Advice to Young Adults

Stay Light So You Can Explore The World
Flickr/ Jhong Dizon

Diploma in hand, you say to the world, "Here I am!"  The horizon is out in front of you.  After seventeen years of school, it's finally time to jump the gun and make a life for yourself.

Get the house, find the job, settle down, nest.  No more dorm food or stinky roommates.  

You're finally feeling the need to own your own couch and maybe even a few luxuries like a flat screen TV and an iron for your work shirts.  

You look around at those older, married people around you who already have packed garages, and it can be tempting to follow suit. 

Here's my advice: Stay light! Here's why:

1. Your in a transitional period of life, where marriages, jobs, and dream following make settling in difficult. 
2. If you do plan on getting married, merging two houses is easier if both parties don't have very many possessions. 
3. Student debt and entry level jobs make getting a large apartment or house difficult.  Fitting your stuff into a smaller space is cheaper. 
4. You're more free to explore, travel the world, or take up an interesting position on the other side of the world, if you're not weighed down by tons of stuff. 
5. Your habits will follow you the rest of your life.  Don't become a clutter bug the day after graduation. 
6. You really should be feeding your retirement fund instead of buying more stuff. 
7. You're single, which means, unless you have incredible friends, you will be moving yourself.



The Starting Gate of Life
Flickr/ Anthony 

8. Welcome to the revolving door of roommates.  Good luck finding someone to stick it out with you until you both get married.  You will most likely move anywhere from 3 to 10 times in your twenties.  I'm 27, and I can count 9.

How to Stay Light 

1. Try to get all of your furniture used and cheap.  Hammy downs from grandma work just great.  No harm done when your garage sale $5 end table ends up in the free pile next time you move. 
2. Don't accumulate books, CD's, and DVDs.  They take up useless space, cost a fortune, and are usually only enjoyed once or twice.  Again, spend that money on your retirement. 
3. Don't get a pet.  Just don't do it.  A pet will keep you from travelling, make weekends away a hassle, and make finding pet friendly accommodations difficult.  Wait until you've bought a house and settled into a job. 
4. Keep your stuff organized.  If everything is in bins, you just put on the lid and carry them to the next house when you move. Easy! 
5. Organize your important papers from the get go.  Get a filing cabinet or a digital scanner.  Don't let years of medical papers and bank statements get backed up and shoved into junk drawers. 
6. Keep your decorations simple and cheap.  There is no need to have a model Better Homes and Gardens home.  There will be plenty of time in life to make your abode snazzy.  Now is the time to live cheaply and focus on your career. 

Organize Your Garage

Source: Flickr: Matt Howry

Drive down any street in America and keep an eye out for homes with the garage doors open. You might find one or two per block, on a warm summer evening, in a good part of town.

Now, without being creepy, peak into the garage, and tell me what you see.  Furniture, holiday decorations, boxes of old clothes, aging sports equipment, enough canned food to feed a small country.

Count how many cars are sitting on the street because the garage was taken up with stuff. Garages were built to house our cars but somehow they became America's favorite storage facility. As if packing out a 2400 square foot house wan't enough space, the garage is seen as n extra 200 feet of prime real estate.

Why Do People Pack Out Their Garages? 

It's starts with a small compromise and a pile in the corner of something you think you will need later on in life.  Then a few extra boxes later, dumping stuff in the garage doesn't feel so bad. There is nothing more dangerous than the "I'll do it later" pile.

Apathy may be one cause, but fear seems to be the primal issue.  We love to keep things we don't need out of fear that we will need them again.  We are fearful of regret or that we won't be able to afford a replacement if we end up needing it.

Help! My Stuff is Taking Over My Garage 

Maybe you're reading this and you're thinking that your garage is starting to look like this.  Well, I'm here to help!

First, read How to Emotionally Detach From Items.  Once you've identified that your clutter is an emotional attachment, you can begin to fix the ways you think about your stuff.

Here are some questions to ask yourself: 

Can my stuff be used by someone else?

Would having money in the bank be more beneficial than owning this stuff?

If I haven't used an item in 5 years, realistically will I ever use it again?

Would I feel less mentally cluttered if cleaning the garage wasn't on my perpetual to do list?

Is the mental stress of these items worth their replacement value?

Start Small 

Going through a whole garage is a lot of work, probably too much work for one weekend.  Pace yourself.  Go one box at a time.

Make it a goal to get everything off of the floor and up onto a shelf. Shelving kits are cheap and can help you organize things like tools, paint cans, cleaning supplies, and sporting goods.

Sell your unneeded items on ebay, have a garage sale, or donate them to charity.


It's a lot of work, but wouldn't it all be worth it to come home to this everyday?

