Living with Less

I first want to say welcome to everyone I have invited to view this blog! I appreciate your encouragement, and I promise to try to keep it updated, so keep checking back. ;) It is still a work in progress - please have pity on this first-time blogger!

So, I am renting out my condo furnished for the next few months to help pay my bills while I am away. This past weekend I put most of my personal belongings in storage, and I am spending my last evenings doing last-minute packing and organizing before I leave. As I've been doing this, it has occured to me that I am never going to fit everything I have left in two suitcases to take to Oklahoma with me. I am sending a box of winter clothes to my parents' and will still be squeezing stuff in my suitcases! This latest development has prompted me to reevaluate my own predilection for material possessions.

I don't really consider myself a materialistic person. I like nice things (of course, we all do), but I never thought I was overly concerned with possessions (at least, not in the American culture). But downsizing the past few weeks and planning a trip, where all I "own" for two months is on my back, has been somewhat refreshing. The truth is: most of us don't need nearly as much as we have, yet we are constantly bombarded with temptations to "get more." I admit, I too succomb to that urge more often than I would like.

So for my trip to Europe, I plan on taking the bare minimum ... a few pairs of pants, a few shirts, some basic toiletries, etc. It will be a nice reminder that we can survive (and perhaps sometimes, we live even more freely) with less.

Of course, I still want to buy a laptop for my trip. hmmm...