What Vacation Teaches Us About Real Life

Vacation!
Source: Flickr: Kevin Dooley

Vacation is for rest, and travel is for exploration; two very different things.  Volumes could be written about the human need for travel, but today we will focus on the art of vacationing.

Vacations Teach Us to Slow Down

Vacations teach us to slow down and relax.  With no chores and minimal cooking, vacations allows us to prop up our feet and relax.   

In this relaxed state, we have the space to reassess what is important in life.  What do we want to do with our time?  What changes can we make?  How can I distress my life?    

There is something about vacation that feels right and good.  

Many of us have become work-aholics without even knowing it.  With our job markets increasingly competitive, we work when we're sick, bankroll our vacation time, and work unpaid overtime, to keep our jobs or get ahead.   

On the contrary, most Europeans are required to take 30-35 days of vacation.  Most Americans are lucky to beg for 14 days.  

Maybe Americans don't know how to relax because it isn't a huge part of our work culture?

Vacations Teach Us to Pack Light 

There is something so freeing about living out of a suitcase; to have everything you need all in one container.  It's easy to find things and you have a freedom of movement that you don't have at home. 

Living out of a suitcase begs the question, why can't we live like this all of the time? 

If you can live with just a couple of outfits and a toothbrush for 5 days, why can't we live with that few possessions forever?  Do you need anything else?  

Living out of a suitcase is every minimalist's dream. 

Vacations Teach Us to Live Together in Small Spaces 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in a Tiny House?  Try living in a hotel room first.  Most hotel rooms are 300-400 square feet.  Tiny houses are generally half that size. 

Living is such cramped quarters, you and your family are forced to co-habitate.  You are forced to share life together.  Sharing a small space can be a bonding experience. 

You may also enjoy reading The Purpose of Recreation.

A Minimalist Guide to the Bucket List

Image Source: Flickr: Morgan Sherwood 

What is a Bucket List?

A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket.  Everyone's got a bucket list, either a hard copy or a mental list of things they want to do before they die.  It sounds morbid, but it is actually a wonderful tool for organizing what is important to you and setting achievable goals.

Time is Short

What absolutely kills me is talking to older people who are too nimble to finish their bucket lists.  They says thinks like, "I wish I could have climbed Half Dome, but now I'll never be able to do it."  The pain of regret is worse than physical pain.  You only get one shot around this massive watery ball, you have to make every moment count.  Time slips by way too fast!  

Set a Concrete Plan of Action

Making a bucket list is easy, executing it is hard.  If you put off everything into the category of "someday," someday may never come.  Fear, a lack of prioritization, and excuses keep many from achieving perfectly achievable goals.  The cost of checking items off of your bucket list is much smaller than you think.  

Paris: Check! 

You have to have a plan!  You're not going to be handed a plane ticket to Paris from a stranger on a bus.  However, if you do, don't take it; that's creepy.  Ever seen Taken?  
If Paris is at the top of the list, then for about $1000-$1200 and a week of your time, you can see the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the whole shebang.  If you travel in the off season, you can find plane tickets for under $800 from the West Coast of the U.S.  How do I know? I've done it! A few nights of  hosteling, some street crepes, and a couple of Euro for the entry fees, and you've got yourself a tour of the city of lights. 
"That's too expensive!" You might say.  Leaving this world having not seen all of the glorious art and architecture of Paris, that is the real expense, if I may counter.  If you want it badly enough you will do whatever it takes to get there.  

Two Types of Minimalists: The Free Bird and the Farmer

Jin

Within the broader community of minimalism, two types emerge.  What connects them to minimalism is the desire to gain freedom through simple living.

The Farmer 

The farmer uses minimalism to live a simple life in the country.  Often this type of minimalist desires to be more tied down and established in one location.   The goal of the farmer is to be self-sustaining.  To live simply and work with his or her hands.  Living simply allows the farmer to be uninhibited by political or economic woes, and allows the farmer time to pursue his or her passions, like writing, photography, boat building, or other activities of interest.  

The Free Bird 

The free bird uses minimalism to lead a transient lifestyle.   Few possessions and attachments allow the free bird to flock around the world, starting online businesses, writing, meeting people from other cultures, doing work in the field of anthropology, volunteering abroad, and having the opportunity to move as the wind blows.  The free bird tends to embrace technology and harness its power, in an attempt to connect with others and provide a means of sustenance.  

Torn Between the Two 

My heart longs to be a free bird, to explore every nook and cranny of this planet, to live in exotic locales, and to meet interesting people.  I also have an intense desire to try living simply in the mountains.  I want to experience the literal fruits of my own hands.  The problem is that when you start raising chickens and growing fruit trees, you are now tied down to that area.  It become increasingly difficult to just pack up and move or travel on a dime.  

On the flip side, a lifestyle of transience makes you never feel like you have roots anywhere.  It's hard to build lasting relationships and tend to a family when you're living out of a backpack in airports.  Is there any compromise?   

Tread Lightly

Flickr: Allesok: CC-By-2.0

“This is today! What will tomorrow bring? Life arrives and departs on its own schedule, not ours; it's time to travel light, and be ready to go wherever it takes us.” 
― Meg Wolfe, The Minimalist Woman's Guide to Having It All


Here's an interesting blog from Jenny, a young woman traveling the world as a digital Nomad.

http://www.whereisjenny.com/2010/12/11-first-steps-becoming-minimalist/