A clean garage
Source: Flickr: Dave Nakayama 

Bear Grylls Hosts The Island

It all started with a question: Can the modern British man return to his roots and survive, bare bones, on a harsh deserted island?

This time, Bear Grylls, the pee drinking, snake eating, Wild Man is dumping 13 British men on a deserted island to see if they have what it takes.  In a six episode season, the men have to build their own shelters, hunt for food, and learn to cope with one another.  Some interesting conclusions came from watching the men tough it out for a month.

1. To Survive, Man Needs More than Food, Water, and Shelter

At the beginning, the men focused on securing a shelter, finding nourishment, and battling the elements.  However, as the show progressed, and they became more efficient at the basics, they started creating luxuries that made them feel more human.

Once the beds were made, they erected tables, living furniture, a hat stand, and a swinging bench. it gave the men a sense of normalcy and a human connection.  Using their creativity to improve their environment gave them a sense of control and pride.

For further reading check out this article and Finding a Village.

2. We Need Each Other 

While it might seem easier, in terms of inner personal relationships, to survive solo, there are solid advantages to being in a group.  The 13 men soon discovered that in order to survive, each one had to use their own strengths and pull their own weight.

3. You Have More Strength Than You Know  

One of the young men on the island, Ryan, started the show with a bad attitude and a low self-image.  He expressed that he felt worthless which amounted to him storming off without telling anyone where he was going.  Everyone was getting on his case about his lack of contribution which fed his insecurities and low self-worth.  A few of the men encouraged him to keep going and he ended up being a profitable member of the team.

Cover Image: Flickr/H Dragon

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's Guide to Entertainment

Nature's Entertainment
Source:  Flickr: Dana Le

Being a Minimalist means that I am selective about how I spend my time and energy.  However, I do have a few hobbies I enjoy greatly that require owing possessions: reading, scuba diving, surfing, and camping.  While some things can be rented, owning those items allows for a greater margin of safety and the ability to take off and do them at a moment's notice.


While entertainment, relaxation, and enjoyment are an important part of your health and personal development, some forms of entertainment can distract from what we want to accomplish and clutter our lives.

You may want to read the article The Purpose of Recreation to better understand the purposeful balance fun plays in our lives.

Hobbies that will be time and space stealers: collecting things like antiques or baseball cards, video games, or gambling.

Hobbies that sharpen your brain, provide enjoyment, and take up very little space: reading (kindle or library), chess, or photography.

Living in a technologically infested world, your options for entertainment are endless.  You can play video games with someone from China, have your wii analyze your yoga positions, or play virtual golf with a wall projector.  However, have we lost touch with simple and natural entertainment?

This past vacation I spent several hours watching a storm move across Lake Tahoe.  It was exhilarating watching the lightening break the darkness with a wrathful like vengeance.  The sound of the thunder rolling through the mountains almost made me cower in terror, as it seemed to shake the ground with sound waves.

I thought, this is what is was like a hundred years ago.  This is what people did for fun.  There was a purity to such a simple form of entertainment.  I spent many afternoons, watching the small wind driven waves hit the shore, chased after crawdads, and sat on the porch reading books.  It is times like these that we realize that a simple life can be abundantly joyful.      

Recession Generation: Part 2

This is part Two of the article titled "Recession Generation: Part 1"

Lies I Was Told

Lie #1: Debt is Necessary 

The biggest lie debt tires to tell you is that you will be better off later, so go ahead and indulge now. debt tells you to get a "free" Master's degree, because you will make more money later to pay it off.  Debt tells you to buy a new car, because your Christmas bonus is only four months away. Debt tells you to buy a bigger house because it's a great investment, despite the 6% interest.  All of those things might be true, but they are not true all of the time.  What happens when the housing bubble pops, the value of your house goes down, your salary decreases, and you still owe 6% interest?  What happens when your company stops giving bonuses because their stock holders were unhappy with a doggy performance on Wall Street?  What happens when an injury or a pregnancy adds financial strain? 

Lie #2: Your Identity is Found in Your Possessions 

I grew up being told that there was a system: get good grades, get a degree, find a job, get married, buy a house, fill the house with all the things you love, save for retirement, and top it all off with endless games of golf on the east shore of Florida until you die.  

Sounds great, right?   According to this article, the average American carries $203,163 of debt.  The average American household income is about $51,000.  That means, that to pay off their debt, the average American would have to endure 4 years of slavery to pay off what they owe, without touching a single penny. 

