A Year Abroad Leads to Minimalism-some potential tmi, you've been warned

I now think that once a year we should be forced to pack up our most treasured possessions and that we would keep only those things.  As we have journeyed abroad this year we have also flirted with the Minimalism movement.  Not the "we don't need a couch" type.  More the "have to live our lives out of one suitcase that weighs no more than 23kg each" type.  We live in a fully furnished home.  We have a well stocked set of cutlery, dishes and cooking implements.  We own a car, there are kids toys and games in the playroom.  We are not doing without.

We are living in someone else's house and are not authorized to make decorating decisions or consider renovations.  When you live like that you have time to think about that which is truly important to you and that which you can do without.  It turns out that far more things are not required than I would have told you at this same time last year as I packed up a full house of STUFF.  We have pulled a few games off of the shelves, many more need to be dusted more than they get played with.  We recently took a few boxes of unused toys out of the playroom and put them in storage.  We now only have the regularly enjoyed items in that room, and there is more space to play with them.

We can comfortably live with someone else's things and don't really miss most of what we have left behind at our house.  When you are living in a known temporary situation you don't invest much money in things that won't be in your life for long.  We have purchased one frying pan*, gym weights, a foam roller, a yoga mat and a garlic press**.  We have acquired two bar stools and are long term borrowing a hair dryer. It goes without saying that we have purchased food, petrol and other consumables.

We are enjoying the freedom that comes from living happily and comfortably with what we have without worrying about the next item that we want.  We plan trips and experiences with our money.  We drink excellent local wines that we will never see again.  We are living "minimally".  My PJ pants are what can best be described as "air conditioned", some of our "base layer items" are losing elasticity. Some of our clothes are showing wear. Some clothing items have been picked up at the local thrift store and are going to just barely make it to their intended end point. Some of the kid's PJs are a reminder of how much they have grown-if you were to use the amount of ankle and wrists that are passed the cuffs. My jeans don't have a top button (I brought them like that).  We don't care.  A lot of these items came here with the full intention that they would never see Canadian soil again.  We intend to travel out of here with as few items as possible.

We have packed a bag of items to go home with my dad in a couple of weeks (18kg so far).  We don't think that we will miss these items.  The last month of our trip will be spend carting all of our possessions around New Zealand in a Toyota Carolla***, if I don't want to have to drag it around an entire nation then I want it gone now!!

I think that we will live differently when we get back.  We have long been careful with our finances, but we have steadily filled our house and lives with stuff.  We don't want to do that anymore.  We spent a lot of time clearing things out before we left and we intend to continue once we get back.  This year abroad has been an incredible opportunity for reflection on what is really important.

The countdown: 40 bottles of wine left spread over 15 weeks.  The math has gone from 2 bottles per week to 3 (we found an awesome case of red a couple of weeks ago that just couldn't stay at the cellar door).  I am still not the slightest bit worried that we can make this happen.

*my mom actually bought the frying pan
**it broke after the first use
***or equivalent as determined by the car hire company