how to travel for six months or longer. I was so inspired by their work I came home and told my husband about the possibility of changing our trip of a year-long move to Brussels to a Yeear Long Round the World trip. And here we are planning it all!

Thanks Tsh and Stephanie! I am sure I will reference them again but, here I tip my lightweight, crushable travel hat to them! More to come!