Slavery?  Yes, slavery!  Debt is slavery.  Some debt can be forgiven, but student loan debt will follow you to your deathbed.  If the average American put ten percent of their income towards paying down their debt, and assuming that interest was non-existent, it would take 40 years to pay down their debt.  If that doesn't make you want to run for the hills and live in a yurt, the lie has worked its ways too far into your soul.
Debt helps you get an education, debt buys you a house, debt allows you to invest with money you haven't yet earned but, what debt doesn't tell you is that you will become a slave to it forever.  Once you get within the clutches of debt, it drags you down so deep that you will never have the chance to break free.  Every attempt will fail. 

From a young age I was taught by society that if you wanted to be a real woman you had to have the purse, the clothes, the accessories, the makeup, and the hair.  Your worth was increased by a Gucci shirt, while a shirt from a big box bargain store made you inferior.  Glossy magazines and celebrity TV shows preach that what you own creates your identity.  The older I got, the sillier this way of life seemed.  There was no way to win, you worked really hard to buy a new dress that would make you feel important and beautiful, but all it left you with was an empty wallet.   There was always going to be something better out next week or someone better dressed next to you.  This whole chasing after possessions is like digging in dry sand, it topples on you faster than you can dig.  

Lie #3: Stuff Brings Happiness 

We live in a society that tries to fill emotional voids with stuff: Depression can be fixed with a new set of nails and a pill, a breakup can be fixed with a new wardrobe, and manhood can be fixed with a faster car.  Our entertainment is consumption.  We are brainwashed into an endless cycle of earning and consuming.  Without some radical life changes, that cycle is bound to continue.  No one things it strange, since it is the norm.  To even consider rebelling against consumption is off of most of our society's radar. 

The Recession Changed Everything 

The Recession made us live lives of scarcity.  We could no longer just blindly consume.  A large proportion of the country struggled to keep their homes, retain their jobs, and put food on the table.  It made the country think about what was important and essential in life.  For more information, read the article, Food, Water Shelter: The Essentials for Life. 

Leave No Rock Unturned

Source: Flickr: Mary Le Breuilly

Why did you choose Leave No Rock Unturned (LNRU) as your blog's title?

I'm obsessed with the idea of living thoroughly, fully, abundantly, and well.  I want to overturn every rock in my personal odyssey of living life to its highest degree.  It's like going through every oyster to find a pearl. There's lots of talk out there about philosophy, ideology, and theology, but I'm tireless in my quest for application.  In terms of Minimalism, LNRU is the application of going through everything; no junk drawers, no area of my life unaccounted for; everything evaluated.

What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is simply the act of cutting away everything that is unnecessary, revealing an entity in its purest, most simplified, and authentic form.

How did you become a Minimalist? 

First off, I use the term Minimalist lightly.  I don't ever want Minimalism to be something systematic and religion-like.

I began my minimalist journey during a time of trial.  My house flooded and I was forced to live in a hotel for the holidays, out of one suitcase.  I discovered that I liked living simply, without any clutter.  When I moved back home, my mother and I decided to go through everything and pair it down to the essentials.  That coupled with an obsession with the film Into the Wild, and a few backpacking trips around Europe, and I was hooked.

Do you think Minimalism is counter-cultural? 

Yes, in America, materialism, greed, and abundant indulgence are rampant.  I watched as materialism not only didn't deliver the happiness it promise, but actually caused unhappiness.  People think that things can fill some kind of void, but in reality, they cause stress, anxiety, and a false sense of worth.

Minimalism takes a stab at American consumerism and evaluates its control of our lives and the consequences of its far reaching influence.  In a society that tells you to consume, that your identity is found in consumption, Minimalism goes against the grain.

There is a generation who sees through the lies of consumerism and wants a more authentic way of living.  It's an intellectual's hippie movement.

Is Minimalism gaining influence?  

It's growing like wildfire.  I think a growing population is concerned about what we're doing to the environment and, at the same time, dissatisfied by the typical drudgery of producing in order to hyper-consume.  Minimalism says that if you consume less, then you can produce less to maintain your lifestyle.  For instance, if you buy tons of designer shoes and eat out everyday, you have to work extremely hard in order to maintain that lifestyle.  Then, because you spent all of your money consuming, you don't have the time or money to travel, spend time with your family, and purse the things that are most meaningful to you.  Just Google "Minimalism" and you'll see websites, blogs, and e-books devoted to it.

Is Minimalism laziness?

Many people have asked that question, especially when considering book titles like The Four Hour Work Week.  Minimalism is anything but laziness, but at it's core it's about balance.  There's that only story about the happy Mexican fisherman who worked hard all morning, so that he could dance, eat, and make merry with his loved ones in the evening.  A businessman comes to him and asks him if he's like to expand his business and make millions.  The fisherman answers him something like this, "Why, so I can make millions, retire, dance, eat, and make merry."  He already had everything he wanted and didn't need more money or possessions to bring him happiness.