I love speaking on “Mindful Minimalism.” Click here for details.
Like many people in mid life, I’m re-examining the values, choices and goals I made years ago, when, in many ways, I was a different person.
I spent the first 40 years of my life over-packing for both travel and my life in general. I loaded myself down with educational degrees that I’ll be paying off for the rest of my life, and I loaded my luggage with stuff I never needed.
It’s much easier to over-pack for a trip than to pack just enough. Why? Over-packing requires less thought and discipline — just pile it in.
Road trips help me let go of conventions. Here are three:
- I have helmet hair, but heck, my looks are simply the outer shell of the real me.
- Bug bits, not spun silk, are my adornment–a reminder that I’m part of creation, not manufactured.
- I might smell like petrol exhaust and tarmac, but most fragrances have chemicals you shouldn’t be wearing anyway.
My good friend Neale Bayly, has traveled through 60+ countries, mostly on a motorcycle. Next week he is headed for Peru to raise money and awareness for abandoned children in a mountain orphanage, and filming a documentary about the experience.
Neal’s video might give you food for thought about what’s important. In it, he asks, “Why are people buying spinner rims, plastic t*ts and bigger houses…?”
Why, indeed?